Tuesday, 10 March 2015

Planting, and planning, for the (very) long term


It was great to see on the Friends & Volunteers Facebook site participation from local scout groups in planting new trees, donated by the Woodland Trust, at Pewsham.  It is an unfortunate fact  that some mature trees have to removed as part of the restoration, but  the really good news is that the Canal Trust team replace each one removed with at least ten saplings.  The team appreciate that  this is a short term loss but view the Wilts & Berks Canal as a project delivering habitat for  at least the next 200 years.

The big news was the launch last Thursday of the urgent funding appeal for the Studley Grange project  http://bit.ly/1w23LrJ . A major funder has  agreed to match £ for £ funding raised by the Trust.   The first few days have seen donations pass £1,000 so we hope we are well on the way to the £25k required to start urgent preliminary works on the project, including carrying out urgent clearance work.
 
The week ahead is very busy with a number of important meetings.

On Wednesday a presentation is being made by consultants MRG to some of the Melksham Link stakeholders, showing the proposed landscape and land use.  On the same theme, there are a series of meetings this week on the Business Plan underlying the Melksham Link.
 
On Thursday there is the quarterly meeting of the Wiltshire Swindon and Oxfordshire Canal Partnership where one  of the important topics will be an update on the  canal as part  of the Swindon Eastern Development proposals.

On Friday a number of the team are visiting Wichelstowe to look at specific issues around the canal and the proposed Wichelstowe Link project.

 

Ken Oliver

 

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