By Saul Cooke-Black

A £15 million bid to bring boats and businesses back to the canals of Stroud was launched on Thursday May 14.

The Cotswolds Canals Partnership plans to bring Stroud, Stonehouse, Eastington and Whitminster within reach of Britain's 2,500 mile network of waterways by restoring the Stroudwater Navigation with the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal at Saul Junction.

Ken Burgin, chief executive of the Cotswold Canals Trust, said: "This is the start of a launch for a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a major grant to help restore the four miles of canal.

"It is a very expensive four miles because you've got things like the the main Birmingham to Bristol railway line which will need a new bridge under it. There's a complete mile of canal missing and the M5 to get round without closing.

"We know how we are going to do these things but we will need the funding and on top of that we will also have to raise another £5 million as well.

"The development would be a massive and very attractive development to businesses and would also make a very attractive place for people to come and visit."

The first stage of the project to restore a six mile stretch of canal between Brimscombe and Stonehouse will be complete this autumn.

The Cotswolds Canals Trust hope the project will be complete by 2020 should they be successful with their bid for funding.

Leader of Stroud District Council Geoff Wheeler said: "“Having led the restoration of the canal between Stroud and Stonehouse, Stroud District Council is very proud of the environmental, leisure and economic benefits that it has brought.

"We strongly support this next step as we recognise that opening up access to the national waterways network will enhance these benefits and realise the project's full potential."

Farmer Caroline Prentice launched the bid by pouring a pint of Severn water from Westfield Bridge against the backdrop of the missing mile of canal.

In 1969 Mrs Prentice's mother Caroline Hearsey bravely stood alone on the bridge, defying contractors who had been ordered to blow it up to make way for the new motorway.

The restoration of the missing mile will be run as a voluntary project, including the involvement of schools and colleges such as William Morris House in Stonehouse, which hosted the launch of the bid in their new cafe and workshop.