campaigns update

CAMPAIGNING WITH YOU

Establishing a network of heritage champions and consultations on water-transport projects are among the issues we’ve been campaigning on with your help. Here’s how we’ve been doing on these and other affairs...

Heritage Ma ers Water Transfer

One of the issues we are looking out for is the sale of listed and historic buildings.

Our preference is for navigation authorities – and other organisations that are owners of heritage waterways buildings – to continue as their custodians and to do this in a responsible way. Sale of such buildings into private hands should only take place a er careful consideration and provided that every e ort has been made to retain them. In this case, the sale must include adequate conditions to ensure that features of heritage interest are retained. If buildings are sold, every e ort should be made to do this to another organisation with waterways or heritage a liation which can assure a viable and appropriate future, wherever possible retaining it within the public realm. 2022 sees a series of consultations on dra water resource management plans om the fi ve regional water resource planning groups. As the APPG for the Waterways last year highlighted, there are opportunities for water transfer projects to include canal restorations and new waterways, with existing canals potentially used to transfer drinking water.

We are contributing our responses to these plans, drawing a ention to the benefi ts of using navigations for water transfer. These include greater biodiversi net gain and lower capital costs as well as leisure and economic advantages. This is just one of the ways our waterways can contribute to future climate change adaptation.

Following up on this, members of the Heritage Advisory Panel had a meeting with Canal & River Trust in early April about their planned proper sales over the coming year, where we raised these issues.

ANGELA ACOTT 2011 Tame Valley Canal, Bottom Lock Cottage.

River Idle

IWA has joined forces with ADA (the Association for Drainage Authorities) to call for the River Idle in Nottinghamshire to be dredged and made navigable. The river joins the Trent at West Stockwith and is accessible only by paying a fee to the Environment Agency to come and open up a pair of sluices. Despite having a statutory right of navigation there is no navigation authority for the river. We wrote to the Environment Agency to raise IWA’s concerns and together we are calling for action to be taken to restore the river to its former capacity as a navigation and drainage channel through a programme of maintenance and channel reprofiling.

CRT Facilities Review

Our Gaptracker campaign of 2018 gathered data from boaters’ experiences of using facilities and their opinions about what was needed for the future. This work continues to have a positive impact – the Canal & River Trust is currently carrying out a facilities review and asked us to share the evidence and findings from our survey. We will keep on working with CRT on this, drawing in new ideas such as the need to support the growing number of electric boats on the waterways.

In its current state, the River Idle is virtually unnavigable: through a lack of management and maintenance over many years, the river is now heavily silted and overgrown with trees and shrubs. Due to concerns about the navigability of the river, the cruises previously undertaken by the Retford & Worksop Boat Club have ceased, but we have members keen to recommence navigation, beginning with small boats to assess the river for the safety of larger boats.

ADA has highlighted the problem faced by their Internal Drainage Board members: that heavy silting and vegetation growth have caused a severe reduction in the river’s capacity to convey water. With more flooding, and drought likely in the future because of climate change, it is crucial for waterways such as this to be maintained to improve their capacity for water conveyance.

We have also pointed out the wider benefits of dredging this waterway – not just for drainage and navigation but for all the associated benefits for the local population and economy, recreation, wildlife and fishing.

In response to our letter the EA have invited an IWA volunteer to join the Isle of Axholme Strategy Executive Board which will give IWA more of a voice in decisions about this river.

Salterhebble Lock Cottage.

Focus on...

Salterhebble Lock Cottage

IWA’s West Riding Branch heritage champions have, at the last minute, saved this lock cottage near Halifax on the Calder & Hebble from the auctioneer’s hammer.

IWA felt that, in this case, sale into private ownership was not the best future for the property as it is an integral part of the Salterhebble Basin and would compromise planned ambitions for regeneration of the local area. The basin consists of three distinctively different locks and a mooring pound for ten boats. Outside the basin, there is also an underused canal arm that could accommodate ten more boats and an unused dry dock in an area where these facilities are in high demand. It is also the step-off point for the popular Hebble Trail. Access to the cottage is over a footbridge over the top lock and, as there is no road access for a cottage resident, it was felt that the health and safety restrictions that this sale would bring to towpath users and boaters had not been taken into account.

Salterhebble discussions are now in progress between IWA, Canal & River Trust and the local council to develop the area and turn the heritage building into a community centre for the local area. The regeneration of the area will now be coordinated with the current and planned road improvements and planned national cycle routes.

Initially, the main focus will be on building a team from the local community, with education and practical skills experience at the top of the agenda. Everything will revolve around the canal environment and, for the younger participants, they will work towards bringing their learning to life using canal-related activities such as CRT Explorers. For everyone else, the focus is on boating, history and heritage – telling the story of the basin and looking to the future. If you would like to get involved, please contact westriding@waterways.org.uk.