Opportunity to develop a brand new waterway experience

Passenger Boat Waterways Experience Opportunity

We are seeking a partner, business, charity or organisation to develop a brand-new passenger water ways experience at the thriving visitor hub Everards Meadows. 

Over the last year Blaby District Council have completed a project with Planning Solutions Consulting Limited to assess the feasibility of developing a waterways experience boat trip concept to attract visitors to the area.  The study concluded there is strong support for a seasonal canal based on-water passenger experience to utilise the potential of the Grand Union Canal as a leisure, educational and tourism resource. Research has shown that enhanced on water leisure can bring economic, social and environmental benefits, and water-based experiences are growing in popularity.

Please find an Information Pack here. 

Location: Everards Meadows is a newly developed tourism destination fully opened in Summer 2021, with over 70 acres of green space to explore, quality cycling and pedestrian walkways that connect to Route 6 on the National Cycle Network. Bikes can be hired from the award-winning Rutland Cycles, coffee and cakes are available at local coffee house – Jennos and it is home to Everards’s state-of-the-art brewery where there is The Beer Hall for breakfast, lunch and dinner, shop and brewery tours. The destination has quickly become popular with visitors locally and from further afield.

It is easily accessible, just four miles from Leicester City Centre, less than a mile from Junction 21 of the M1 and the start of the M69 plus accessible from the cycling and walking paths. Opposite the recently redeveloped Fosse Park Shopping Park – one of the UK’s top out of town shopping destinations. Plenty of parking is available on site (free for 3 hours).

Located within Everards Meadows is Blue Bank Bridge on the Grand Union Canal which is the proposed location for a brand-new waterways experience. The idea has support from the three businesses above. There are two hotels within a short distance – Marriott and Hilton hotels for staying guests.