‘The journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step’

In the ‘Wilts & Berks journey of 1000 miles’ some more small steps this week.  The Studley Grange (Biffa) site inched closer to work starting with three significant steps:-

 Two contractors were interviewed to examine some of the details of their submission to excavate the 1km section of the canal. The work is not straightforward as it includes a piled section, and careful planning and methodology to prevent pollution getting into the stream that currently occupies the canal bed.  The Trust expects to make a decision to provisionally award the contract next week.  It is possible that a small contract will be issued to the successful contractor to carry out time sensitive preliminary works.
The project here is expected to cost over £1/2m and the provisional nature of the contract is necessary as the work is dependent on obtaining a grant from the land fill operator’s tax credit scheme.  The application has successfully passed the second stage hurdle and the bid will be finally assessed at the end of March.
Wiltshire Council have confirmed that the information required to satisfy the planning conditions that prevented work from starting has  been now supplied  and the conditions have been discharged.

Swindon Borough Council Local Plan has  been judged to be ‘sound’  by the Planning Inspector which means that the Council can ratify the Plan in the next few months which will make it official policy until 2026.  The restoration of the Wilts & Berks Canal is part of this policy and an agreed route is protected from other development.

Featuring in the Local Plan is Swindon Eastern Villages where up to 8000 more homes will be built.  The Eastern Villages provide a new alignment for the main line of the canal, and a small project team is currently assessing details of the route. One of the first areas where a developer is seeking to provide some of these homes is Lotmead Farm adjacent to the Wanborough Road.  Following initial meetings last summer, the Trust is seeking full engagement with the developer to include the canal construction as part of the current crucial planning discussions.

Elsewhere in Swindon a new team is starting work on assessing the route of the canal from Mouldon Hill to Cheney Manor with the aim of confirming the outline design for the project.

In Melksham, Wiltshire Council’s Area Board had asked for an update on the Melksham Link project. Chris Coyle & Paul Lenaerts made a short presentation to the meeting on Wednesday and answered questions from Councillors and members of the local community.

You may have heard that there is a General Election happening in May!  On the same day there are also Local Elections in Swindon and the Vale of the White Horse.  The Trust intends to seek views from the candidates on how they might support   the Wilts & Berks Canal restoration and will let you know their responses.  A preliminary to this full assessment was a meeting this week with South Swindon MP Robert Buckland QC.  The Swindon Town Centre proposals for the canal were the single topic for the short meeting and it was agreed that a further meeting would be necessary.

At Pewsham Locks the team have carried out removal of some trees that would have prevented restoration of the structures. Clearance of mature trees is not done without careful thought and where it is unavoidable planting is always carried out to mitigate for the habitat loss.

 No doubt the week ahead will provide more news and it includes the postponed meeting of the Trust's Finance and Admin Team and a presentation to Melksham Town Council on the Melksham Link.

 

Ken Oliver