Flats could undermine canal revival - campaigners

The apartment block would be built near the site of the infilled canal

An apartment scheme could undermine the restoration of "one of the last surviving artefacts" of a city's industrial past, heritage campaigners have warned.

Developer H20 Urban wants to build flats and a small park on top of a now-buried part of the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal.

A society formed to restore the 1791 waterway said the project would undermine efforts to return the canal to its former glory.

But a spokesman for H20 Urban said the plan had been designed in a "sympathetic" way "to ensure the future restoration of the canal is protected".

Campaigners are trying to rebuild the Manchester, Bolton & Bury canal

A section of the infilled canal on the south side of the site, parallel to the railway line.

The developer wants to landscape the area and lay a new path along the former waterway.

Paul Hindle, chair of the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal Society said the plans "significantly hindered the prospects for restoration of the canal".

He said path would go right over where the water would be if the canal was restored, and so would have to be destroyed if the restoration plan was able to go ahead.

H20 Urban said it developed the plan after consulting with the Canal & River Trust, and had had "extensive" talks with the society.

A spokesman said restoring the canal as part of the project had been ruled out due to the "prohibitive cost".

But the park proposals would include information boards to make people aware of the history of the site, he added.