Council chiefs have given the go-ahead for a new 248-berth marina on the Kennet & Avon Canal in Wiltshire.

The new development, largely for use by 'holiday-home' boats used on the canal, will be created at the foot of the canal's famous Caen Hill flight of locks, itself the subject of a recent half-million pound programme of maintenance works. The marina will be built and operated by Land and Water Estates, a Surrey-based marina company.

Meanwhile, celebrations by the K&A 200 Steering Group to mark the bicentenary of the Kennet and Avon Canal have been scaled back due to what it calls "far tougher economic challenges than ... when the group was conceived two years ago". Proposals for a series of interpretation panels along the length of the canal - between Newbury, Berkshire and Bath, Somerset - have been dropped, as have those for a major celebratory event in Devizes during December and the placing of two sculptures at either end of the waterway.

British Waterways, which is part of the steering group, has now decided to sponsor the annual Devizes Christmas Festival and Lantern Parade in November rather than host a separate event for the canal, a decision endorsed by VisitWiltshire, local brewers Wadworth & Co. and the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust. By joining forces, the steering group says it will be able to add value to an already popular event and bring the story of the Kennet and Avon Canal bicentenary to a diverse group of local people and visitors.

It added: "Working together with key organisations, a series of circular walks, linking the canal to local businesses, attractions and interesting sites will be researched, mapped out and promoted. "The first of these pilot projects will be worked up with partners in and around Great Bedwyn."