Finally, in 1812, Earl Fitzwilliam employed George Leather Jr., to survey a proposed route. At the time, both Leather and his father were working for the Earl on a navigation and drainage scheme for the upper Derwent. The suggested route started at Sutton Lock on the Derwent, presumably so that goods for the Pocklington Canal would have to travel a greater distance along the Derwent, and therefore the tolls would be greater, but Leather found this route to be problematic, and proposed an alternative route to East Cottingwith. Before actually conducting the survey, he estimated the cost at £43,630, for a route with 8 locks that stopped at the turnpike road to Hull. He also suggested that the canal could be continued into Pocklington, with an extra two locks, for an additional cost of £8,257. He calculated the probable revenue at £1,245.50 per year, which was surprisingly close to the actual figure once the canal was built. He started surveying in 1813, but became ill, and the work was not completed until June 1814.