NW/127/02
DRAFT

Top waterways executives made a whistle stop tour of the Lancaster Canal’s Northern Reaches – the final piece to be slotted into the national waterways jigsaw joining London to the Lakes.

The Waterways Trust met at Levens Hall before visiting key sites on the final stretch of the Lancaster Canal, which is awaiting restoration. A 14 mile length from Kendal to Tewitfield, north of Carnforth, was separated from the rest of the Lancaster Canal after it was severed in three places by the construction of the M6 motorway.

The party, escorted by Northern Reaches Restoration Group Chairman Hal Bagot and Claire Chapman, Lancaster Canal Marketing Officer, finished the tour at the newly refurbished Change Line bridge in Kendal town centre, which will be the canal’s terminus after restoration.

The group welcomed the news that South Lakeland District Council has given £40,000 and Kendal Town Council £5,000 towards the early stages of the restoration project.

Claire Chapman, British Waterways Lancaster Canal marketing officer, said: “The project will have a major impact on the local and regional economy, in addition to opening up our inland waterways system from the south coast to the Lake District.

“Lancaster Canal is one of the UK’s most picturesque waterways. Completing the final 14 miles will enable holidaymakers and local communities to share in its unique beauty and tranquillity.”

The Northern Reaches Restoration Group aims to restore the Lancaster Canal to Canal Head, Kendal, and comprises of seven partners - The Lancaster Canal Trust, Lancashire County Council, Lancaster City Council, Cumbria County Council, South Lakeland District Council, The Inland Waterways Association and British Waterways

The 14½ mile (25km) Northern Reaches of the Lancaster Canal were effectively blocked in the 1960s by the construction of the M6 which severed the waterway in three places.

A feasibility study on the restoration of the Northern Reaches of the Lancaster Canal has been produced. The proposed scheme tackles three motorway and four trunk road crossings and includes the enhancement and conservation of 52 historically important and listed structures. A desk top Conservation Plan study of the area has been commissioned, with a view to having a full conservation plan established by March 2003. The group is also in discussions with the NWDA, who will commission an economic impact study – showing the full value of the project to the north west.

A strategy for funding of this vast scheme has also begun to take shape, and is being led by The Waterways Trust, who have become the eighth partner in the Northern Reaches Restoration Group.

Project statistics and projections:
14½ miles (25km) long
£30million scheme
could create nearly 2,000 jobs
would attract more than one million visitors per year
would generate over £14million pa income from visitors

British Waterways is the public corporation responsible for the care and enhancement of the nation’s 2,000-mile two centuries old network of canals and rivers, working in partnerships with public, private and voluntary organisations to develop and improve the waterways in a sustainable manner. Our navigations are visited over 160 million times each year by 10 million people, who spend around £1.5 billion annually. In addition, British Waterways estimates that waterway restoration has acted as a catalyst for £2 billion of regeneration investment. www.britishwaterways.co.uk

For further information please contact:
Claire Chapman Marketing Officer British Waterways 01524 751888 or 07789 980770 or Debbie Lumb, Lancaster Canal Manager, British Waterways.