A delegation from the Trust was welcomed warmly by Derby City Council’s ruling Labour Group at their meeting on 3rd August. After making our case individually to the Deputy Leader a few months ago we were invited in front of all Councillors in their regular monthly gathering. We made the case for support of the project, particularly the Derby Arm in the city. The massive impact on economic income generation, job creation and feel good factor are easy to describe and were supported by research from Northampton University and facts on the impact of restoration of the Droitwich Canal supplied by the Canal and River Trust. We were pleased to get support from both the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council.
Whilst the dire straits of Council finances are clear to all, the Council can still make a big impact by helping us with connections and networking, supporting provision of Infrastructure Grant Funding to the Derby Arm project and committing to financial support as the position improves in the future. With this kind of vocal support the Trust could look to raise other, matching funding to kick start the work and get to a position where a developer could take on the project with some certainty and a reasonable economic return. As we all realise the first section is the most difficult, but it will be a catalyst for the development that follows.
The below image shows the proposed Derby Arm.
