Spring 2020
WEST LONDON BRANCH NEWSLETTER
What will become of Kensal Green?
CONTENTS 3
Chairman’s Introduction NEWS 6 The coronavirus epidemic 7 HS2 Update 10 Heathrow Airport Expansion 11 CRT Satisfaction Surveys 12 Deep trouble 13 All Change at CRT EVENTS 14 Waterway Webinars ENVIRONMENT 15 Planning and Development - recent applications 18 Slough Arm micro generation project 20 Old Oak and Park Royal Update 23 Slough Basin Redevelopment 25 Kensal Rise Opportunity Area BOATING 30 Boat Numbers in West London HERITAGE 32 The Restoration of Raymond 33 The West London Heritage List-how you could help 35 Freud’s Paddngton INFORMATION AND COMMENT 36 Editorial Comment 37 Branch Committee and Contacts
Cover photograph A view of the Paddington Arm at Kensal in July 2018. On page 25 we report on the Kensal Rise Opportunity Area. Development of the former gas works site could completely change the character of the canal at Kensal Green.
A barge being towed past Kensal Green Gas Works in 1959. The entrance to the gas works canal basin (Basin No.2) can be seen to the right. 2
CONTENTS
Chairman’s Introduction
Coronavirus is turning life upside down, dominating everything it touches. We are all preoccupied with lockdown, hygiene and empty supermarket shelves! The true impact cannot yet be understood, but there are positive aspects – the heroics of our health professionals; the community coming together; individual acts of kindness and support. For many, self-isolation and social distancing provide a change of pace and routine – time to catch up on that list of things to be done around the home, maybe an opportunity to get creative, try new things? It also offers the opportunity to take stock - and that’s what we’d like to do with this Newsletter – keep in touch, bring you up to date and look forward to a return to normality! Keep in touch! With present restrictions, it has not been possible to produce this newsletter in printed form. We’re pleased to produce this digital version, but realise a significant proportion of our Members may not be able to access it. In this time of isolation, remote communication informs and brings people together. The use of the internet and all that goes with it is a positive for many of us, but there are those who don’t feel comfortable and prefer to rely on personal contact, telephone and post.
We would like to reach as many Members as possible - both with this newsletter and using online meetings and presentations. But at the same time we’ll do our best to make sure everybody can join in and take part. The main thing is to make sure we have upto-date contact information. Please let us know if your contact details have changed in recent times or if you would like to add further information to enable a wider range of communication options. We will be writing to all members - whether by digital means or by post - to confirm this request. We want to remain in contact - please help us to do so! Branch Plan For us, the last six months has proved to be a very busy time. Since publication of our last Newsletter (Autumn 2019) we’ve been active in various ways. At the EGM last October we presented the new Branch Plan. Among other things we agreed to consult with Branch Members by means of a survey; identify opportunities for active volunteering and change our branch name from ‘Middlesex’ to ‘West London’. The name change has been achieved, but what of those other objectives?
INTRODUCTION
3
Member Survey
Volunteering on the Hanwell Flight
The Member Survey yielded useful information and has helped shape progress. We asked a range of questions about Members interest in the waterways; branch activities; volunteering opportunities, etc. Some highlights are:
The Hanwell Flight of locks is one of the jewels of the canal network in London, given its picturesque setting, heritage significance and rich wildlife. Located at the top end of the flight is Three Bridges, a crossing point on three levels (railway, canal and road) designed by Brunel.
• Interest in the waterways – 71% of
respondents are recreational boaters, 17% are live-aboard boaters and 10% are interested in unpowered boating. 56% use the towpaths for walking; 27% for cycling and 20% for exercise & wellbeing.
• Members’ evenings – 41% of respondents
would like to see members’ evenings held in a more convenient location; 31% find either the regular day or time of meetings inconvenient. As to type or content of meetings, ‘What’s happening on the waterways in London’ is the preferred topic for 74% of respondents.
• Volunteering opportunities – the preferred
types of volunteering for respondents are towpath litter picks (55%); canal restoration (49%); upkeep of an adopted section of canal (42%); environment and ecology (27%) and planning and heritage (27%).
• Volunteer’s skills – interesting to note the
range of skills respondents are able to offer, from boat crewing (48%); teaching and instructing (29%); sales (24%) and administration (24%). Other skills include construction; project management; gardening & horticulture; boat technical skills; health & safety; environment & ecology and event organisation.
In the Branch Plan we set out the objective of identifying opportunities for Members to become involved in volunteering activities. The response to the Member Survey gave a strong indication of interest in this and we wanted to find an opportunity that had the potential to offer a range of activities. In cooperation with the Canal & River Trust (‘CRT’), we’ve been very fortunate to find such an opportunity: the Hanwell Flight. 4
INTRODUCTION
The six locks of the flight (Locks 92-97 inclusive), together with their side ponds, are a designated Scheduled Monument. However, restoration of the side ponds is needed and this has led to the flight being placed on Historic England’s ‘heritage at risk’ register. CRT has been active in making ecological improvements and carrying out a major vegetation clearance exercise around the side ponds. The installation of floating reed beds at Lock 96 has resulted in the award of an Environmental Green Flag. Building on these efforts, CRT were keen to find a partner to be involved in creating, and helping to sustain, a strategic plan for the recovery and upkeep of the side ponds and adjacent woodland. Discussions between CRT and ourselves started late last year and resulted in the signing of a partnership agreement earlier this year. This has a validity of two years and, assuming things go well, the mutual intention is for IWA West London to then enter into an adoption agreement for an extended period. There is much to do. Our approach has been to work closely with CRT to plan the volunteer effort and initially start with a monthly work party, increasing frequency as we gain momentum. We will initially concentrate on one side pond, and progress along the flight in future years. Our involvement will bring together aspects of canal heritage and ecology, and will include a range of activities such as vegetation control; gardening; litter picking; surveying; restoration work; heritage preservation and habitat creation.
