Unlike some more well-known infrastructure projects, the Shropshire Union Canal Society’s contract to rebuild Crickheath Tramway Wharf and restore nearly 400m of the Montgomery Canal is coming in under budget and ahead of schedule. The work is being funded from the Shropshire Council Rural Prosperity Fund which sets stringent conditions for completion of the work.
Given the progress that has been made, the Fund has authorised additional work preparing a further 130m for subsequent restoration.
As all work funded by the RPF must be complete by April 2025, further work must be paid for from the Restore the Monty Appeal so fundraising continues apace.
Project manager, Tom Fulda, (who is too modest to mention his own project management skills) said, “I put this success down to ‘relentlessly frugal purchasing’ and our ability to attract a skilled volunteer workforce”.
This project was recently featured in a report by Shropshire Council on the benefits of the RPF in which Mark Jones, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for growth and regeneration, said of the scheme: “It is proving to be such a great success that we hope that similar funding will be made available to us beyond 2025.”
See how you can help us do more for less here: https://shropshireunion.org.uk/get-involved
