RESTORATION TRUST
PRESS RELEASE
Trust welcomes boost for Montgomery Canal restoration
The Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust has welcomed this week's announcement (19th March) by British Waterways and The Waterways Trust that the Montgomery Canal is to be part of £50 million biggest-ever programme of waterway restorations.
The British Waterways announcement has identified nine priority projects across the country, either new projects or the restoration of old canal routes. Their figures show that these projects can deliver £100 million a year into the districts benefiting from these projects, creating 13,000 jobs.
Trust Chairman Michael Limbrey said, "After many years of campaigning, the value of our waterway system is recognised by the fact that today waterways are being reopened as fast as they were opened in the first place, two centuries ago.
"For many years the Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust and its members have worked in partnership with British Waterways to restore the Montgomery Canal and we are thrilled that they have included the Montgomery Canal in this programme.
"To realise what this announcement means, you have only to look at the scale of the projects which have recently been finished, or which will be finished in the near future. These include two canals across the Pennines closed in the 1940s and '50s and one across the Scottish Lowlands, closed in the 1960s. It is the fact that the reopening of these canals will bring great opportunities to their localities which has led to some massive engineering works to achieve their restoration.
"Here on the Montgomery Canal we are confident of the benefits of restoration. We have a well-established partnership covering all aspects of the restoration, and we have already restored nearly half the canal which was abandoned 60 years ago.
"The extra impetus from this announcement will help us to build up the funding for the next stages of restoration. We have to rewater the dry section to Llanymynech and remove the other obstacles to navigation, to reconnect mid-Wales to the national waterway network.
"The Montgomery Canal is a wonderful canal, passing through a lovely area. It has a unique built and natural heritage which we will be conserving as restoration proceeds. Reopening will provide real benefits to the communities of the Shropshire-Powys border. It will create a focus for regeneration, providing jobs and business opportunities, and will be an asset for visitors and residents for years to come."
END
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION Contact -
Michael Limbrey, Chairman, Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust
Greenfields, Weston Lane, Oswestry, Salop. ( (day) 01743 350571; (home) 01691 654081