With a lot of preparatory work done, we had intended to hold the first work party this month. We now look to the future and will reschedule as soon as possible. Please let us know if you would like to hear more of our plans or register for updates as they become available - please email me at roger.still@waterways.org.uk Branch Annual General Meeting Our AGM was due to be held at the end of last month, with a presentation marking the start of our involvement at Hanwell. We’d like to rearrange the AGM and presentation as soon as possible and will keep this under review. If it looks as though the delay in holding a face-to-face meeting becomes protracted, we’ll look at the option of an online meeting, ensuring all Members have the opportunity to take part and have their say. We hope this newsletter makes you better informed - and your isolation more tolerable! With best wishes – stay well!
Roger Still Roger Still Chairman IWA West London Branch
Hanwell Flight view from Lock 97 INTRODUCTION
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NEWS
THE CORONAVIRUS EPIDEMIC Most of this newsletter was prepared in January and February when news of the Covid-19/coronavirus was emerging from China and then in Europe. At the time we included a long list of canal events and our volunteer programme for starting task parties at Hanwell Flight (see page 4). As a result of recent government advice on social distancing all of these events will be postponed for the time being. The IWA issued its advice on Covid-19/ corona virus in early March and this was followed by the sad news that the IWA Canalway Cavalcade on 2/3May was to be cancelled.
We decided to go ahead with the publication of this newsletter but without details of any events or volunteering, as meetings and gatherings are no longer possible. The situation may possibly continue over the next few months and perhaps for longer. All this will pass in time and when things return to normal our wonderful canals and rivers will still be there to enjoy.
Heading north on the Grand Union at Boston Manor
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NEWS
5
HS2 UPDATE
Following the review led by Douglas Oakervee, the former chairman of Hs2 Ltd, the Government announced on 11th February that the whole of the proposed HS2 line including the second phase to Manchester and Leeds would go ahead. This decision will have two major impacts on the waterways of West London. Firstly the plans for the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) area can proceed in the knowledge that a major rail transport interchange will be built at Old Oak Common by 2028-31. The interchange between HS2 and Cross Rail was the driver behind the original masterplan vision for OPDC to create 55,000 jobs and 25,500 new homes. With only a Cross Rail station at Old Oak the whole development area could have been massively scaled down to the few isolated high rise developments alongside the Paddington Arm that have already been granted planning permission. This could also have risked the OPDC Local Plan, currently in the examination process by a Planning Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State, being found ‘Unsound’. The independent examination is the final stage in the Local Plan process before it can be adopted as part of the legally binding development plan for the OPDC area. Overview of the proposed Old Oak Common Station. The trees in the background mark the line of the Paddington Arm
Report Title: Design and Access Statement Document no: 1SN02-WSP-AR-STA-SS07-000001 Revision: P03
Pag
OFFICIAL
NEWS
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The second impact will be in the Colne Valley where the longest viaduct in the country (2.1 miles) is to be constructed between West Ruislip and West Hyde-the site of the portal entrance to the Chilterns Tunnel. The viaduct will cross the Grand Union south of Widewater Lock close to the southwest corner of Harefield Marina. Details of the aqueduct design were submitted to the London Borough of Hillingdon and South Bucks District Council in the autumn of 2019 in what is known as a Schedule 17 application. Planning permission for the viaduct has already been granted by the High Speed Rail Act so the Schedule 17 is a process for the approval of certain matters relating to the detail design and construction of the railway-rather similar to referred matter applications following the granting of outline planning permission.
