It has been brought to the attention of the Trust that the new owners of the Moon Hotel site have felled a number of trees along their boundary with the Derby Canal line and the Spondon Winding Hole in particular. This work was done without the prior knowledge of the Trust or, it appears, Derby City Council who are the legal owner of the canal land. At this stage it is assumed that the trees concerned were on the Moon Hotel site and not the canal line however it has been reported that the felled trees have been left on the canal land. The Trust has asked Derby City Council to investigate the situation.
Prior to this the Trust’s volunteer work parties have invested much time and effort over a two year period in improving the appearance of the Winding Hole and preparing the area for eventual restoration. The area had been transformed from an overgrown wasteland to a more open area. Due to the nature of the ground, with the original clay lining largely intact water does naturally collect and form into a pond at times of heavy rainfall, but the pond does largely dry out during prolonged dry spells helped by the “overflow drainage pipe” that the Trust volunteers discovered during one of the early work parties; it is assumed that this was put in place at the time the canal was in-filled in the late 1960’s or during the construction of the housing between the canal line and the railway line to prevent flooding of the housing. All work that the Trust volunteers have undertaken has been with the agreement of Derby City Council.
20/10/2014
We have subsequently ascertained that the work carried out by the owners of the Moon Hotel site was done so with the consent of Derby City Council including use of the winding hole site for material storage. This was agreed without the Trust’s knowledge; we are awaiting a meeting with the owners and the council to discuss the clearance of the site.