TWO walkways through the Deadwater Valley Local Nature Reserve, in Whitehill and Bordon, opened this week having been installed over the summer.

The Meadow View Boardwalk and a new gangway in Alexandra Park were unveiled on Tuesday.

The Deadwater Valley Local Nature Reserve is an “essential wildlife corridor” between the Special Protection Areas of Woolmer Forest in the south and Broxhead Common in the north.

The Deadwater Valley Trust received £69,000 from East Hampshire District Council to improve sections of the paths as part of the so-called Green Loop, which will run through the existing town and the new development areas.

The work was carried out by two Hampshire contractors - Morton:Pattison, from Kings Worthy, and Gecko Designs, from Whitehill.

District council chairman Tony Muldoon, who is also a town councillor, and Eileen Grinter, a Meadow View resident, opened the Meadow View Boardwalk and then crossed Jubilee Park to open the gangway.

Dr Bill Wain, chairman of the Deadwater Valley Trust, said: “This work at Meadow View has been a long time coming and will complete an essential part of the pathways in the reserve, as well as confirming the place of the reserve in the eventual Green Loop for the town.”

Whitehill mayor Sally Pond added: “I am so pleased that these very important works have been achieved and wish to thank the Deadwater Valley Trust for their hard work and commitment to the town.”

Mr Muldoon said the restored pathways “look fantastic and will be an asset to the reserve”. “I am delighted the district council could provide the funding to allow these works to go ahead and I look forward to seeing walkers regularly use them as part of Whitehill and Bordon’s new Green Loop,” he added.

Paul Pattison, director of contractor Morton:Pattison, said it had been “great to be involved in a project that helps people to access the natural environment in their local area”.

And Dan Youngs, of Gecko Designs, added: “As a local company based in Whitehill, I was delighted to quote for a boardwalk for the Deadwater Valley Trust.

“I use the area regularly and it is nice to see work has been done and hopefully will encourage more people to use the area.”