The Wey & Arun Canal Trust is pleased to announce that Chichester District Council has granted planning permission for an improvement to the ambitious B2133 crossing scheme. Work is well under way to allow the historic canal to cross the main road in Loxwood again; the Trust hopes to complete this project in 2007. As part of the work, it is necessary to build a new turning area for boats (boaters like to call it a 'winding hole'). The current turning area is only just large enough for the Trust's 57-foot narrow boat, Zachariah Keppel, and is too close to the road. The historic canal was built for boats up to 68 feet long.

The original scheme was to build the new turning area on the same side of the canal as the Onslow Arms pub. This would have meant diverting the popular path along the side of the canal, used by hundreds of walkers and riders each day. Now the winding hole will be on the opposite bank. Alan Johnson of the Wey & Arun Canal Trust comments: 'This enhances the planning permission for a new lock, road bridge and lowering of the canal that Chichester District Council granted in 2005. Riders and pedestrians can continue to enjoy the familiar route of this increasingly popular path and the new turning bay will fit more naturally into the landscape.'

The Loxwood road crossing is a vital step towards the Trust's aim of restoring the historic 23-mile waterway between the River Arun near Pulborough in Sussex and the River Wey near Guildford in Surrey. The canal is part of the only inland water route between London and the south coast.