there have been several suggestions that the canal should be restored. the first was made in 1975 by the lincolnshire branch of the inland waterways association, who recognised that the volume of pleasure traffic on the river witham would need to increase before the scheme would be viable. in 1986, they prepared a more serious report, which concentrated on gibson's cut, but also looked at complete restoration in more general terms. from 1989, the horncastle and tattershall conningsby canal heritage group (hatch) began working on plans for restoration, which were presented at a public meeting held on 18 november 2003. the meeting agreed that funds should be raised to finance a proper feasibility study. restoration plans are now supported by lincolnshire county council.