Chesterfield Canal - Development

Development

As part of the works for the Staveley by-pass / Markham Vale Link road, the old line of the canal north of Staveley is being realigned and the new road is being built with the canal passing underneath in concrete channels.

This section has been affected by modern roads crossing the line with no over-bridges, and had also been lost to opencast mine working in the past. Once complete the section from the locks at Hollingwood / Staveley Works along the valley to the north of Staveley will be reinstated, and can then be extended towards Renishaw.

This section of the route is also part of the Trans Pennine Trail cycle route.

The southern end of the canal in Chesterfield is being redeveloped as part of a £300 million project called Chesterfield Waterside. This will provide housing and amenities in an area which is currently derelict land. The project involves the creation of a short length of new canal to create an island in the centre of the site, navigation being restored to a length of the river, and a new basin at the southern edge of the site. Funding for the canal work was provided by a grant of £0.5 million from the East Midlands Development Agency. The basin was completed and was opened in October 2009, although it remains isolated from the River Rother, to which it will be connected by a lock, while a back-pumping facility will supply it with water. Outline planning permission for the whole site was granted on 15 March 2010. In April 2012, the project was awarded a £2.4 million grant by the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership Board. This will fund the connecting lock and the provision of sewers and access roads, to facilitate the subsequent development of the 62-acre (25 ha) site.