Campaigners Express Concern Over Apartment Scheme’s Impact on Canal Restoration

Heritage campaigners have issued a warning that a proposed apartment development could jeopardize the restoration of the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal, described as “one of the last surviving artefacts” of a city’s industrial past. Developer H20 Urban intends to construct residential units and a small park on a currently buried segment of the 1791 waterway. The Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal Society, established to restore the canal, stated that the project would hinder efforts to reinstate the waterway to its original condition. Paul Hindle, chair of the society, commented that the plans “significantly hindered the prospects for restoration of the canal.” He elaborated that the planned path would directly overlay the future watercourse if the canal were restored, necessitating its removal should restoration proceed. Conversely, a spokesperson for H20 Urban asserted that the plan was conceived in a “sympathetic” manner “to ensure the future restoration of the canal is protected.” The developer indicated that the plan was formulated following consultations with the Canal & River Trust and after conducting “extensive” discussions with the society. The spokesperson added that restoring the canal as part of this specific project was deemed unfeasible due to the “prohibitive cost.” The developer’s proposal includes landscaping the area and installing a new path along the route of the former waterway, specifically a section of the infilled canal on the south side of the site, parallel to the railway line. Additionally, the park proposals would feature information boards designed to educate the public about the site’s history.