Navvies News will WRG NW survive?

navvies News

Do you want WRG North West to survive? If so, they need your input now. Plus the latest on BNG, and a drop-in online session for WRG cooks

End of the road for WRG NW?

Our North West regional group’s future is in serious doubt as a result of lack of sufficient volunteers, and is calling a meeting to decide whether to continue or to close the group down. The following is from the North West e-newsletter:

Last time I asked for guidance as to the number of recipients of this newsletter who would participate in digs going forward. I got just six replies even though I know of a similar number who are likely to do but still didn’t reply. This is not sufficient for a viable group.

There will therefore be an ad hoc meeting in Manchester on 17th May to discuss what, if any, future there is for WRG North West. At the moment it looks as though the answer, sadly, is that there isn’t.

The meeting will be open to anyone who wants to attend and we would welcome the widest possible participation. Please contact me for details or to express a view if you can’t attend. Malcolm Bridge 07956-944489 malcolm.bridge@gmail.com

Biodiversity Net Gain update

In the last couple of years we’ve mentioned Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) a few times basically it’s the idea that any ‘development’ needs to include nature conservation measures that increase the overall biodiversity and it’s in the process of becoming a legal requirement in the UK.

It can affect canal restoration in two ways: firstly because much canal restoration work counts as ‘development’ in itself (so the requirement for BNG could be seen as yet another thing that hinders canal restoration); and secondly because it’s possible that nature-friendly canal restoration could provide the necessary BNG or adjacent commercial development (so conversely it could help canal restoration). Anyway the Inland Waterways Association has a BNG group which has been following the progress of implementation of mandatory BNG into law these past few months. As of November 2021, the Environment Act was passed by the House of Commons, and the process has begun for developing the framework for its implementation. By late 2023, the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is likely to be amended and from that point, delivering BNG will become a mandatory part of planning permission. The BNG Working group are following what shape this takes and what opportunities it might provide for improving and restoring our waterways.

The BNG Working Group has also recently defined its three core goals:

(1) Promote canal restoration as a tool for biodiversity net gain at a national level (2) Promote the advantages and opportunities of biodiversity net gain to restoration societies (3) Identify requirement for (and develop) resources to enable implementation of biodiversity net gain in the restoration sector

These goals will be the main driving point for the work of the group moving forward. If you or your canal restoration group wants to find out more about BNG, contact the IWA Restoration Hub.

Calling cooks and would-be cooks...

We’re planning on having a WRG Canal Camp cooks’ drop-in online (Zoom) session, probably sometime just prior to the 20th May Leader Training Day (see page 11).

The idea will be to answer questions, help with any concerns, discuss issues, and basically anything else to encourage potential new cooks to ‘take the plunge’ as well as helping existing cooks.

We don’t have any details just yet, but check the WRG Facebook page and website, or get in touch with Jenny Morris at head office on enquiries@wrg.org.uk or 01494 783453.