Council reviews role in canal project

AUSTERITY is forcing Leicestershire County Council bosses to take a step back from the project to restore the Ashby Canal.

Members of the Ashby Canal Society are poised to take over as leaders of the restoration project from Snarestone to Measham once the government gives the go ahead.

A Leicestershire County Council spokesperson said: “We continue to support the ambition to restore Ashby Canal, however, due to ongoing austerity challenges, we’re reviewing our role in the project.

“This will include looking at alternative ways, including working with partners, to deliver the restoration in the future.”

According to the Ashby Canal Society the council has offered the society all the land it owns on the restoration route along with cash earmarked for restoration and legal powers to get the work done. But the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has to approve the deal before the land, cash and legal powers can be handed over.

The Ashby Canal runs for 22 miles from Marston Junction of the Coventry Canal to Snarestone. There is also an isolated section of one and a half miles from Donisthorpe to Moira. The section between Snarestone and the isolated stretch was closed because of mining subsidence.

People can make a comment on the council’s offer to the Ashby Canal Association via the association’s website at www.ashbycanal.org. uk.