Wales Office Minister Dame Nia Griffith has been in Welshpool and Llanymynech to see how work is progressing on a major project to restore the Montgomery Canal.
The scheme, which is being delivered in partnership by Powys County Council and Glandŵr Cymru (the Canal and River Trust in Wales), has received £13.94 million from the UK Government as part of its Levelling Up programme.
Dame Nia viewed improvements that have been made to Y Lanfa, in Welshpool, the home of the town’s library and the Powysland Museum, before visiting Wern, near Pool Quay, and then Llanymynech.
At Wern, contractors working for Glandŵr Cymru are creating a new pond alongside the canal for protected species of aquatic plants and other wildlife. And at Llanymynech, work has begun on a new bridge which will take Carreghofa Lane over the canal, instead of through it.
Wales Office Minister Nia Griffiths said:
“It’s fantastic to see the huge progress that’s being made to restore the Montgomery Canal and preserving our industrial heritage for generations to come.
“Funding from the UK Government has enabled this ambitious plan to be delivered, creating jobs, supporting the tourist industry, and restoring vital wildlife habitats.”
Before seeing work on the canal restoration project, Dame Nia also visited Welshpool-based manufacturer CastAlum, which received a Business Growth Grant through Powys County Council last year worth £25,000.
It put the money it received through the grant scheme, which was backed by £1.2 million from the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund, towards the cost of updating two of its die-cast machines, as part of a wider refurbishment programme.
“It was great having the opportunity to show Dame Nia around two projects in Powys last week which have benefitted from UK Government funding,” said Councillor James Gibson-Watt, Powys County Council’s Cabinet Member for a More Prosperous Powys.
“CastAlum was one of 71 Powys companies that we were able to support over the last two years thanks to the Shared Prosperity Fund, while the Levelling Up funding is helping transform the prospects of the Montgomery Canal, its ecology and the communities living alongside it.”
Richard Harrison, principal project manager at Glandŵr Cymru, added:
“It was fantastic to welcome Dame Nia to the canal to show her the work that's taking place to restore it. We are making good progress on the restoration as we look to make the improvements that will ensure the sustainable long-term future of the canal so it can continue to benefit both people and nature.”
The National Lottery Heritage Fund has also contributed £164,000 towards the cost of the work on Y Lanfa, while the Welsh Government put £140,000 towards the refurbishment of the canalside cottages on the same site, as part of its Transforming Towns programme.
Work on Aberbechan Aqueduct, near Newtown, was also backed with a Historic Building Grant from Cadw.
SWG Group, based in Welshpool, has almost completed the works on Y Lanfa.
The library is expected to reopen in its usual home, on the ground floor, in September, while the Powysland Museum is likely to reopen, on the first floor, towards the end of 2025 or in early 2026.
The library is temporarily based in the nearby canalside cottages.
