Deep hole in Stroud canal finances

Picture in Stroud museum

I was very very disappointed indeed to hear at the Scrutiny meeting this evening that finances for the canal seem to have gone seriously astray....we did not get the details at the meeting as they will be published in a paper coming out in about a week... however it is clear there are some really big questions to answer.

One of plans for Brimscombe port

This evening's meeting was to hear from all the new Exec members what their plans were for Stroud District and how Scrutiny can best support in it's role as 'critical friend'. Leader Geoff Wheeler made these shocking revelations about the hole in canal finances to Scrutiny in his presentation promising more information....

It has certainly been clear for some time that the finances have not been stacking up well ...the drop in land values has meant that Brimscombe Port has become less viable...but the Leader seemed to suggest that there was no money left for beyond Capel Mill and indeed we maybe £1.7m short for even Capel Mill...this would be a huge huge blow and I find it shocking we have not known about this despite questions to the previous administration. Indeed we were assured by the previous Cabinet member that virtually all was well.

Some of the many volunteers

There are now rumours the shortfall could be huge - if so why are we only just learning about it? What will that mean re the Lottery? After all the grant was for heritage and the bulk of that is at Brimscombe. Would anyone give us a grant again if we don't complete the project? To be fair all along there have been positive reports about how well the project has been managed and there is no question the huge buzz around it - the recent Stroud on Water event demonstrated the enthusiasm of local people for this canal....also many hundreds nay I'm sure thousands of people have volunteered to help this project.....

So what now? Is there an opportunity to still make this happen? Would the Lottery consider further grants....after all land values are difficult to forecast...or are there other reasons for the short fall? And what of additional funds from elsewhere? And are there other options re developing the canal? I'm optimistic that we will soon get some answers to questions and maybe there is still a way we can all pull together to make this exciting project still happen?

I can hardly believe it was 4 years ago the Council took the brave step to go-ahead with this project - you can see my discussion re project back in June 2008 and why I abstained, 'Canal vote; millstone or flagship' here.....it's vital it doesn't become a millstone.....

....anyway it is late now and I need some sleep....no doubt this topic will soon be again on this blog.....