Viaduct box beam structure
Current HS2 activities in the Colne Valley area are largely to the east of Harefield No 2 Lake and Denham Quarry Lake B. The works include establishment of a site compound to enable the National Grid pylon diversion due to be completed in spring 2021 requiring vegetation clearance, the creation of temporary roadways and temporary closures/diversions of footpaths and bridleways. Test piling for the Colne Valley viaduct has started and will take place through to May 2020. On site protests continue in the Harvil Road area concerning the alleged unnecessary clearance of ancient woodlands, the destruction of wildlife habitats and the drilling through chalk aquifer that could contaminate water supplies. Proposed HS2 viaduct over the Grand Union (between Widewater Lock and existing rail bridge 181)
Fig.5.63_ Visualisation (11) - Grand Union Canal crossing looking north
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NEWS
HS2 Ltd 1MC05-ALJ-TP-REP-CS01_CL01-000005 Colne Valley Viaduct Design & Access Statement September 2019
101
Harefield Mid Colne Valley SSSI
Great Halings Denham Waterski Lake
South Harefield Broadwater Lake
Northmoor Hill Wood
A412
Denham Aerodrome
Harefield Moor Lake Korda Lake
d oa lR al h r oo M
Denham Green
Savay Lake
Old Rectory Meadows SSSI
Denham Station
Canal Union Grand
m Golf Club
Harefield Marina
Harefield No2 lake
Alignment of the HS2 viaduct shown by the black dotted line
Viaduct at Harefield No. 2 Lake NEWS
9
HEATHROW AIRPORT EXPANSION Between June and September 2019 Heathrow consulted on its preferred proposals for developing and operating an expanded airport. The West London Branch submitted a detailed objection to the Heathrow expansion proposals. Our major concern was that the proposed third runway would require the permanent loss of 900 acres of land in the southern part of the Colne Valley Regional Park. The loss of the Park area would destroy wild life connectivity between the Thames basin and the Chilterns with the result that the ecological impact of the airport expansion would also impact on the natural environment of the canal. There is growing evidence that open space and access to water (green/blue space) is associated with increased activity, decreased levels of stress and improved mental health. We were equally concerned that increased noise and pollution from an expanded airport and the associated airport traffic growth would reduce usage of the waterway as an
10
NEWS
important recreational amenity and the health and wellbeing benefits of the canal would be lost In October 2019 permission was given for a group made up of Councils, the Mayor of London, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth to take their legal battle to the Court of Appeal in an attempt to block the third runway. On 27 February 2020 the Court of Appeal ruled that the Government had failed to take into account its own climate change obligations with its attempt to expand Heathrow Airport. This was a momentous victory for residents in West London, local authorities and other organisations including IWA opposed to the expansion However this is probably not the end of the story. Although the Government do not intend to challenge the Court of Appeal ruling Heathrow Airport Ltd has issued a statement confirming that an appeal will be made to the Supreme Court on the issue of the proposed expansion achieving net zero emissions by 2050 in line with the Paris Accord. Heathrow claim that this issue is ‘eminently fixable’.
Monthly Waterway Experience Survey 2019 20th December Part A – operational questions
CANAL & RIVER TRUST SATISFACTION SURVEYS In the last edition of the newsletter we reported the changes that the Canal & River Trust were making to the annual Boat Owners Views Survey by introducing shorter ‘Perceptions’ surveys. The first headline results of the new Waterway Experience survey distributed in fortnightly waves over the summer period of 2019 have now been revealed. The Trust has reported that boaters’ experiences have generally improved between April and September 2019. They say that boaters who are out cruising appear to be more satisfied, more likely to recommend the Trust’s waterways, and have a more positive opinion of the overall upkeep of the waterways when their answers are compared to the annual Perception survey. In response to the question of their overall experience of cruising the Trust’s waterways 67% of boaters said they were very or slightly satisfied over the whole period compared to 61% in the annual perception survey. When asked about the overall upkeep of the waterways, 31% of boaters rated them at eight or more (out of ten) compared to 19% in the perception survey. Boaters felt the Trust did well at managing congestion at locks, visitor moorings and other facilities, ensuring there were places to moor that were deep enough, providing short stay visitor moorings, keeping the grass verges cut, and the overall condition of locks. However the availability of facilities and keeping the towpath and waterways free from overhanging branches were the biggest problem areas, alongside dealing with non-compliant boaters and unlicensed boats. In the CRT press release Matthew Symonds, national boating manager at Canal & River Trust reported that it would be difficult to directly compare the annual perception survey and the monthly waterway survey because the samples are different. He felt however ‘heartened that when the questions asked on both surveys are looked at side by side, the results from the monthly survey appear to be more positive’ and that it was ‘interesting to see boaters that we know are out and about on the waterways are reporting a more satisfying experience than those who were asked to think back over the whole year’. The Trust reports that the monthly surveys have highlighted some of the areas where they need to do more. They claim to have already addressed some of the issues as they’ve been highlighted throughout the summer and are working with their regional teams to consider and respond to the individual comments. The last annual report on Boat Owners Views was published in July 2019. Unlike previous years that survey combined the responses from boaters in London and the South East perhaps to reflect the reorganisation of the Trust’s management structure. As a result it was impossible to identify changing levels of dissatisfaction amongst boaters in London where there are particular problems with boater facilities and mooring congestion. In order that the Trust can respond positively to regional issues we believe that the annual and monthly surveys should identify separate data for the London region.
NEWS
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Work in progress at Denham Deep Lock in December 2019 The balance beam is propped up while the heel post is repaired
DEEP TROUBLE 2019 was something of an annus horribilis for Denham Deep lock. Denham Lock with a rise of 3.37 metres is the deepest lock on the Grand Union so the lower gates are subject to more wear and tear than most. Two events in the autumn, which closed the lock, suggest that the maintenance of locks on the network remains a significant issue for the Trust In early September (12th) the lock was suddenly made inoperative when the towpath side bottom gate balance beam broke off and fell into the lock. CRT initially reported this as vandalism but the cause was rot at the top of the mitre post and could have resulted in a serious incident. For a time it seemed that the trip boats from Hillingdon Narrowboats Association would not be able to reach Hayes for the Canal Festival on the 15th September but for other reasons the Hayes Canal Festival was in any case cancelled at the last moment. The lock was closed again at the end of November when a serious split was found in the lower off side gate heel post and the lock was considered unsafe to operate. 12
NEWS
Some boats were allowed through the lock in a trial passage on 4th December but CRT decided that it was too unsafe to operate further. A short term solution was required and the CRT construction team measured the gate for the fabrication of a steel collar to fit round the heel post and the photograph shows the collar on a work boat in the lock on 13th December. The repair works were completed in the following week and the lock was finally reopened on 19th December. Prefabricated steel heel post collar
ALL CHANGE AT CRT
Jena-The London and South East team’s widebeam at the Slough Canal Festival
The widely reported changes to the management structure of the Canal & River Trust appear close to being resolved. Inevitably the changes in personnel have been somewhat disruptive and left some CRT staff wondering if they would still have a job at the end of the reorganisation process. The biggest change for our area of waterways is the creation of a larger London and South East region. The region includes the Grand Union Canal (from Brentford to the iron trunk aqueduct at Cosgrove) and its various arms, the Hertford Union Canal, the River Stort, the Limehouse Cut, The Regent’s Canal, the Lee Navigation, the Bow Back Rivers, London Docklands and a large part of the Oxford Canal (Claydon Locks to Oxford). This means that CRT staff with specialist expertise now cover a larger area of the canal network and should result in human resources economies. Parts of the London and South East management structure were announced at the London Waterway Forum in July last year. The Director of London & South East region is Ros Daniels and she reports to Julie Sharman, the Chief Operating Officer on the Canal & River Trust Executive Team.
