No, we’re not in ‘the new normal’ (whatever that is) yet, and we’re certainly not throwing caution to the wind, but as we head into that time of year when we plan for next summer’s camps, I think (fingers crossed, touch wood) we can do it with just a little optimism. But what of the wider world of canal restoration. Are there grounds for optimism there too? There are a few current developments that show that this might just be the case... Firstly, as we cover in our Navvies News pages, the saga of the planning application for houses at Froghall which would destroy the prospects of ever reopening the Uttoxeter has reached a satisfactory conclusion, with Staffordshire Moorlands District Council throwing out the application at its September meeting. That is extremely good news, not just for the Uttoxeter but also as a precedent for any other restoration schemes where there are fears that councils might bow to the need for new housing, even at the expense of overruling planning measures which have been put in place to protect a canal restoration. But if you’re looking for something that will translate into actual physical progress in the not-too-distant future, look further south. We’ve already shown you (see Navvies 307 back cover) the stockpile of pre-cast concrete sections which will soon form the first ever main line railway / canal crossing reinstated as part of a UK waterway restoration at Stonehouse, where the Birmingham - Bristol main line embankment currently blocks the Stroudwater (part of the Cotswold Canals). Well it looks like it may soon be joined by one of the first canal crossings of an existing motorway to be built as part of a UK waterway restoration. Where the M4 blocks the Wilts & Berks Canal just south of Swindon, a bid to a Highways England fund for reversing damage caused by road construction in the past (the same fund which paid £4m for the A38 / Cotswold Canals crossing at Whitminster - see various recent issues of Navvies) has secured £42,000 for a feasibility study for a new bridge. The Wilts & Berks Canal Trust is hopeful that this will be followed by a six-figure sum to pay for detailed design work, and then by the full funding to build the bridge in around 2023-24. And if that sounds like overoptimism on the part of the Canal Trust, there’s something of a statement of faith in the future of the canal in the fact that a new canal bridge is currently under construction to carry Wharf Road (which is being diverted as part of road alterations in connection with an access road to a new housing development) over the new route of the canal on its way to the M4 bridge. See diagram below. And looking further ahead it seems there’s a chance that one or both of these restorations could finally benefit from a funding source that’s often looked like a good way to pay for canal reopenings, but so far has never really delivered. And that’s domestic water supply works - usually in the form of water transfer schemes from wet areas to where the water’s needed. Of 15 major water projects which have been given the official green light for further development, two could provide big benefits for canal restoration. The first is a transfer scheme to take water from the Severn catchment to the Thames - and one option for this is to restore the entire eastern length of the Cotswold Canals from Sapperton Tunnel to the Thames as the transfer channel. The second is the proposal for a large new reservoir to hold supplies (possibly Swindon M4 delivered by this motorway transfer scheme) Access road Planned new near Abingdon. for new canal bridge This would block housing under M4 the original route motorway of the Wilts & Berks Canal, but a Planned bypass route new canal would be proroute vided as part of the reservoir New canal bridge work. In addition Original under construction a new emergency canal route draw-down channel (all new reserWharf Road voirs need a way of emptying them Plans for getting the Wilts & Berks Canal across the M4 south of Swindon
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