AM WELCOMES NEW ERA OF MONMOUTHSHIRE AND BRECON CANAL

NATIONAL Assembly Member for Monmouth, Nick Ramsay, has today attended a reception at the Welsh Assembly to mark the re-opening of the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal.

16 months after the canal burst its banks, and following engineering works costing £7.5m, the canal is due to re-open on 20^th March.

During the reception local AM Nick delivered a speech and discussed how best to secure the long term future of this stretch of waterway, developing this key leisure and tourism asset.

Nick said: "I am pleased we have come to the end of this long saga which began back in October 2007 when the canal burst its banks, sending a torrent of water into a number of homes in Gilwern.

"The clear-up operation was impressive, as has been the response of British Waterways to repairing this wonderful stretch of water.

"However, unavoidably, the 2008 tourism season was badly affected. I think something which this whole episode has highlighted has been the extent to which the canal supports tourism in East Wales and local businesses situated close to it.

"The canal has been serving the people of Monmouthshire for a very long and its re-opening represents the beginning of a new era."