PLANS for a new green walkway linking the most attractive walking and cycling routes in south-east Essex are about to be revealed.

The network, provisionally called the Three Rivers Trail, will link public rights of way, bridleways and cycle routes across urban and rural areas of Southend and Rochford in the area enclosed by the Thames, Roach and Crouch rivers.

Part of the EU’s Urban Habitats initiative and paid for with European money, it is hoped the trail will become a major tourist attraction for walkers and cyclists wanting to explore the region’s many historic and environmental sites.

The project involves Southend Council and a number of other organisations including Rotterdam Water Board, the Flemish Land Agency and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

Council bosses are exhibiting plans for the trail for the first time this weekend and are urging people to have their say.

The outline plans are being exhibited at the Park Centre Nursery in Wakering Road, Southend, this Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 2pm.

The exhibition will feature maps showing how pathways, cycle routes and bridleways could be linked together to form the trail.

There will be a second chance to see the exhibition when it moves to the Southend Pier Information Centre next weekend, on Saturday, May 28, and Sunday, May 29.