A potential Cotswold tourism and leisure treasure is set to be restored after permission was finally granted for a bulldozed stretch of the Stroudwater Navigation canal to be rebuilt.

Pending final planning details, the work, which was estimated at £4m in 2019, is expected to begin later this year.

Dubbed the "Missing Mile" after it was erased from the map to make way for the M5's Stroudwater Interchange (J13), the loss of the mile-long section in the early 1960s amputated Stroud from the national canal network at the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal Saul Junction connection.

The closure effectively left the trading route which was opened in 1779 stranded because the section's eastern connection, with the Thames and Severn Canal via the Sapperton Tunnel, had already been lost when the collapsing tunnel was abandoned in 1933.

The backing of Stroud District Council's Development Control Committee means the project will oversee a new canal channel built from John Robinson (Westfield) Lock at Eastington, near Westfield Bridge, and striking west for the existing new section already constructed beneath the A38 roundabout.

In detail, the scheme in Eastington covers both sides of the M5 and features a towpath with new pedestrian bridge, a new mooring basin with space for 44 non-residential moorings, and a two-storey building which will include a café and canal basin manager's accommodation.

Cllr Chloe Turner, SDC Environment Committee chair, said: "This is an important step forward for the restoration of the Stroudwater Navigation canal and aligns with our Council Plan objective to submit a planning application for the Missing Mile."

Since SDC and Cotswold Canals Trust (CCT) took on leadership of the project in 2008, 4.6 miles of canal between Stroud and Stonehouse have been restored, transforming the route into an attractive walking and cycling alternative to the adjacent A419, while also creating a new water habitat for nature.

Speaking more broadly about the benefit of restoring the link, which is part of its overall target to link the Severn to the Thames at Lechlade, the CCT said that completion of the adjacent Stonehouse to Thrupp section, opened in 2018 by (then) Prince Charles, had acted as a significant economic catalyst.

The CCT said: "This huge effort has helped bring in over £150 million private sector investment of vital urban regeneration."

The restored section cannot follow the exact original route of the canal because it was obliterated by the creation of the M5's junction 13, its adjacent highway depot and the neighbouring A38 roundabout and link road.

Diverting south from Westfield bridge, the new channel will travel beneath the M5, sharing an existing River Frome underpass by virtue of a dividing wall, which will act as a flood barrier.

Cllr Robin Layfield, Environment Committee vice-chair said: "The canal restoration brings huge benefits to the district in terms of inward investment, biodiversity, health and wellbeing, and tourism. This major milestone means more people can enjoy this unique corridor of outdoor space."

Key partners in the project include Gloucestershire County Council, Canal and River Trust and Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, plus charities including Cotswold Boatmobility.

Canal restoration has made access to the water easier for a wider section of the community, and seen the successful staging of talks and events including Cotswold Canals Connected's annual Lock Challenge running and walking event.

SDC said that a significant proportion of the works on both the Missing Mile and other sections of the canal will be volunteer-led. CCT is reportedly now "scaling up" its restoration volunteer teams with the skills, equipment and resources required to deliver this project.

● For volunteering information, find out more here.