RESIDENTS are invited to select an animal for at Chester Zoo for Winsford Town Council to adopt.

The competition is the first activity to be launched on the council's new online community engagement platform, Involve Winsford.

Everyone who suggests an animal will be entered into a draw to win tickets to visit Chester Zoo and various other goodies.

Winsford mayor Cllr Ailsa Gaskill-Jones said: "This is an exciting and innovative development and reflects the desire of the Town Council to engage with its residents wherever possible.

“The Involve Winsford site provides the tools to offer information, organise consultation, poll people on their views and to ask for ideas from the public for future Town Council projects.

Northwich Guardian:

Winsford mayor Cllr Ailsa Gaskill-Jones is encouraging residents to get involved in the new community platform

"We really hope that everyone registers and gets involved and has a say. It will help enormously in the work we do."

The council has developed the project in conjunction with the Citizen Lab company.

The platform gives the opportunity to consult with local residents on its future plans as well as putting their own ideas forward for discussion.

Citizen Lab has been tried and tested by forward thinking authorities around the globe and the results have been extremely impressive.

The council has signed up to an initial pilot until August 2020 and will be monitoring results closely. It is hoped that it will prove a valuable community resource.

The platform will be in the form of a website where Winsford residents can register to get involved.

Northwich Guardian:

Residents are invited to choose an animal for the council to adopt at Chester Zoo Picture:Danielle Hough

This financial year the council set aside £31,500 for what’s known as ‘participatory budgeting’ which puts the community in the driving seat to submit project ideas and decide which they want the council to implement within the allocated budget.

Citizen Lab facilitates this process online so residents can participate especially whilst Covid-19 continues to prevent us from meeting up to discuss in person.

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To get everyone used to the site and how it works, the council is launching the platform with a fun family project.

At a recent meeting, councillors voted unanimously to support Chester Zoo in their time of great financial need by adopting an animal in the name of Winsford residents.

Visit involve.winsford.gov.uk/en/projects/chester-zoo/process to select an animal you would like the council to adopt.