Key London & South East personnel are: Ros Daniels – Director London & South East region Charlotte Wood – Head of London & South East Operations Tom Oliver – Area Operations Manager Sarah Lee – Boating & Customer Service Manager London & South East region Nick Evans - General Manager Central/ Docklands team Sonny King - Volunteer Development Coordinator London & South East region Linzi Joy MacDonald – Volunteer Coordinator London & South East region The Canal & River Trust preference is that the CRT Customer Service Team (0303 040 4040 or https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/ contact-us/ways-to-contact-us) is used to contact the Trust. However most of the staff above may be contacted by email by using the format: firstname.lastname@canalrivertrust.org.uk Contact details for the local boat licence customer support officers in the London & South East region may be found at https:// canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/ boating/buy-your-boat-licence/boat-licencecustomer-support-team/contact-your-localofficer
NEWS
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WATERWAY WEBINARS IWA Chairman, Paul Rodgers, Webinar 7 April at 7:30pm
While Branch meetings have been cancelled or postponed due to coronavirus the IWA are rolling out a regular programme of speakers for supporters. The webinars will cover a range of topic areas including campaign successes, waterways heritage, canal adoption schemes and more. The Association is committed to continue a programme of activities for IWA members as much as possible in these challenging times. Some excellent speakers have been lined up for a series of one hour webinars, starting with:
7th April - 7:30pm IWA - more relevant than ever Presented by IWA National Chairman, Paul Rodgers
Tuesday 14th April – 7.30pm One Arm...many heads - transforming the Northampton Arm Presented by Geoff Wood / Mick Butler, IWA Northampton Branch work party organisers
Tuesday 21st April – 7.30pm Bringing waterways to the attention of government Presented by Alison Smedley, IWA Campaigns & Public Affairs Manager
Tuesday 28th April – 7.30pm Changing the face of the Ashton Canal Presented by Maarja Kaaristo, IWA Manchester Branch
Tuesday 5th May – 12.30pm Protecting our Waterways Heritage Presented by Amy Tillson, IWA Campaigns Officer Register now for any of these webinars - go to the IWA website (www.waterways.org.uk), click on ‘Events’ and choose ‘Online Waterways Talks’ in the drop down menu. What is a Webinar? It’s easy to join the webinars using a desktop computer, tablet or smart phone. You can also dial in. Generally a webinar is presented by one person. Attendees can participate and ask questions by typing into a chat box. The host can also allow attendees to speak. 14
EVENTS
PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT Our monitoring of recent planning applications has revealed a disturbing trend; planning permissions for large residential are granted and are promptly followed up by further applications to alter the size and height of the consented schemes to increase the number of dwelling units. These changes are usually justified on the basis that the original application is no longer viable. Contributions for Community Infrastructure Levy payments, Section 106 legal obligations and the proportion of affordable housing all provide suitable ammunition for developers to argue the case for an increase in the quantum of development. An example of this trend is the hi-rise residential scheme at Scrubs Lane (Bridge 6 of the Paddington Arm) in the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation area. City & Docklands have submitted a planning application to increase the height of the consented 19-storey tower block at 104/108 Scrubs Lane (OPDC Ref: 19/0104/VAR) by three storeys and provide a total of 41 additional flats. The amended scheme is still pending consideration by the planning authority. One local amenity group has now questioned the validity of the original consent as changes to the Car Giant area (see page 23) mean that in the future the tower may never be seen against a backdrop of other tall buildings.
