A subscription list was quickly filled, but soon this proposal too stalled, due to strong opposition from interests in Lostwithiel and Fowey, and "weakness of the proprietors in a pecuniary point of view and other insuperable obstacles". The following year the plan was revived, this time for a canal with locks. In order to appease John Buller, a substantial local landowner, the canal would have a "Towing Path of sufficient width for Gentlemen's Carriages". The committee needed Buller's support to aid the passage of the bill through Parliament.