PLANS to reopen the northern reaches of the Lancaster Canal received a £15,000 boost from Kendal Town Council.

The money will go towards a series of assessments and public consultation exercises known as the Master Plan, which will cost an estimated £80,000 in consultancy fees.

In a display of dedication to the scheme, which would see the reopening of a 14-mile stretch of the canal from Kendal to Tewitfield, near Carnforth, councillors increased the proposed donation for the Master Plan from £5,000 to £15,000.

Speaking in support of providing the money for the plan, Coun Tom Clare said that the canal restoration scheme was an important environmental enhancement for Kendal and the money for the plan was important as "a basis for the success of the project."

Also in favour of granting the money was Coun Austen Robinson who said even though the consultancy costs were expensive, the canal would be a "tremendous facility" that would benefit all the people in Kendal.

Coun Jean Ewing even went so far as to say the canal would "kick-start Kendal's economy."

The lone dissenting voice in the chamber came from Coun Graham Vincent who said he was "very keen on the idea of the canal" but thought the prospects of the canal being built in the lifetime of the present council were "pretty remote."

"I am very concerned that we are putting money in and have no assurance that the scheme is actually live," he added.