As members will be aware we have been in discussion with Celanese of Spondon for many months to see if we can get a transfer of part of their existing water abstraction rights. The company is in the process of clearing their massive site in Spondon and it is expected that the site would be redeveloped. The site is not in the City’s current development plans so there’s no indication whether this could be used for housing or commercial buildings. If they built commercial buildings the rights to water could be very useful to occupants and would therefore add to the site value.
I’m pleased to say that local management has now been allowed to offer us the rights in their entirety without charge. That’s a really generous offer as they have rights to 80 billion litres a year – massively more than we would need. The next stage is to talk to the Environment Agency to work out how the transfer could take place and how much we might have to pay for use of water.
The Trust is delighted at such generosity and in recognition of this we are preparing to rename the winding hole at Spondon in recognition of Celanese when it has been completed. And Celanese are also considering helping us with the cost of a digger to finish off the job.
Anyone coming to the Barn Dance on 20th November at the Canal Turn pub (see below) will know it is in celebration of the Winding Hole work nearing completion and recognition of the canal by the pub.
