The contest, televised on ITV, has as its prize the biggest ever Lottery grant to be decided by public vote.
Four projects are in the running: Black Country Urban Park; The Edge at the Eden Project; Sherwood: The Living Legend; and Sustrans’ Connect2. Vote for your favourite at www.thepeoples50million.org.uk.
“It is thanks to the public’s support of the Lottery that this kind of investment in good causes can happen – so we want everyone to vote for their favourite project!" Said Sir Clive Booth, Chair of the Big Lottery Fund.
Black Country Urban Park is a proposal to unlock the area’s underground limestone caverns and hand-dug canals which have been closed for hundreds of years. It also includes plans for a park linking open spaces between Walsall and West Bromwich, with a 12-mile pathway as its spine.
The Edge at the Eden Project is a new building that would explore the ingenious solutions that both plants and people use when they live ‘on the edge’, featuring a huge oasis exemplifying how life depends on energy and water.
Sherwood: The Living Legend is a plan to expand the ancient oak forest, provide environmentally friendly visitor facilities and create a 250-km network of paths and bridleways. An extra 300 hectares of forest would be planted to stitch together the fragmented forest.
Connect2 is Sustrans’ collection of 79 practical projects, from walking and cycling bridges to tunnels and ferries, all designed to overcome obstacles like busy roads and rivers to make journeys easier.
Voting closes at 12 noon on Monday December 10 2007 and the winner will be announced on Wednesday December 12. Go to www.thepeoples50million.org.uk for more details and to vote.
