WORKS to improve the safety of Bude’s canal are set to get underway next week.

Bude-Stratton Town Council has announced that long-anticipated repairs to the canal embankment alongside the river at Summerleaze Beach will get started from December 9.

Investigation works were undertaken by Cornwall Council, identifying internal voids within the bank at Summerleaze Beach, which means the bank is leaking. Cornwall Council has arranged repairs to the wall which forms the outer bank of the canal. This will help to stabilise the bank and stop it from leaking. The work will involve using a specialist grout which is injected into the wall of the canal, which will improve its strength and stability.

The section of the canal that runs alongside the river at Summerleaze beach is particularly vulnerable to damage as it is also impacted by vegetation, erosion from the river and storm waves. This has led to damage to the outer wall of the canal.

Work is due to start in next week, and once this grouting is complete, work will be undertaken to improve the sand tramway walkway. The council says that it has been developing designs to re-open the sand tramway walkway, which will make it more resilient to future weather events, as well as improving the access to the beach for people with mobility issues. Though the work to the sand tramway walkway is not planned until 2025.

The two organisations undertaking work, Cornwall Council and Cormac, have expressed that they have “tried where possible to minimise disruption”.

They also state that it is intended that access along the canal path, and to the beach will be maintained throughout the works, though some closure may be required at a later date when the uneven concrete walkway is repaired.

However, works are set to last around five months, with May 2025 set as the expected completion date.