A year-long Environmental Impact Assessment, a Civil Engineering Design Study and a full Flood Study are being completed for Bramley Link Phase 1, where a new canal route is needed due to the original line of the waterway being unavailable. The studies will support a planning application which is now being drawn up. The Trust has signed a long lease to build 400m of canal on land at Tanglewood Farm and the Heritage Lottery Fund will be approached to help meet the cost of the project.

An essential aspect of the Wey & Arun Canal Trust's plan to restore the waterway is the re-connection with the River Wey at Shalford. With this in mind, plans are well advanced for the most northerly section of the canal, known as the Bramley Link. Phase 1 of this restoration goes from Gun's Mouth at Shalford - where a surviving stretch of the canal meets the Wey Navigation - down to Gosden Aqueduct, where the canal crossed the Cranleigh Waters stream.

Bramley Link Phase 1 is the Trust's second full restoration project in Surrey. Following the re-opening of part of the Summit Level between Dunsfold and Alfold in October 2016, it will further raise the profile of the Trust in the county, underlining the commitment to create a 23-mile long 'green corridor' in the countryside between West Sussex and Surrey. The Trust will be able to attract further interest in its work, recruit more members and volunteers and increase donations to other projects.