Budget pressures stopped restoration funding

THE reason that Nottingham County Council was unable to continue with its funding towards the restoration of the Chesterfield Canal was because of budget pressures.

The Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, Kay Cutts, tells narrowboatworld:

Protect services

"Like all other Councils, we are facing considerable budget pressures and are having to find savings to protect services to the young, the old and the vulnerable. Difficult decisions have to be made and, sadly, this means we can no longer continue to provide funding for the Chesterfield Canal Partnership.

"We recognise the considerable achievements of the Partnership and we welcome any ideas on how we can work together in the future. The Council gave notice to the Partnership 12 months ago that the funding would end from April 2012, so this should not have come as a surprise. The intention of the early notice was to give the Partnership the chance to explore alternative options."

We learn that other councils too are considering withdrawing funding from canal restoration schemes, which is only to be expected in this age of pressure on their funds, with more councils being forced to rethink their funding decisions in the near future.