104/108 Scrubs Lane-proposed development
Illustrative view from southern towpath of Grand Union Canal, in the context of other schemes emerging in the area 68
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Viewpoint A
Another example of ‘development creep’ is further west along the Paddington Arm adjacent to the North Circular aqueduct where the Berkeley Group has submitted an application to increase the size of their Grand Union development at the former Northfields Industrial Estate (Brent Ref: 19/2732). The amended scheme to increase the height of one of the canal frontage blocks from 14 floors to 18 floors has already been approved by Brent Council. More recently the Grand Union scheme has been further revised (Brent Ref: 19/3674) to Northfields development change two U-shaped buildings into four separate L-shaped blocks to accommodate an existing high-pressure water main owned by Thames Water. GRAND UNION, PHASE 2 - DESIGN AND ACCESS STATEMENT
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ENVIRONMENT
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Recent Applications: Adjacent to the Slough Arm numerous planning applications have been made for the site of a former kennels at Sawyers Green Farm (South Bucks District Council Ref: 17/00627/FUL, PL/19/2256/FA, and PL/19/3570/FA). These schemes have included use of the site for airport parking, a replacement dwelling house, the installation of steel containers for storage, a change of use to vehicle parking for sales, and a change of use to car mechanic and body shop repair. All of the applications have been refused as inappropriate development in the Green Belt. In West Drayton a well-established telecommunications base station was at one time located on the roof of Bignell House on Horton Parade. This canalside building has now been demolished to make way for a new residential development known as Horton Wharf. A temporary 25 metre high telecoms lattice tower has been erected next to the canal to avoid the loss of service during the redevelopment of the site. Telefonica UK Ltd has submitted an application for Land at the rear of 2-6 Horton Road (Hillingdon Ref: 71582/APP/2019/196) to install a permanent 30 metre high telecom mast located between the two residential blocks at Horton Road temporary telecom mast Horton Wharf. We have strongly objected as the proposed mast will have a disastrous impact on the amenity of the canal and towpath as well as being completely unacceptable in close proximity to the living room and bedroom windows of the new flats. Boston Manor Park is on the offside of the canal adjacent to Clitheroe’s Lock (99). The local authority has made a planning application (Hounslow Ref: 00133/H/S17) as part of a Heritage Lottery Funded scheme for the restoration of the park buildings and the construction of a new café/education centre. The proposed masterplan indicates that the scheme will not impact on the canal other than the creation of three clearings around veteran trees on the bank south of the River Brent weir stream. The offside in this area will also be subject to coppice management. The lighting scheme shows new lighting columns to illuminate the shared pedestrian cycle route along the eastern boundary of the Park. Boston Manor Park is at the southern end of the designated Brent River Park, a 7km length of the river between the Western Avenue near Hangar Lane and Brentford.
The Collective Woodfield Road 16
ENVIRONMENT
The Collective, with its canalside terrace and bright red raking columns, is a landmark building on the Paddington Arm at Old Oak Lane (Bridge 7). The building is London’s first co-living scheme with 550 rented hotel and studio rooms. Communal facilities include a restaurant, co-working spaces and a gym. The Collective are now planning another co-living canalside development at Woodfield Road London W9 (Westminster Ref: 19/04487/FULL) of 286 rooms. The site was formerly the headquarters of the London Taxi Drivers Association and the Westminster Council Cleaning
Depot. All the existing buildings on the site will be demolished. An eleven storey brick clad building will house the co-living rooms with multi function spaces at the lower levels. Two lower buildings on the eastern side of the site will provide a replacement cleaning depot and event spaces for the Collective. A central courtyard space will step down towards the canal and provide outdoor seating next to the lower ground bar/restaurant. The site is adjacent to a 14 storey mixed use office development (Hathaway House), which is already under construction. Two applications have recently been submitted to the London Borough of Hillingdon for adjoining sites in Clayton Road, Hayes on the offside of the Grand Union Canal. The first of these is for the Fairview Business Centre site (Hillingdon Ref: 58758/APP/2019/3517) and comprises a residential development of 398 flats with 768sq metres of employment space and 308sq metres of retail/café space. The layout consists of two ‘U’ shaped blocks with central garden spaces at podium level. A landscaped pedestrian route between the two blocks will provide public access to the canal. At the behest Fairview Business Centre development of the planning authority the modelling of the scheme allows for lower elements along Clayton Road and next to the canal with a maximum of 10 storeys at the centre of the site. The computer generated visuals suggest that the scheme will present a rather strange unresolved massing when seen from the towpath on the other side of the canal. The second application is for the Crown Trading Estate site (Hillingdon Ref: 73955/APP/ 2020/139) and proposes a mixed-use development of 407 residential units with 1175sq metres of employment space. The scheme takes an entirely different design approach to massing with six buildings joined at the lower levels by linking blocks and podium gardens. These buildings are nine storeys along Clayton Road and eleven storeys next to the canal. As proposed at the adjoining development a landscaped pedestrian access route between the blocks will link Clayton to a ‘canal side park’. A proposed single vehicular access route from Clayton Road will serve both schemes. We believe that both the Clayton Road developments Crown Trading Estate development are an overdevelopment of their respective sites and the proposed height and massing will be detrimental to the amenity of the canal. The existing sites are some 1.9 metres above the water level of the canal. Whilst we welcome the proposals to permit public access to the canal from Clayton Road we consider there is a need to terrace the landscaped areas along the canal bank.
Read more: The developments we have listed include the planning reference number. To learn more about the schemes go to the Local Authority website and find the planning search page. Enter the planning reference and click on the application summary where a button to open the documents will be found. For general information about the scheme the quickest document to review is the Design and Access Statement, sometimes listed as DAS." ENVIRONMENT
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SLOUGH ARM MICROBIAL ENERGY PROJECT
Hydropower, wind turbine, wavetidal energy, solar energy, biomass and geothermal are the recognised renewable energy sources to meet global energy needs. A recent experimental project in Bloom Park next to the Slough Arm suggests, maybe one day, plant microbial fuel cells (PMFC) will provide another potential new renewable energy resource.
How does the Microbial Fuel Cell System Work?
The Bloom Park Project
A Microbial Fuel Cell consists of an anode and a cathode separated by a cation (positive charge) selective membrane and linked together with an external wire. The electrons produced by the decay of the organic matter are caught by the anode and travel through the wire producing a small current. The electrons then travel on, back by another wire to the cathode. At the cathode the electrons meet with oxygen and protons to form pure water, completing the circuit.
