CREATING a zip wire allowing people to zoom into Barons Quay from the top of Furey Wood could attract thousands of visitors to Northwich.

This is the view of Witton councillor Sam Naylor, who said that towns need to be bold to recover from the impact of coronavirus, and that ‘the time to be bold is now’.

Cllr Naylor has previously discussed making Northwich a ‘go-to destination’ by creating tourist attractions and fully utilising the River Weaver.

And installing a zip wire would certainly be something unique in the area, providing the town with an asset not many others can boast.

Discussing town centre recovery, he said: “Retail is important, but more evidence is coming out across the country that for places like Northwich to survive, we have to make it an attraction.

“We’ve got to look at what assets we’ve got in Northwich, and the main one is the river, which has been neglected and never really utilised.

“We have to ask what we could have in Northwich to bring people in and think outside the box.

“When you look how high Furey Wood is at the top of Winnington Hill, kids, older kids and adults would love to get on a zip wire and zoom into Barons Quay.

Northwich Guardian:

“It would put the town on the map and bring people in.”

In the past, Cllr Naylor has also spoken of his desire for high-speed water taxis to bring people into Barons Quay and the town centre from areas sitting alongside the River Weaver.

And he says that it is out of the box ideas such as this which will attract new visitors.

“We want to encourage more people to come into Northwich – we have to be bold, and the time to be bold is now,” he added.

“The Government is realising the only way out of the current crisis is to spend your way out and by investing, and this would be a fantastic addition to the town.

“We wouldn’t have to develop the other side of the river too much, with a pulley system taking you up from Barons Quay and then a zip wire coming down.

“Northwich has the opportunity to utilise its assets and we have everything on our doorstep. We just have to get people to buy in.

“People will say that having a zip wire and fast water taxis into Barons Quay are pipe dreams, but they are things that can be done, that will put the town on the map and will draw people in.”