Huge boost to Welshpool’s canal plans

Glandŵr Cymru, the Canal & River Trust in Wales, has received a grant from the Welsh Government’s Landfill Disposals Tax Communities Scheme, administered by Wales Council for Voluntary Action, to help rare plants thrive on the Montgomery Canal near Welshpool.

The £50,000 grant will support the charity’s work to control invasive species, carry out bank protection and dredging, plant and improve hedgerows, and install ‘leaky dams’: a type of natural flood management to help manage water flow and reduce erosion.

Designated a site of special scientific interest, the canal is also internationally recognised as a special area of conservation, particularly for its aquatic plant diversity.

Invasive species such as water soldier will be removed along a five-mile stretch of the canal by a volunteer operated weed cutting boat, protecting the rare floating water-plantain and grass-wrack pondweed, and preventing the spread of harmful species.

An underwater barrier will be installed at Abbey winding hole, an area where boats can turn on the canal, to protect the bank. The area will be dredged to ensure the canal remains deep enough for navigation by the trip boat for vulnerable and less abled adults and children operated by the Welshpool-based Heulwen Trust.

Five leaky dams are being installed south of Welshpool at Belan. A local volunteer group will be working with contractors to plant and lay hedgerows to boost biodiversity and provide natural barriers.

David Morgan, Development Manager for Glandŵr Cymru, explained: “The Montgomery Canal is nationally important for floating water-plantain and grass-wrack pondweed, species that are vulnerable to pollution and competition from invasive species. The work that we will be able to carry out as a result of this funding will improve the health of the canal and allow these rare plants to flourish.

“Up to five miles of natural habitat each side of Welshpool are being restored. The brilliant volunteers who are taking on this work will be trained in invasive species control and hedgerow planting, and will help support the long-term sustainability of this area after the work is completed.”

John Dodwell, Montgomery Canal Partnership Chair, said: “I am very pleased that this further grant has been awarded to help improve the biodiversity of the canal.

“Maintaining the 13 miles either side of Welshpool which have already been restored is an important task. It will help the valued volunteers who do so much for the canal, whether in operating the trip boat for the disabled or by being part of the TRAMPs group who help to maintain the canal.”

Elsewhere on the canal, Glandŵr Cymru are working to restore a 4.4-mile section of canal between Llanymynech and Maerdy that has not been navigable since the 1930s, thanks to a grant from the UK government.

To learn more about Glandŵr Cymru's work, and to find out how you can support through donations or volunteering, visit canalrivertrust.org.uk.