When ecology meets commerce on the canals

A developer is aiming to put a 90 berth marina on the Montgomergy Canal, which will eventually link Britian's busiest canal - the Llangollen - with the pretty Welsh border towns of Welshpool and Newtown.
The marina, at Queen's Head near Oswestry, seems to have the backing of the local council and British Waterways but it will prove to be a headache for the naturalists and ecologists who see the canal as some sort of linear nature reserve rather than a navigation for narrowboats.
Currently there are severe restrictions on the number of boats able to use the canal and parts of it are within a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Rare plants and insects thrive in the weedy margins of the seven mile stretch of canal currently opened and boaters are limited to speeds as low as 2mph in places with one-way traffic in some sections.
It is difficult to see that limit, or the current limit of a few hundred boats a year surviving the influx of a large marina.
It may well improve the prospect of opening the currently closed section with another 11 mile stretch around Welspool which is already re-opened. If that happens, the number of boats will increase dramatically as Welshpool will become as popular as Llangollen as a destination.
It is difficult to see the harmony of plants insects and boats surviving the return of the Montgomery canal to full working status but both the local councils and British Waterways need the extra income.