Plans to reintroduce river trips through Derby – a project part-funded by the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership – have been submitted to Derby City Council.
Derby and Sandiacre Canal Trust have submitted the application to install a landing stage and create a path on land next to the River Derwent, close to Exeter Bridge and towards the rear of The Tap pub in Exeter Place. It is hoped to begin running the cruises this year (2019).
The planning application, which has yet to be decided on, is part of the Trust’s plan to reintroduce river cruises, which ran through the city around 20 years ago, as a new tourist attraction. The landing stage would accommodate an electrically powered narrowboat, to run cruises along a 2.5kilometre route as far as Darley Abbey. An image of what the completed project could look like is shown above.
The D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership has granted the Trust’s scheme £48,000 and Derby City Council a further £7,000, to purchase the cost of the narrowboat and construct a mooring point.
Further Trust ambitions include a ‘Derby Arm’; which would lift boats out of the restored Derby and Sandiacre Canal, at Pride Park, so they can be brought down the River Derwent.
For more on the work of the Derby and Sandicare Canal Trust see its website at www.derbycanal.org.uk/
Further information about the D2N2 LEP can be obtained from D2N2 Communications Manager Sean Kirby on 0115 957 8749 or email: sean.kirby@d2n2lep.org