Cotswold Canals Restoration
The restoration of the Cotswold Canals will once again link England's two great rivers, the Thames and the Severn, and bring two of England's most picturesque inland waterways back to life. Made up of two waterways - the 7-mile (12km) Stroudwater Navigation and the 29-mile (46km) Thames & Severn Canal, when restored, the canals will form a continuous waterway from Saul Junction to Lechlade, including the 2-mile (4km) Sapperton Tunnel and 57 locks.
For the latest updates and information about the project please visit the Cotswold Canals Partnership website www.cotswoldcanalsproject.org.
In February 2008, British Waterways announced its decision to withdraw from the Cotswold Canals Partnership from April 2008. The move followed a review of funding commitments for the next financial year and the diversion of significant funds to progress the urgent first phase of a repair programme for the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal in Wales, which is expected to cost in the region of £15 million over four years.
British Waterways' aim is to get the Cotswold Canals project into a fit state to hand over and the following is a list of some of the work in progress and completed:
Work in progress:
- Oil Mills due to end April 2008
- Flood Risk Assessment - Ryeford to Ebley - will be complete mid Feb
- Water mass transfer modelling
- Goughs Orchard ground investigation
- People counters installed by end March
- Capel Mill Pt IIA ground investigations begun today (BW inputting ecological and archaeological support)
Work done since HLF award end March 06:
- Oil Mills canal excavation and bridge underway
- Conservation Management Plan published
- Environmental Statement ready for planning application
- 196 volunteer training days delivered
- 697 volunteer days of work delivered
- 2 Local Interpretative projects underway - Stroud (4 installations), Brimscombe
- Tree works underway in preparation for restoration
- Paddle design
- Extensive ground investigations, ecological and heritage surveys
- Strategic flood risk assessment of canal corridor (by Stroud)
- Industrial Heritage Conservation Area statement (by Stroud)
- Area Action Plan for Brimscombe (underway by Stroud)
- National Heritage Training Academy (SW) established
Announcing the news for withdrawal, Robin Evans, Chief Executive said: "We have thought long and hard over this decision and know it will disappoint our partners in the project. Ultimately, however, we have a finite pot of money and the needs of our existing waterways must take priority.
"Around 16 miles of the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal is currently closed and will require significant investment from us over the next 18 months as we undertake a massive repair programme to reopen it. These works are essential for those businesses and communities that depend upon and contribute to the canal and we are committed to getting it up and running in time for the 2009 cruising season."
While the failure of the lottery funding bid for the Cotswold Canals restoration (known as Phase 1B) was a major setback for project, British Waterways remains optimistic that the restoration will be achieved in the future.
"We hope that the £1.5million we have invested in the project to date will help to lay the foundations for the canals' ultimate restoration and reintegration with the national network," said Robin Evans. "In the meantime we will continue and complete the works at Oil Mills, expected at the end of April 2008, and shall work with the partnership to ensure an orderly handover of all the good work that has been achieved thus far so that it can provide maximum benefit to the remaining partners in the project."
The decision will not affect British Waterways' involvement in other canal restoration projects which include: the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal; the Helix project in Grangemouth; the Bow Back Rivers in London; the Liverpool Link and; the Droitwich Canals.
