£135k granted to restore Wendover Canal which has been filled with waste for 100 years

Wendover Canal Trust has been given a significant budget to remove the major amounts of household waste from the former beauty spot.

Tring Council has provided an additional £20,000 to the restoration project.

The trust is hoping to remove 5,500 cubic metres of household waste so the area can be relined and rewatered.

Dacorum Borough Council revealed that the grants have been matched with a legacy from a former resident of Little Tring.

The local authority states the waste was tipped into the closed canal at Little Tring for 10 years between 1918 - 28 by the then Tring Urban District Council.

Currently, the dumped waste covers 270 metres and is mainly made up of ash.

Councillor Graeme Elliot, said: “Dacorum Borough Council is pleased to be able to support this excellent canal restoration project, which when completed will bring a range of biodiversity, health and wellbeing and economic benefits to the area.”

As well as hoping to restore the canal councillors hope to re-open the towpath to the area, once the waste is removed, meaning walkers, runners and cyclists would no longer need to divert onto the busy Little Tring Road.

Clive Johnson, chair of Wendover Canal Trust, said: “We’ve been worrying for so many years how we could afford to safely and legally dispose of this waste blocking the canal, and I am looking forward to it being taken away this summer.

"I am really pleased that Dacorum Borough Council have been able to help us clear this barrier to local people enjoying this historic canal.”

On completion, there will be a continuous towpath from the Grand Union Canal to Wendover for the first time in 100 years.

Councillor Christopher Townsend, chair of Tring Town Council, said: “We have a strong interest in the progress of this magnificent local restoration project, which is staffed entirely by volunteers, and have been pleased to support the removal of the town’s historic household waste from the canal.”

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