"There would be such an outcry" - Fears that the Rochdale Canal could be under threat of closure

Concerns have been raised that The Canal and Rivers Trust, who are responsible for the upkeep of the canal, may be running low on cash for repairing the canal banks and leaking locks and for buying water supplies from United Utilities to keep the canals topped up.

The canal is frequently closed to through traffic due to emergency repairs and the number of boats using the waterway has been decreasing steadily for a number of years.

Lock gates have a life expectancy of around 25 years, which is how old most of the lock gates are on the Rochdale canal, meaning there are maintenance issues tocontend with.

Paul Monahan, who lives beside the canal in Hebden Bridge, had a boat on the canal since 1992 until 2019, but now keeps his boat in the Midlands.

"There's problems with the canal system all over," he said. "Lack of maintenance, which can be put down to a lack of funding.

"The charity model, which was instituted about 12 years ago, hasn't really worked.

"I'm saddened and disappointed that the work of so many volunteers over so many years has not resulted in the thriving canal everybody once hoped for.

"It hasn't really brought the economic rejuvenation and multitude of jobs that was suggested would come along as a result of the re-opening.

"I don't think the Trust are doing as much as they could as well as they could but with the constraints they have, they could be doing a lot worse."

Paul says the number of boats using the canal remains at a low level.

"There are about 300 or 400 boat movements a year on the locks in Hebden Bridge," he said.

"On the busiest locks in the country, they have 6,000 a year.

"The big worry is that if there's a major failure or a big breach, it might provoke a closure because it would cost millions to repair."

Nigel Stevens, from Shire Cruisers, based in Sowerby Bridge, said: "The Trust have to work very hard with the resources they've got to keep it going, and I'dactually say this year it's been better than last year.

"Partly because they've been lucky with the things that have gone wrong, which are fairly random, and they've been very lucky with the weather, which has been wet and that helps the canal a lot because it doesn't have its full quota of reservoir capacity."

Shire Cruisers has been running hire boats on the canal since 1980.

The canal was re-opened in 2002 thanks to Millennium grant funding.

"When we started, the canal wasn't open at all but it has been restored and re-opened, which has been a fantastic thing for the Calder Valley," said Nigel.

"And for us as well, we get customers from all over the world who think the area is fantastic.

"We've had lots of Australians, people from the United States, Scandinavians, Germans - it's been a fantastic year for overseas customers.

"If they've saved and planned for months to come to the UK to visit a canal, it really matters that it's open on the day they come.

"The Trust doesn't always manage that, so what we need is more cash to get better maintenance, which would mean there were fewer emergency works needed, which would save money so it's a virtuous circle.

"If you spend more money on maintenance, you'd get more traffic which would be coped with."

Nigel says closing the canal would be "crackers" and doesn't think it will happen.

"Being logical about the difficulties the Trust faces because it hasn't got enough money, the Trust has said it might have to, in a few years' time, think about closing canals," he said.

"You can sort of see their point, but I think that if they were to do that, it would cost them more to close it than to keep it open.

"I'm not sure what will happen, but at the moment, the Trust is looking forward into a bit of a black hole.

"Either it will succeed in its very ambitious aims of raising more charitable funding, or it won't, and then either it will get more money from government, and I think it hopes the new government will be more sympathetic to giving them more money, in which case it might come right.

"But I think talking of closing canals is bonkers because it would cost a lot of money to do.

"There is still a clear memory of what it was like when the Rochdale canal was closed and nobody wants to go back there.

"Local people all value the canal as it is and would fight like hell if somebody seriously came along and said they were going to close it.

"I don't think that will happen but if it did, it wouldn't work because there would be such an outcry."

Nigel says translating visitors into income isn't easy.

"They'd probably say at the moment that more visitors are not the answer," he said.

"We, on the other hand, would say that we have brought huge numbers of visitors to the Calder Valley, which has been of benefit to the valley because they go and spend money locally.

"If you look at what the Trust gets in payments from boats that come, you look at what visitors on boats spend locally and what tax is raised because the canal is open, it comes to unbelievable amounts of money.

"Closing canals doesn't make any sense at all, except in the immediate moment when you haven't got any money and you have to.

"It needs working out how to make it work in the future.

"The Trust is trying to be more efficient; it has a big programme going on at the moment trying to think of new ways of organising things so it produces more bangs per buck.

"It's vastly increased the input from volunteers to keep the waterways going and it's trying to raise a lot more money, so one should be pretty hopeful that will produce more money year-on-year, so the situation is not bleak and awful."

Calder Valley MP Josh Fenton-Glynn said: "I will be seeking a meeting with the Canal and Rivers Trust on this issue.”

Sean McGinley, regional director, Canal and River Trust said: "Our charity has no intention of closing the Rochdale Canal or the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, or any other navigation, and we work day-in, day-out, to keep them open, navigable and safe.

"The canal network is more popular than ever, used by boaters and other recreational users such as canoeists and paddleboarders, and also enjoyed by those who use thetowpaths to walk, cycle and explore nature.

"At 250-years-old, the canal network is living history which faces challenges such as more extreme weather.

"It requires much upkeep from our dedicated staff and volunteers.

"This includes repairing locks and bridges and ongoing maintenance, dredging and vegetation management, all of which requires us to raise significant funds.

"As a charity we need to raise funds from many sources, and we are also working with the new government to form active partnerships.

"We need people’s support to keep our canals alive and for those concerned about the future of our waterways, there are many ways to help, including becoming a friend of Canal and River Trust or volunteering your time with us.

"For more details visit our website www.canalrivertrust.org.uk."