A PUBLIC review on the current affairs of the Montgomery Canal is to be held in Oswestry this month.

The event will take place at The Memorial Hall in Smithfield Street at 2.30pm on Tuesday, May 21 and will be opened by Steve Charmley, deputy leader of Shropshire Council.

The meeting will review everything currently happening on the Montgomery Canal, including the programme supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, plans for future restoration, and the recent Inland Waterways Association report, Waterways in Progress.

Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust chairman, Michael Limbrey, said: “The forum will review all the exciting developments on the Montgomery Canal, including progress with the Lottery-supported restoration to Crickheath Wharf, plans to rebuild the last bridge blockage in Shropshire with the Restore the Montgomery Canal appeal and preparations for future stages of restoration.

“The Forum is just a few days after the Montgomery Canal Triathlon on May 18, so we shall be able to hear how the event went. In previous years entrants have come from far and wide and have told us they have really enjoyed their day on the canal. I am sure that will be the same this year.

"Today there are over forty waterway restorations but not many of them have the advantages we have. Apart from the final length into Newtown, the line of the canal is all owned by the Canal and River Trust, the national waterway charity, the locks have all been restored, there is a ready water supply and half the canal has been reopened.

"The canal has too a fine collection of canal-age buildings and some very special aquatic flora and fauna which will be all safeguarded as restoration progresses.

“The principal feature of the forum will be a recent report by the Inland Waterways Association highlighting benefits created by restoration before a waterway is fully reopened. The report, Waterways in Progress, is introduced by Inland Waterways Association vice-president David Suchet. It builds on the experience of canal restorations across the country where nearly 500 miles of waterway have been reopened in the last fifty years. Some of them are today among the most popular parts of the system.

“We can see benefits on the Montgomery Canal today, with Canal Central and its tearoom, the watersport base at Shropshire Paddlesport, the popular pubs at Queen's Head and Maesbury, and no less than three boat trips on offer – one by the Heulwen Trust, pioneer of boat trips for people with disability – not to mention popular events such as the Montgomery Canal Triathlon and Welshpool Transport Festival.

“We know there will be more opportunities for local communities and visitors as the canal is restored to Llanymynech and into mid-Wales.”