Conservationist wants no boats on the Montgomery canal

THE television presenter and nature conservationist, Iolo Williams, believes the Montgomery Canal restoration should be for nature only.

He complains about the waterways being used for boats, Janet Friend reports.

He telling the Powys County Council’s cabinet:

Passage of boats be justified

“Having declared a nature emergency some two years ago, how can supporting large sums of public money on preparing the Montgomery Canal for the passage of motorised boats be justified?

“It is known that even small numbers of motorised boats would damage the ecology of this Special Area of Conservation (SAC), and it is also known that most of the economic potential from canals is derived from towpath usage, not from the passage of boats.”

He is of course wrong on both counts, as the Montgomery Canal was built for boats and is so being restored for boats.

Towpaths create no money whatsoever

And the towpaths create no money whatsoever with boats having to pay for licences of around £1,000 each and more, for use of the canals.

Two cabinet members, Councillor Jack Charlton and Councillor David Selby, stressed that the restoration project includes building two new nature reserves.