Canal group wants help to build new Derby cycleway

By cmallett chris mallett cmallett@derbytelegraph.co.uk

A HERITAGE group that wants to build a new cycleway for Derbyshire is calling for help from businesses after its plans were hit by the credit crunch.

The Derby and Sandiacre Canal Trust wants to build the track, at a cost of between £700,000 and £1m, along the route of the former waterway.

It would run for seven-and-a-half miles from the Erewash Canal junction at Sandiacre to Pride Park, via Breaston, Draycott and Borrowash.

The trust want the track to be the first step towards rebuilding the Derby and Sandiacre Canal and making it navigable again.

If planning permission is granted for the £40m-£60m canal project, it would become the waterway's towpath.

But now the credit crunch has left the trust struggling for initial cash to help it unlock a £42,500 grant from Derby City Partnership to cost and design the path. Chairman Rob Hartley said the trust needed to show its intent by raising, or "match-funding", £17,000 towards the project itself.

He said that two property developers planning to build on intact parts of the canal, at Draycott and Spondon, had been expected to provide some cash but that the downturn in the real estate markets meant this had been withdrawn.

Mr Hartley said: "If local businesses were prepared to invest they would be making a big difference to the community.

"Derby is the only city in the country without a navigable waterway.

"If we want to bid for things like the World Cup, then we need green amenities like the cycleway and footway."

He said that the path, which already exists for one-and-a-half miles between Draycott and Breaston, would be used by walkers, runners, bikers and as a bridleway.

It would form the centrepiece of a scheme to improve the appearance of the canal route with landscaping, tree-planting, flower beds and benches.

A planning application for the track would be submitted to South Derbyshire District Council, Erewash Borough Council and Derby City Council if the three authorities grant outline planning permission for the trust to develop the canal corridor.

Mr Hartley said an application was due to be registered with the councils next month.

He said planning permission could be granted by the end of this year and the path built by June next year.

The trust would apply for money to build the path from, among other groups, the three councils and East Midlands Development Agency. The plans have been backed in principle by urban regeneration company Derby Cityscape.

Director of development David Marshall said the firm had been in discussions with the trust for some time.

He said: "The path would enhance linkages between the city centre and outlying communities.

"It would generally make the city centre more accessible and build on the existing cycle routes."

The city council's cabinet member for planning and transportation, Lucy Care, said she was looking forward to seeing the trust's proposals.

She said: "I support canals and I support walking and cycling routes but I will need to look at the details to see if these plans are right for Derby."

Businesses wishing to help should e-mail Mr Hartley at rob.hartley@derbycanal.org. uk.