Torfaen County Borough Council recently published their Draft Strategy and Action Plan for the Mon & Brec canal through Cwmbran. We posted about the Council’s consultation earlier in May 2023. As the Monmouthshire, Brecon and Abergavenny Canals restoration charity we warmly welcome the initiative that Torfaen County Borough Council (“TCBC”) has started. The appointment of a full-time Canal Officer and now this 10 year Strategic document provides a template for … Read more

Torfaen County Borough Council have recently published their Draft Strategy and Action Plan for the Mon & Brec canal through Cwmbran. Read more here – https://getinvolved.torfaen.gov.uk/draft-canal-strategy We would strongly encourage you to read the PDF Document that is linked to on that page, and then complete the Survey. This Strategy and Survey will influence everything that Torfaen CBC does around the canal for the next 10 years. The PDF document … Read more

This winter has seen a substantial amount of maintenance and inspection work done by Glandwr Cymru, (the Canal & River Trust in Wales, CRT). This has included repairs to bridges, repairs to leaking culverts, leak repairs to the canal bank, towpath maintenance, and repairs to the canal lining in several places. This has included a repair to a substantial leak at Brynich. We are pleased to see that this work … Read more

Caerphilly County Borough Council engineers set about tackling some water flow problems The lack of water in the Crumlin Arm has been an ongoing problem for some time. MBACT has been having regular discussions with the canal owners, Newport City Council and Caerphilly County Borough Council, about this issue. The main water-feed for the whole Crumlin Arm section of canal is at the very end of the canal at Cwmcarn, … Read more

Current ash dieback works – December 2022 to March 2023 Newport City Council (NCC) will be carrying out work along the Crumlin Arm of the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal to remove trees which have been infected by ash dieback. They will be working between December 2022 and March 2023. Contractors are currently working on the canal between Pontymason Lane, and the path that connects Risca Road to Pontymason Lane. However, there … Read more

Torfaen Council has recently refused a planning application for a car hardstanding which was planned to be located within a disused canal lock chamber adjacent to Greenhill Road in Cwmbran. The canal here was culverted many years ago, with the lock chamber itself partially filled with earth. MBACT had submitted a detailed policy objection to the granting of the application. We argued that the proposal, if allowed, would prejudice the … Read more

We are pleased to see that Wales Online have highlighted the water problems and poor condition of the Crumlin Arm canal adjacent to the Fourteen Locks Canal Centre as documented in our recent post on our MBACT website, and complaints by residents and canal users. We would encourage local people to raise their concerns with their local Councillors directly. This has the biggest impact. Thanks for your support. You can … Read more

Our Trust has been extremely concerned about the lack of maintenance on the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal in Newport. We have also, like many local residents, been alarmed by the lack of water in both the Crumlin Arm, and main line of the canal north of Newport. Our views on the lack of water in the Crumlin Arm were set out in our news article in May, and received much … Read more

In recent years, much criticism has been laid at the door of Newport City Council for lack of maintenance on both the Crumlin Arm and the main line from Malpas North. Whilst a substantial amount of public money has been spent recently on improving the towpath under the Active Travel initiative to provide a safe and convenient route for walkers and cyclists, the visual attractiveness of this route is severely … Read more

We recently responded to Caerphilly County Borough Council’s consultation on their “Draft Lower Ebbw and Sirhowy Valleys Masterplan”. You can find more information and a copy of the masterplan here on Caerphilly’s website: https://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/involved/Consultations/draft-lower-ebbw-and-sirhowy-valleys-masterplan You can find our response in this PDF document – https://mbact.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/MBACT-Comments-on-Draft-Caerphilly-Masterplan-1st-Mar-2022.pdf We are disappointed that Caerphilly CBC are not utilising the huge potential of the canal. “Whilst the potential of the canal has been mentioned there … Read more