To increase local bio-diversity Slough Borough Council has instigated a framework programme of landscaping and planting within Bloom Park – the site of the annual Slough Canal Festival. This work under the design and direction of Stephen and Louise Handley included the modelling of the landform soil and drainage and the introduction of plant material to increase bio-diversity allowing natural colonisation to follow. Mounded plantations have been formed together with a wildflower meadow next to Middlegreen Road. Adjacent to the canal a wetland planting area has been formed in a hollow between the canal bank and the access ramp into the Park. The wetland planting is the first site in the UK to trial a new technology which generates electricity from microbes which form around plant roots. The technology originates from the Netherlands and is the brainchild of Dutch research and development company Plant-e, a technology spin-off from Wageningen University. 18
ENVIRONMENT
Plants take up carbon dioxide and water and under the influence of the sun the plant converts them into organic matter and oxygen. The oxygen is released into the air. Part of the organic matter is used by the plant for its own growth, but part of the matter can’t be used and is excreted into the soil via the roots. In the soil naturally occurring bacteria break down the organic matter and release electrons and protons in the process.
LED illuminated interpretation board
Air inlets to the anode/cathode tubes
The Bloom Park System
At the Bloom Park trial the PMFC consists of a tubular system of flexible tubes carrying the anode and cathode. The anode/cathodes are wrapped around permeable tubes installed in the wetland under the soil. The only visible parts above ground are the inlets to the permeable tubes that supply the cathode with oxygen. The electricity produced is used to power small LED lights controlled by push buttons on the interpretation board. The site and interpretation board is used as an educational tool for schools and community groups.
Microbial energy in the future
Currently the 32 PMFC tubes at Bloom Park produces relatively low amounts of electrical energy (5V output) and scalability is an issue. However in Holland modular microbial systems have been used for road lighting.
ENVIRONMENT
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Old Oak and Park Royal Update
In our Autumn 2019 edition of the Newsletter we reported on the creation of the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) in 2015 and Europe’s largest regeneration project on a 650hectare site spreading across the local authority areas of Brent, Ealing and Hammersmith & Fulham. The HS2 and Elizabeth lines (formally known as Crossrail) will meet at Old Oak where a major new interchange station will be created in an area of railway and industrial land to the north of Wormwood Scrubs. The regeneration objective of OPDC is to capitalise on this major transport infrastructure so the Development Corporation will have been relieved that the uncertainty over the future of HS2 (see page 7) is at last resolved by the recent government decision to proceed with the whole of the proposed HS2 line including the second phase connections to Manchester and Leeds.
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ENVIRONMENT
OLD OAK STATION DESIGN
In January HS2 Limited submitted a Schedule 17 Application to OPDC for the design of the new station at Old Oak Common. This type of application is similar to the submission made by HS2 for the Colne Valley Viaduct (see page 8). Much of the station infrastructure will be subterranean but this application provides details of the above ground works including the main concourse, overbridges, stairs, escalators, lifts and conventional rail platforms covered by a massive roof structure of interlocking curved vaults.
THE ELIZABETH LINE DEPOT
The Elizabeth Line Depot consists of a series of railway sidings immediately to the south of the canal in the vicinity of footbridge 7B over the Paddington Arm. Early versions of the OPDC Local Plan envisaged that the Elizabeth Line depot would be decked over to provide a site for about 6,500 homes. Although the Birchwood Nature Reserve would have been retained the view from the canal and towpath would have been of a cluster of high rise buildings to the north of the new HS2/Elizabeth Line station.
Revision: P03
THE CAR GIANT SITE
The OPDC Plan proposals are designed to support the creation of a range of twelve distinct Places and Destinations that recognise variance in character, land use, transport access, topography communities and heritage. Old Oak North is an area to the south of Willesden Junction, bounded by Old Oak Lane to the west, Scrubbs Lane to the east and the Grand Union Canal to the south.
Figure 11. Visualisation of elevated view towards Old Oak North future development
OFFICIAL
The Elizabeth Line depot was, however, constructed without making provision for decking over and cannot now be released or retrofitted within reasonable cost. The second draft of the Local Plan recognises that the site is unlikely to become available for development within the lifetime of the plan but it remains included within areas designated for a major town centre/ commercial centre in twenty to thirty years time. The road and canal bridge serving the new station (Old Oak Street) is now located further east to avoid the Elizabeth Line Depot. This is a major change to the OPDC plan and means that most of the development adjacent to the canal in Old Oak will solely be on the north bank.
Page 29
Most of Old Oak North is owned by Car Giant, a large car manufacturing and retail business, alongside a range of light industrial uses, creative industries, waste management facilities at Old Oak Sidings and the European Metal Recycling site.
The West London Line currently bisects the site and the Local Plan proposes its reconstruction on a viaduct to allow the northern and southern parts of the Old Oak to be connected by a new road network. The delivery of the West London Line viaduct would also permit the potential construction of a new Overground Station (Hythe Road Overground Station) to increase public transport accessibility into the area. 1.1.3 An Overvi
Old Oak North is lo in the south and W the north.
