Will this be the end of the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal?

A DECISION by Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW) means that Canal & River Trust can no longer take water from the Usk to feed the Monmouth & Brecon Canal.

This was the result of a long dispute between the trust and  the regulator Natural Resources Wales (NRW), Keith Gudgin reports.

Favoured Natural Resources Wales

And ended by Planning and Environment Decisions Wales with a resolution which favoured NRW that only licence holders can take water from the river.

The trust has been taking water from the Usk and its tributaries for decades, but in 2017 it was decided that only licence holders could take water from the Usk under the Water Resources Act 1991.

It had a costly licence with NRW to take water from the Usk and the Afon Llwyd, but now the trust says the conditions within the licence are too strict and could lead to the canal running dry.

The trust appealed the conditions to PEDW last year arguing that while it was necessary to limit the volumes of water taken to protect the Usk and the Severn Estuary, the limitations imposed were too restrictive and would have an adverse impact on navigation and the structure of the canal and its ecology.

Appeals rejected

Both those appeals have been rejected with the inspector concluding the conditions were necessary to protect the integrity of the Usk and Severn Estuary special areas of conservation (SACs) which must be prioritised over the canal, with Canal & River Trust's Mark Evans, director for Wales and the south west explaining:

“This poses a serious long-term risk to the future viability of the canal. Normal usage of the canal requires a healthy water supply. We are faced with a choice between having to pay prohibitive costs for additional water supply, severely restricting the use of the canal in an effort to keep it from running completely dry or, at worst, seeing structural failure, environmental harm and damage to the local economy because of a lack of water.”

 There is so much concern that Monmouth MS Peter Fox raised it in the Senedd at plenary, telling members:

“The Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal is one of the most picturesque waterways in the UK, attracting millions of visitors a year and contributing significantly to the economy and people and communities of south Wales. It is reliant on water abstracted from the River Usk with 80% of the water needed to feed the canal abstracted from the river.

"The water is only in effect borrowed from the Usk as the canal flows back into the river at Newport. However, recently, new restrictions attached to water abstraction licences mean the CRT is now required to limit its abstraction from the Usk which poses a serious risk to the future viability of the canal.

The trust now faces a choice of having to pay an eye-watering £1 million or more for the water supply that has been free for two centuries or severely restrict use of the canal.”

Canal will run dry

Boaters have told WalesOnline they share fears the canal will run dry this summer or following summers, with one boater, Roger Taylor telling:

“Because of the shallowness of the canal it’s a struggle to get from one winding hole to another as it is.

“The canal is supposed to be four feet deep but often I’ll be lucky if it’s two. Any reduction in water from the Usk at Brecon will make the canal unnavigable—I’ve no doubt about that. Even now you can tell as you’re cruising along at four miles per hour and slowly, slowly, slowly you’ll come to a stop. That’s because the boat is literally scraping the bottom of the canal bed.”

Another boater, Paula Davies, remarked:

"I’m worried we’ll need to move the boats this summer. I’ll have to pay about £2,000 to have it lifted out and put on a lorry and transported to the main network. It’ll be such a shame because I absolutely love it here.

When I get back here from work and I’m driving over that mountain and I come down into Llangattock I stop and take it all in and breathe. I get my deck chair out all weathers and I stop and listen to silence. I can’t imagine life without it."

The waterway runs from Brecon to the Five Locks Basin at Cwmbran and is 35 miles long.