Heritage plans knocked back

Published: Friday, 12 March 2010

THE Plans to make Bingley Five Rise and Three Rise locks on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal into a major heritage attraction have been hit by reduced funding.

British Waterways was seeking grants totalling £300,000 to start a project to explain the importance of the canal during the industrial revolution, particularly at the locks, but this has to be scaled down due to a reduction in available funding—partly due to the cost of the 2012 Olympics.

But this has been slashed to just £35,000 from the WREN Landfill Communities Fund, which will be used to improve access around the locks, and the hope of eventually attracting more funding.

Jo Keegan, Regeneration Project Manager for British Waterways, explained:

"Since our first round application to the Heritage Lottery Fund last year, we have been advised by the HLF to make some adjustments to our proposals, and are working with them to redevelop our project.

In addition to work around the Five Rise Locks, it has been discovered that about £250,000 was to be spent on renovating the Three Rise lock cottage, as a heritage and interpretation centre to explain the role the canal played in the region's  history.

Jo added:

"A lot of the lottery funding has been diverted to the Olympics, so Heritage Lottery Fund has reduced its funding for heritage projects at the moment. The most important thing we want to do is deliver some better information at the site of the heritage of the listed structures."