The Bude Canal and Harbour are iconic landmarks, supporting a range of land and water-based activities as well as providing a home for some of our rarest wildlife. They are a fantastic resource for the local community and put Bude on the map as a unique destination. The canal and is one Bude’s foremost amenity spaces whilst the harbour supports a small commercial fishing fleet and provides an attractive setting for wharf-side food and retail outlets and accommodation. High levels of silt accumulation are driven by flood events, with the canal serving as a pressure value in the flood defence strategy for Bude by conveying flood waters away from the lower River Strat.
The dredging scheme will reinstate a safe navigable depth for watercraft, restore the role of the canal in carrying flood waters as part of the flood defence strategy for Bude, and make the canal more resilient to the impacts of climate change, such as the low water levels experienced in the drought of 2022
Exact dates will depend on a number of factors though the programme is on-track to complete by the end of the 23/24 financial year.
For more information visit the Cornwall Council Let’s Talk page for Bude Canal.