RESIDENTS in Winsford can now to have a say on improving their town.

Involve Winsford is a new participatory budgeting initiative designed to put the community at the centre of decision making.

Winsford Town Council is encouraging people to suggest ways to make their community a better place to live.

All the ideas must be submitted on a new digital platform.

Each suggestion will be considered by councillors and the most viable projects will be voted on by the whole community.

A budget of £31,500 has been set aside to put the chosen ideas into action.

Only ideas submitted on the online platform will be considered and eligible for funding under the scheme.

Winsford mayor Cllr Ailsa Gaskill-Jones said: "We will be working with groups and individuals in the community to encourage as many people as possible to get involved in Involve Winsford and take a lead in local decision-making.

"Help will be available from the council with getting proposals together. What we want is for people to take ownership of projects that matter to them and if they can convince their community to vote for them, we’ll work together to make it happen.”

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Involve Winsford has been developed by the community engagement and participation committee which has brought together town councillors and local residents from the three neighbourhoods to look at issues, work with agencies to address issues, pilot initiatives and share experiences.

Winsford town clerk Mark Bailey believes that Involve Winsford can make a real difference to how residents feel about their community.

Mr Bailey said: "This scheme is a fantastic way to widen community involvement and build the capacity of residents to tackle their own issues. The concept is about far more than a pot of cash.It’s about developing new ways for local people to bring about improvements to their own communities.”

To suggest an idea visit https://winsford.gov.uk/involve-winsford/