Old Oak North showing ownerships
The area is currentl and retail business industries, waste m and the European M
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The arrival of Old O access and capacit Station and a new improve public tran enhancements cou Level (PTAL) of 6b – London Plan policy development at tra brownfield land. A transport accessibi to become a high d heights including t
KEY
ENVIRONMENT
Old Oak North will associated with the station to the south consolidated land o land owners. This p contribution to OP short to medium te a number of key ch include delivering new crossings acro retaining and mitig facilities at Old Oak on the road netwo transport at Willesd Stations and ensur the full range of us working in Old Oak
21
The OPDC Local Plan was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for independent examination in October 2018 to determine whether the Plan is consistent with national policy and is ‘Sound’ (objectively prepared, justifiable and deliverable). The examination timeframe included an additional hearing session in July 2019 so that the inspector could obtain further evidence with regard to disagreements between OPDC and Old Oak Park Ltd (Car Giant) over the Old Oak North area. Old Oak Park Ltd was claiming that the Local Plan was unsound and the two parties had major disagreements over numerous issues. Prior to 2017 Car Giant had worked on a scheme to relocate its business but it has now concluded that relocation is not a viable proposition. The planning inspector delivered his interim findings on the Old Oak North proposals in September 2019 and this concluded that the viability of the proposals would not permit the delivery of any affordable housing. The inspector considered Car Giant to be a highly successful and profitable business and that its extinction would not make sense in planning terms as compensatory extinguishment costs would preclude the likelihood of money being available for contributions to necessary infrastructure or affordable housing. The inspector concluded that so long as Car Giant continues to be a flourishing business the plan for Old Oak North could not be delivered within the plan period and that the Local Plan should be modified to effectively delete the housing and floorspace targets for site allocations 2 (Car Giant) and 3 (The Triangle Business Centre). It seems likely therefore that the setting of the canal between Old Oak Lane and Scrubs Lane will remain much as it is in the near future. OPDC has answered the Inspector’s Interim Findings on the viability of the Car Giant site by saying that they are not able to respond formally to the findings until early 2020 due to the HS2 review, the ongoing discussions regarding housing infrastructure funding with the Ministry of Housing, Communities 22
ENVIRONMENT
and Local Government and the Inspector’s requirement for OPDC to engage with Old Oak Park Limited (Car Giant) regarding modifications to the Old Oak North masterplan.
OPDC CANAL PLACEMAKING STUDY OPDC recognises that the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal is an important feature and well used movement corridor through the Old Oak and Park Royal Area. This is evidenced by photographs of the canal being included in virtually every document produced by OPDC. In October 2019 OPDC launched their Canal Placemaking Study developed in partnership with the Canal & River Trust. This two-part document is intended to provide a clear vision for the Grand Union Canal, and its role in the regeneration of the OPDC area. The Study includes guidance on issues such as safety, cleanliness, biodiversity and different uses of the towpath, as well as a clear approach to moorings and canal-based activities. To read the report go to: https:// www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/ grand_union_canal_placemaking_final_rep ort_part_1.pdf
Canal Placemaking
CHAPTER
1
SLOUGH BASIN REDEVELOPMENT
Boaters and walkers who venture to the end of the Slough Arm will find an uninviting and neglected basin on the edge of Slough town centre. The basin has been like this for many years and there is little here to encourage a visit other than a water tap and a winding point. To encourage boaters to travel the length of the Arm the IWA has made the basin one of the listed locations to visit by boat for the Silver Propeller Challenge. View of the existing basin
The Canal & River Trust own a limited amount of land at the end of the Arm but this is not of sufficient size for development that would lead to regeneration of the basin area. The situation changed in 2017 when Travis Perkins sold their builders yard site, to the south of the basin, to Slough Borough Council. Slough Borough Council have set up a joint venture partnership with Morgan Sindall Investments Limited to redevelop various sites in Slough to provide new homes, leisure facilities, schools, hotels and community buildings. The joint venture operates as Slough Urban Renewal (SUR) and one of the sites that SUR is proposing to develop consists of the land around the canal basin and the former Travis Perkins site. SUR has named the proposed development Stoke Wharf. As some of the land for the Stoke Wharf development is in the ownership of the Canal & River Trust the project will be delivered in a partnership arrangement between SUR and Waterside Places (a further joint venture partnership between CRT and Muse Developments). The situation is further complicated by the fact that Muse Developments is itself part of the Morgan Sindall Group.
ENVIRONMENT
23
Slough Urban Renewal consultation plan
Illustrative drawings for the Stoke Wharf scheme were put on display at last year’s Slough Canal Festival and this was followed by a public consultation exhibition in the town centre. The most contentious part of the scheme is the proposal to construct four blocks of flats fronting the canal on the northern part of Bowyers Playing Field. This will result in the loss of green space and will separate a recreational amenity area from the canal. Overall the proposed scheme provides approximately 270 new residential units, improvements to the existing canal basin including mooring spaces and a ‘boat servicing area’. There will also be some commercial space, which could include a bar/ restaurant and a canoe club.
Although we welcome the proposed improvements around the basin we consider the scheme could be significantly improved by a marginal increase in the size of the basin to provide additional water space for up to six residential moorings and a potential trip boat mooring. The inclusion of a small convenience store as a facility for the new housing would also encourage boaters to visit the end of the arm. The possible bar/ restaurant is considered to be ‘off pitch’ and not viable in the proposed location to the east of the basin. We have proposed instead a café located to one side of a small public square on Stoke Road. This would have a better footfall and open up views of the basin from Stoke Road.
We have commented on the public consultation proposals. Our main objection is the loss of publicly accessible green space and the flats that would create a barrier between the canal and what is left of the Bowyers Playing Field.
