Canoeists invited to join annual 2km cavalcade

Canoeists are invited by the Maidenhead Waterways Restoration Group to join in its annual canoe cavalcade tomorrow.

The water-borne procession follows the Bray Cut part of the waterway, setting off at Green Lane - SL6 1XZ for sat navs - at 10am.

Participants will explore the 2km-long attractive lower waterway, which already connects to the town centre ring that will be restored as part of the waterways project.

A £1.6m loan has been agreed by the Growing Places fund towards the Waterways project, to help pay for the first stages of the initiative project.

It comes after the council, in partnership with the Waterways group, applied for the Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership funding, which is designed for infrastructure projects and would see the money paid back interest-free using Section 106 developer contributions.

The total cost of the project, to build a 2km navigable 'ring' of water around the town centre, is estimated to be £8m with phase one hoped to begin in 2014/15.

Waterways group chairman Richard Davenport said: "With our planning consent and initial funding for the first stage build now secured, it won’t be too long before we can start these events at Chapel Arches."