A 300m length of the Cotswold Canals near Stroud has been restored to its former glory and the towpath alongside reopened.
The £110,000 contract was carried out by Land & Water Services and involved dredging 4500 tonnes of material from the canal between Lodgemore Bridge and Wallbridge Lower Lock. The material was deposited on the bank of the canal, avoiding the need to dispose of it and the environmental impact of several hundred lorry journeys.
The dredging, together with ongoing construction of a bypass channel around Wallbridge Lower Lock, was made possible by a generous £100,000 grant from The Veolia Environmental Trust, awarded through the Landfill Communities Fund. The overall canal restoration project is mainly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Stroud District Council
Cllr Simon Pickering, the Chair of Stroud District Council’s Environment Committee, said “This work was completed on time and on budget. It has created another length of open navigable canal and has transformed the area behind Homebase. I regularly cycle along there and it’s already noticeable that species of wildlife preferring open water are colonising the new area Our thanks go to The Veolia Environmental Trust, whose generous grant enabled us to go ahead with this work.”
The Executive Director of The Veolia Environmental Trust, Paul Taylor, said
“It is good to hear that this work is now complete and that the canal can now be used and enjoyed by walkers, cyclists and boaters. The fact that is becoming home to a wide range of species is an added bonus. I look forward to hearing about the stretch developing and thriving in the future.”
The next step is for the canal edge to be seeded and for reed edging to be planted at the right time of year.
A note of caution was sounded by Cllr Pickering: “The area where the dredgings were deposited is still very wet and contains deep mud. Although it’s a very inaccessible area, parents do need to make sure their children don’t go exploring and get stuck or worse.”
The completed canal at Lodgemore and the ongoing work at Wallbridge can be viewed on live webcams – www.stroud.gov.uk/canalcams