Neath & Tennant Canals Trust

Neath and Tennant Canals Feasibility Study

A potential way forward
This study was commissioned by Neath Port Talbot Council and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund to look at ways to restore and regenerate the Neath and Tennant Canals for the benefit of the people of Neath. The Trust supported the application for funding and attended stakeholder feedback sessions.

The Study is comprehensive covering the history and background of the canals. Its proposals range through restoration, biodiversity, access for all, water related activities and others. There are suggestions for the way forward, a schedule of works and costings.

Resolving the ownership issue is vital to taking the project forward. Both canals are privately owned; the Neath Canal by Brighton STM Neath Canal Ltd, major shareholder Revantage and the Tennant by the Coome Tennant family. Initial contact has been made to both parties. The suggested way forward is to form a not-for-profit company. To learn more details the link to the Study is below –  Section 5: Ownership Issues Relating to Restoration.

Worth reading in detail is  – Section12: Phasing of the scheme which gives a 15 year programme of action.

Of concern, based on the Restoration route options in 1.3 of the Executive Summary, is that the available continuous navigation for “full size” canal boats with a beam of 2.2m will be limited to 8.5 miles. It is highly improbable that this short length will attract the type and number of boats referred to in Section 9 whilst undermining the prospect of a 30 mile “Swansea Bay Inland Waterway”.

Section 12 advises on implementation and building momentum. To date we have heard nothing about this from NPT. The Trust looks forward to supporting its implementation and will do its utmost to ensure that it goes ahead unlike projects in the past which have never got beyond the Report stage. If you wish to support the Trust in taking this project forward, please get in touch with us.

https://www.npt.gov.uk/business/regeneration/canal-regeneration/

—For details of the concerns relating to navigationsee below:-

Neath and Tennant Canals Feasibility Study – AtkinsRealis, 2026

Promoting Navigation
Having promoted the regeneration of the canals for over 50 years and participated in their restoration, the Trust finds the conclusions of the Report relating to navigation to be disappointing and concerning, not least as there are no references to previous studies which are of relevance.

The Report is at odds with that produced by the same author(s) in 2002 (Atkins, Feasibility Study) which advocated the restoration of the entire length of the Neath Canal from Glynneath to Briton Ferry, primarily to establish a ‘critical length’ of navigation in addition to the Tennant and Swansea Canals which would be sufficient to attract boaters.

Such a requirement is supported in a comprehensive report by Bridge Economics and Hyder Consulting (2008) on the ‘Economic Appraisal of Restoration’ of the Neath and Tennant canals commissioned by NPTCBC, the Welsh Assembly Government and City and Council of Swansea – which notes ‘….. the earlier (2002) study by Atkins, to exploit this opportunity requires the achievement of sufficient critical mass.’

In pursuing such an outcome, the Report concludes that a partial scheme involving complete restoration/navigation from Ysgwyrfa to Giant’s Grave would be the most appropriate scheme and the one producing the highest Benefit/Cost Ratio (BCR).

In contrast, the present report at best seeks to repair/restore what currently exists whilst further severing navigation for ‘full size’ craft at Rheola, Neath Abbey and at Canal Green, Neath. The Report, however, concludes that the canal from Ysgwrfa to Resolven ‘could readily be restored to navigation by undoing the neglect of the last few decades since the previous restoration works’. Similarly, references to individual sections of both canals in Section 7 imply that ‘full navigation’ is possible and potentially desirable.

In relation to the proposed Hub at Canal Green and issues relating to the low bridges, attention is drawn to the ‘Enquiry by Design’ (2009) Study / Canalside Masterplan undertaken by the Prince’s Foundation for NPTCBC.

Based upon the Restoration Route Options in section 1.3 of the Executive Summary, the available continuous navigation for ‘full size’ canal boats with a beam of 2.2m (Section 14.2), will be limited to 13.5km (8.5 miles) compared to a ‘critical length’ over 30km (19miles) represented by the partial scheme advocated in the Bridge Economics Report.

As such, it is highly improbable that such a limited route milage advocated by the Report would attract the type and numbers of boats referred to in Section 9, whilst undermining the prospect of a 30 mile ‘South Wales Inland Waterway’ in conjunction with the Swansea Canal.