A PROJECT aiming to improve a beck running through parts of the Bradford district has received a £74,500 funding boost from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

According to the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Clifton Beck, which runs through Brighouse and Bailiff Bridge, currently has a ‘moderate’ classification, placing it among some of the “poorest functioning” rivers in the UK.

It has been given a target of achieving a ‘good’ ecological condition by 2017.

The trust will start work this month and hopes to compete its project by April 2018, with support from the Environment Agency, the Calder and Colne Rivers Trust, and Bradford and Calderdale Councils.

The main aims of the project are to improve water quality issues within the beck and increase the amount and quality of physical space available for nature to recover, as well as providing opportunities for local people to play a part in the recovery.

Work will include improving the condition of 64 hectares of habitat on three sites along Clifton Beck, training volunteers in practical environmental skills including surveying and monitoring, working with local land managers to raise awareness of sensitive land management practices, and working with local primary school children to raise awareness about water quality issues.

The lottery funding will allow community involvement in the scheme via volunteers work days and other outreach events.

Ailsa Henderson, project officer at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, said: “We are thrilled to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund along with other contributing partners, and are confident the project will bring great benefits to the community and the local environment.”

A spokesman for the Environment Agency added: “We are delighted the Clifton Beck project has been granted Heritage Lottery Funding which will guarantee the proposed work will be delivered.

“We are very pleased to be supporting this work and the partnership, as together we can achieve so much more.

“Clifton Beck is currently classed as failing under the Water Framework Directive.

“The project will help improve this, achieving better water quality and biodiversity.

“In addition, it provides the opportunity of involving the local community in recognising the value of their local natural environment and heritage and the benefit it brings.”

Fiona Spiers, head of the HLF in Yorkshire and the Humber, said she hoped the project would inspire people to protect local heritage for future generations.

She said: “This is a fantastic project that will allow people to try their hand at something new and feel the sense of pride and ownership at helping preserve Yorkshire’s natural heritage.”