Zoo Trails is one of the pioneering projects showcased in DCN’s series of videos celebrating district councils’ 50th anniversary. You can see Cherwell’s video here.

The routes in Kidlington, which vary in length from 1.7km to 5km, are marked by paw prints on the ground and have features along the way such as picnic areas, child-friendly games, bug houses, scramble boulders and balancing logs.

Zoo Trails commemorates the area’s heritage as the former home of Oxford Zoo and has been funded by Sport England and the National Lottery, as well as Cherwell itself. They were created by the council’s healthy place shaping team.

Cherwell has produced a map showing the routes of Monkey Trail, Lion Trail, Elephant Trail, Big Bear Trail and Bear Cub Trail.

Kelly White, Cherwell’s Healthy Place Shaping Partner, said: “During the design phase, we attended community events where we spoke to residents about their opinion on the theme. We wanted to create ownership over the routes.”

Children were also heavily involved in the design and were balloted to choose the route mascot names: Rosie the elephant, Hannah the lion, Molly the monkey, and Barney and Baloo the bears.

Kidlington Primary School headteacher Emilie Fidler said: “We like the Monkey Trail. It goes past our front gate and back gates and we feel it encourages active travel.”

One of her pupils said: “Sometimes you think that walking is boring but with Zoo Trails, it’s actually fun.”

Oxhey Activity Park, which is commissioned and managed by Watford Borough Council, was built using sustainable materials on a brownfield site and has gone on to gain national recognition.

You can watch Watford’s video here.

Chris Taylor, chief executive of Freestyle Skateparks, said: “What we’ve built is something which should take the youngest participant from the playground through skate lessons or balance bike lessons and it should really keep their active lifestyle going.

“Along the way we are serving Olympic hopefuls – it’s here for everyone, it should cater for everyone and it should be a real success.”

Peter Taylor, Watford’s mayor, said: “Watford Council is committed to making sure that we have the best possible services that are accessible for all of our residents.”

The activity park, which opened in 2021, won a landscape design award at the Building Futures Awards

Watford’s video will be shown to MPs and peers at DCN’s reception commemorating districts’ 50^th birthday on 5 June, alongside other videos including those showing Pendle Borough Council’s regeneration of Colne town centre and Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s work on constructing a new garden town.

The council’s leadership of the rebuilding of the town’s market and three theatres is the theme of the latest in a series of the films produced by councils to showcase their work as part of the DCN-led 50th anniversary celebrations for district councils.

You can watch Pendle’s film here.

The Colne Muni theatre is being rebuilt to improve energy efficiency while capacity and accessibility will improve at the Pendle Hippodrome and Little Theatre.

Meanwhile, Colne’s market is being rebuilt as part of a £4.8m scheme, funded with £3m of Government funding, as well as investment from the council.

Colne resident Sarah Lee said: “Pendle is a small district but by working together we’re achieving big things.

“By creating this new heritage quarter we’re going to breathe new life into three very individual theatres. It will make a transformation of Colne, for those who live here and those who visit.”

The first video in the series saw Folkestone & Hythe District Council explain how it is building up to 10,000 new homes in a garden town on the site of the district’s former racecourse.

The 164 district councils have been running the most visible local government services – including driving our local economies and planning, waste collection, housing, homelessness prevention, welfare, parks, leisure centres and regeneration – since 1 April 1974. They were created by the Local Government Act 1972 which shook up council boundaries nationwide.

To commemorate the anniversary, the District Councils’ Network has launched the first in a series of videos showing our member councils’ innovation in response to the specific challenges their local area faces.

The first film shows Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s work to drive forward a new garden town of up to 10,000 new homes on the site of a disused racecourse.

The Otterpool Park development will feature seven schools and several health centres and it aims to boost biodiversity, with 50% of land remaining accessible. The development is due to be served by an upgraded station.

You can see the film by clicking here.

Further films will be added in the coming months to build up a library showcasing the work of district councils.

Cllr Sam Chapman-Allen, Chairman of the District Councils’ Network, said: “Over the past half-century district councils have proved their value to their local communities. Our status as the most localised principal authorities gives us a unique advantage as place leaders and local convenors. We are the ‘local’ in local government.

“We make our places more prosperous, support people when they need it and strengthen our communities. It is a track record of success which we will build on as we embrace the challenges of the next 50 years.

“Of course, no one can predict what the next half century holds but we can be confident that being close to communities will continue to bring results.”

In the film, Folkestone & Hythe leader Cllr Jim Martin said: “There really is no other body that could have co-ordinated this kind of development. The development is too big for any individual developer and the district council can take a forward look.”

The council’s co-ordinating role sees it drawing together developers, the local county council and community and parish councils.

• You can read more about the work of district councils here.
• And you can read research on how our communities value the work of their district councils here.