Volunteers needed for canal clean up in Elland

The Canal & River Trust, the charity that cares for 2,000 miles of historic waterways in England & Wales, is organising a clean-up of the canal between Elland Lock and Park Nook lock.
Elland Floods. Cracks in Elland Bridge and stranded barge.Elland Floods. Cracks in Elland Bridge and stranded barge.
Elland Floods. Cracks in Elland Bridge and stranded barge.

Local people can help repair the towpath, rebuild a damaged dry stone wall and clear the rubbish that the floodwaters dropped between 10am and 1pm on Saturday, January 23.

Jon Horsfall, waterway manager for the Canal & River Trust, said: “You only have to take a walk to Park Nook to get an understanding of the havoc that the floods wreaked.

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“We want to get the canal and towpath back to its best as quickly as possible so that it can once more be enjoyed by the local community. That’s why we’re asking local people to help where they can and this volunteering day will be a great opportunity for us all to pull together and begin to get things back to normal.”

The Trust has also launched an appeal to help rebuild canals in the heart of flood-hit communities such as those along the Calder & Hebble Navigation. The Trust’s appeal will help rebuild and reopen historic waterways, helping waterside communities, where life has been turned upside down, to recover. To find out more about the appeal visit canalrivertrust.org.uk/donate/flood-appeal

The clean up continues all across Calderdale following the flooding on Boxing Day with volunteers, council staff and partners taking part in an organised clean up day in the town to help affected areas of the town.

Elland Flooding Community Hub in partnership with Calderdale Council and Pennine Housing held a clean-up of Park Road and Valley View - areas of Elland that were badly affected by the flooding.

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Local volunteers were joined by council workers, Pennine Housing staff and Neighbourhood Police to assist residents to remove bulky items and clean and remove silt from gardens.

A large quantity of damaged items, flood debris and silt was removed and a number of residents were given further advice and support on issues including housing and financial assistance.

Calderdale Council’s Cabinet member for Communities, Councillor Steve Sweeney, said: “Like many other parts of the borough, areas of Elland were badly affected by the flooding on Boxing Day. We know it will take time for communities to return to normal, but we’re doing all we can to support those affected by flooding.

“Clean up days like this give residents a helping hand to recover, and as well as removing flood damaged items and flood debris, we were able to provide advice to make sure that people knew about the available support through community grants and financial packages.