Newport City Council will shortly begin work on a series of improvements to the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal.
The improvements will see the council clear silt and vegetation in the canal from the Fourteen Locks site up to the city boundary with Caerphilly county. This stretch will also be relined.
The desilting and relining will improve water flow and retention, as well as improving the water environment for biodiversity purposes.
The Fourteen Locks site will also benefit from a new bridge over the pond, and new lock gates above the pond to replace the existing ones.
The bridge, which will replace the existing one, will provide improved accessibility to the Fourteen Locks visitor centre with a modified access ramp. Feasibility works will also start on a potential redesign of the visitor centre.
Councillor Yvonne Forsey, cabinet member for climate change and biodiversity, said: “I’m very pleased to be able to announce that this work to the canal will be starting shortly.
“Building resilience in our city’s ecosystem is one of the priorities in our organisational climate change plan, and the desilting and relining work that will be carried out will help to build that resilience in the canal for future generations.
“The canal is an important site within the local community, so I’m also pleased that these improvements will widen access to the visitor centre.”
The work has been funded through the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund under the Communities and Place investment priority.
Residents should expect varying levels of disruption over the next 18 months while these works are carried out. This will include full or partial closures of the canal path, for which diversions will be put in place, and may limit parking in the car park.
