BURY West Area Board has provided extra funding to ensure a wildlife haven is preserved for local people to enjoy.

Barracks Lodge was the centre of a community campaign to protect it from potential development and since then has been bought with the aim of creating a local nature reserve. Now, a £3,000 cheque from the Area Board will help the Barracks Lodge Community Association get essential work done to provide a recreational and an educational resource.

Bury West Area Board chairman Councillor Bob Bibby said: "Barracks Lodge is a well-known local habitat for a whole range of species. In particular it provides a haven for a range of amphibians, notably the great crested newt along with swans, other birds and an increasing range of wildlife.

"The Community Association has now embarked on an ambitious plan and we are only too happy to support that. The funding also reflects the widespread support there has been from the community, to ensure that the lodge continues to be a local attraction and resource, allowing those in the area not just to enjoy the wildlife there, but also to learn more about it."

The money, which was handed over to Mr Mike Wellock, the chairman of the Barracks Lodge Community Association, will now pay for clearing blocked drainage, increasing security on the site as well as carrying out improvements to the surrounding environment. It will also help pay for essential equipment and to do work to establish access for school and educational visits.

Coun Bibby added: "Area Boards are all about working with and on behalf of local people. We hope more individuals will get involved and everyone is welcome to attend our next meeting."

The meet will be held on Monday June 2 at 7pm in St Stephen's Primary School on Colville Drive.

Anyone wanting to find out more information about the meeting, or the working of the Area Board generally, should contact area co-ordinator John Slater on 0161 253 6845 or email J.Slater@bury.gov.uk