The Shrewsbury & Newport Canal Trust have praised Telford & Wrekin Council after the council parted with £395,000 to improve the canal system.
The decision to buy a stretch of waterway, warehouse buildings and the canal basin at Wappenshall is another step towards re-developing the canal in Newport.
More than 40 borough councillors approved the move last Thursday with a lease or licence agreement expected to be struck with the canal trust to bring the site back into use and create a new magnet for tourism.
Borough council leader Councillor Andrew Eade said the potential for economic spin-offs from the redevelopment was huge.
He said: “We are at a watershed on this issue because if we don’t grasp the current opportunity the canal will never open at Wappenshall and then go onto Newport, let alone go on from Newport to join the national canal network just seven miles away.”
Councillor Eric Carter, cabinet member for regeneration, described the chance to fund the revamp as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which he said the authority had to grasp.
He told the meeting: “If the buildings are taken over by another body or turned into holiday flats or something they will be lost forever.”
Canal trust spokesman David Adams said he was delighted with the news.
He said: “It puts us on the road. There was no other solution to the problem and the money which the trust raised can now be used to restore the building which will be a great asset.
“We have a membership of more than 7,000 and they have a lot of expertise. We can now get the basins cleaned out and really begin to see some practical difference, it’s a big thing because there are considerable advantages to this.
“This is the first time Telford & Wrekin Council have acquired a building that will be a public building. We want it used as much as possible.
“It will be marvellous rural centre and it could be used for conferences to benefit the rural area. We are on the threshold of great things.”
