THE BUILDING of a new housing estate to the north of Ledbury viaduct could also lead to narrowboats passing through the town for the first time in more than a century.

The restoration of the section of the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal through Ledbury is included in Herefordshire Council's planning blueprint for the next two decades, the Core Strategy, and eventually it should be possible for a boat to travel the 34 miles from Gloucester to Hereford, including a 12-lock stretch through Ledbury.

The restoration of the Ledbury length, of around 4000 metres from the Ross Road to beyond the viaduct, could be paid for, at least in part, with contributions from developers.

But much of the donkey work would be carried out by an organisation that already has an impressive record in restoring lengths of the canal, the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal Trust.

News of the project has been warmly welcomed by Ledbury's mayor, Cllr Annette Crowe, who said: "It would be wonderful. It would bring in walkers and businesses, and it could only be to the benefit of everyone."

The Core Strategy is still to be adopted; but Liz Harvey, county councillor for Ledbury North, said: "The Ledbury section of the canal is proposed to be developed as part of the development of the viaduct site."

The site is Herefordshire Council's favoured option for a new housing estate, with 625 homes, and much of the restored canal would run between the River Leadon and the new estate, and could serve in part as a flood defence.

Cllr Harvey said the idea of re-digging and restoring the canal section was not "looking into the distant future".

She said: "I am told plans are ready. I am told it could be any time".

She added: "There is the possibility we can get the Dymock and the Ledbury sections joined up, and that would give a day's worth of navigable waterway, up and down."

The Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal Trust has the stated aim of "completing the full restoration of the canal from Gloucester to Hereford", a distance of 34 miles.

There are problems, because sections of the canal, which originally reached Ledbury by 1832, and closed in 1881, due to competition from the railways, have either been built over or are unavailable.

In Ledbury, for instance, the town trail follows much of the line of the original canal, and this will not be re-dug.

Instead, there will be a diversion, closer to the River Leadon.

The Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal Trust has been enjoying a run of restoration successes, close by.

A statement on its web-site reads: "Although much of the canal has been filled in and in places has disappeared without trace, a surprising number of lock cottages, wharf buildings and bridges remain to be seen. Stretches of the canal at Monkhide, Yarkhill, Aylestone and Oxenhall have been restored by volunteers and the stone chamber of House Lock at Oxenhall has been completely restored."

Last month, the Trust reported "great progress at Dymock".

A statement revealed that "the towpath bank had taken shape and the electricity cable has been moved into its new location beneath the bank".

The completion of the Ledbury stretch, and further progress at Dymock, would allow Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to be joined by a stretch of navigable canal for the first time time since Victorian days.