Money for the Kennet & Avon

BRITISH Waterways, working with the Trustees of the Town, Manor of Hungerford and Natural England, will be carrying out a £400,000 project this summer.

This is to improve a section of the Kennet & Avon Canal to benefit canal users and local wildlife during this, the canal's bicentenary year, a spokesman relates.

Dredged

Over 1,500m of eroded canal bank will be reinstated and a 2,800m section of the canal from Cobblers Lock and Hungerford Swing Bridge and also between Dun Mill Lock and Wire Lock will be dredged, removing around 5,000m3 of silt from the canal.

British Waterways' ecologist, Oda Dijksterhuis, explains:

Water voles

"This area of the Kennet & Avon Canal is an important wildlife habitat, particularly for water voles. The works that we are undertaking along this stretch have been designed so that they balance the creation of a suitable ecological environment with the current use of the canal corridor.

"We will be recycling the dredged material from the canal and using it to create a more stable canal bank that water voles can also make a home in. These new banks will then be protected with pre-planted coir rolls that are made out of coconut husk. Any remaining dredgings will be spread on nearby agricultural land, as it makes great fertilizer too."

Affecting game fishery

We are told the stabilisation of the bank will reduce the risk of water passing from the canal to the Dunn and affecting the game fishery, and the dredging will improve the depth of the canal making it easier for boats to travel along this stretch of the waterway.

Representatives from British Waterways will be on-hand at an exhibition explaining the works that are planned. People will be able to view plans and ask questions, as well as finding out ways to get involved with helping to protect the plants and the ecological habitat along this stretch of the canal. This is at Hungerford Town Hall, between 10.00am and 4.00pm on Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd July.