Progress

I am sure I have mentioned a few times that progress on restoring the Wilts & Berks Canal seems to be at the same speed as eventual travel on it will be - slow!

However I can report that at Studley Grange work has now started on the preliminary clearance of the site so at last the project is beginning to take shape.  If you have an opportunity to publicise the £for£  Funding Appeal this would help to consolidate the first phase for the scheme http://bit.ly/1w23LrJ .  Thank you if you have already made a contribution.

We await with many fingers crossed for news about the application for a grant from a Landfill Tax credits operator to allow us to start the main part of the work.

Also some progress to report on the trip boat landing stage at Waitrose in Wichelstowe.  The revised plans have been approved and we expect consent for the planning application this week.  Subject to final confirmation a contract will be let after the Easter Break for work to start as soon as possible.

The Melksham Link team (greatly helped by WBCT’s MCC Branch) have had a busy week (and weekend) at the Melksham Neighbourhood Plan launch event at the Assembly Hall on Friday and Saturday.  The team were keen to be able to engage with the local community to explain further the proposals in the recently launched Melksham Link Landscape MasterPlan  http://www.wiltsandberkscanal.org.uk/projects/melksham-link/melksham-link-masterplan

 We have just been notified that the Swindon Local Plan has now been officially adopted by Swindon Borough Council. www.swindon.gov.uk/localplan . This Local Plan is following on from Wiltshire Council’s Core Strategy and now each of these plans has a policy to protect the route of the Wilts & Berks to allow restoration.  The situation in Oxfordshire (Vale of White Horse DC) is more complicated and would probably take several blogs to explain. Enough to say that there is much more work to do in the coming months to achieve the same result.

 

A project that rarely gets a mention is the Templars Firs Extension at Royal Wootton Bassett.  Part of the delay has been that the project manager has been unwell and part that the site is crossed by a number of water and sewer pipes which may need to be moved.  There has been some difficulty in finding their exact location.  Many thanks to Tony Key who has now temporarily taken on the project management and has made some proposals to Wessex Water to find an acceptable technical solution on site.
 
We often talk about partnership and cooperation and Kath and Chris took the opportunity this weekend to meet representatives from a number of canal restoration groups at the Southern Canals Association meeting on Sunday.  Hosted by the Cotswold Canals Trust the site visit included some of the significant ‘Phase 1a’ restoration projects in the Stroud Area.  The restoration sites are very impressively organised, with a strong focus on hitting a site hard until it is completed. CCT use an enormous number of volunteers, many from their own membership(now over 8000), Waterway Recovery Group and  a lot of local groups.

It is also clear that the close involvement of Stroud District Council in the project is of great benefit.

 

Ken Oliver