In September 2019 SUR suggested that they would shortly be submitting a planning application for the Stoke Wharf scheme. However since that time the proposals to develop Stoke Wharf seem to have stalled.
24
ENVIRONMENT
KENSAL RISE OPPORTUNITY AREA
The Paddington Arm between Scrubbs Lane and Ladbroke Grove is one of London’s most green and attractive stretches of waterway. The tree-lined Kensal Green Cemetery is on the north bank and on the south side a brick wall alongside the wide grass towpath marks the boundary of the former Kensal gas works. In 1966 the renowned architectural writer Ian Nairn, in his book Nairn’s London, described the Kensal Green Cemetery as a ‘fantastic private world’ with a ‘skyline made up of gasholders and factories, just across the Grand Union Canal’. He went on to describe the canal as having ‘a new industrial excitement every few yards, mellowed by water in the foreground and grass on the banks. Even a short sample is enough to get you hooked on the neglected world of industrial landscape. After it, everything else seems a bit pallid’. The atmosphere portrayed by Nairn has now changed to a semi-derelict post industrial landscape but emerging plans to completely redevelop the former gas works site could threaten a unique part of the waterway in west London.
Landmark gasholders seen from Kensal Green Cemetery
The 2011 version of the London Plan designated Kensal Canalside as an Opportunity Area to realise the areas’ growth potential associated with existing and proposed improvements in public transport accessibility, such as Crossrail. The 15.4 hectare site is the last remaining brownfield site in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The Opportunity Area site also includes a strip of land to the south of the Great Western Mainline formerly the North Pole International Depot for the maintenance of Eurostar trains.
THE HISTORY OF KENSAL GREEN The Paddington Arm of the Grand Junction Canal between Bulls Bridge and Paddington was opened in July 1801 through a largely agrarian landscape. In response to the cholera epidemic of the late 1820s an 1832 Act of Parliament gave royal assent to establish a ‘General Cemetery Company for the interment of the Dead in the Neighbourhood of the Metropolis’. John William Griffith designed the General Cemetery of All Souls, Kensal Green with two chapels connected by a ENVIRONMENT
25
central path laid out in a picturesque ‘garden-style’. The cemetery to the north of the Grand Junction Canal was consecrated in January 1833. A set of defunct gates is set in the southern wall of the cemetery enabled barges to remove earth from excavated graves and occasionally coffins for burial were brought up by barge. The cemetery is the burial place of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his engineer father Sir Marc Brunel. Brunel’s Great West Railway to the south of the canal was completed by 1838. In 1845 the Western Gaslight Company erected gasholders and other structures on land adjacent to Ladbroke Grove and to the south of the canal, purchased from the Talbot estate. No.1 Basin (c. 1851) was constructed to allow barges to unload coal brought from the London Midland and Scottish Railway tips at Mitre Wharf.
Gas Works structures in 1975
The gas company was amalgamated with the Gas Light and Coke Company in 1872 and the works were expanded into the adjacent plot to the west, owned by the General Cemetery Company. This expansion included the two gasholders, which remain, and a second canal basin (Basin No.2). During the 1930s the gasworks were substantially rebuilt. The gasworks closed in 1970.
Residential moorings in Basin No.2
ENVIRONMENT
Following closure of the gas works most of the site was cleared but Basin No.2 remained in water and provided residential moorings for approximately twenty boats. The moorings remained up to the millennium when most of the boats moved to Mitre Bridge (moorings managed by the Kensal Rise Association of Boaters-a corporate member of IWA). The Sainsbury’s supermarket, petrol station and the adjacent Boathouse Centre (now the Canalside Centre) were constructed in the 1990s. Further development of the site has largely been prevented by the landlocked nature of the site between the railway and the canal and the Hazardous Substances Consent that restricts residential development in a zone around the disused gasholders.
HUGH ELLACOTT
26
THE KENSAL SITE NOW
The main cleared part of the site to the west of Sainsbury’s has been the subject of partial decontamination but the section of site operated by National Grid Gas will need cleaning up. The aerial photograph shows the current land ownership of the site.
HERITAGE Kensal Green Cemetery is a Grade 1 Registered Park and Garden of Historic Interest. The cemetery includes several Grade 1 and II* listed buildings including the Anglican Chapel of All Souls, (Grade I), a nonconformist Mortuary Chapel (Grade II*), the Entrance Gateway (Grade II*), a range of colonnades and catacombs (Grade II), and
the Wakeman Road gateway (Grade II) as well as 130 listed tombs, memorials and mausolea. Important historic canal features include the humpback bridge carrying the towpath over the canal entrance to the former No.2 Gas Works Basin, two horse steps built to allow horses who had fallen in the canal to be rescued and the brick
wall of the former gas works on the south side the towpath. Part of Basin No.1 remains and is used for paddle sports by the Canalside Centre. Basin No. 2 has been infilled and it is believed that most of the retaining walls may no longer exist. The only other remaining gas works structures are gasholder No 5, the smaller and more elaborate of the two, erected in 1877-79 to a design by Vitruvius Wyatt and gasholder No 6 designed by George Trewby in 1892. The gasholders have now been mothballed but a National Grid gas pressurization head remains at the western end of the site.
Entrance to Basin No.2 ENVIRONMENT
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English Heritage (now Historic England) considers the gasholders to be an important Kensal Green Landmark due to their scale and visual qualities. The English Heritage (EH) 2015 Old Oak Historic Area Assessment states that the gasholders ‘situated on the bend of the Grand Junction towpath, form an element of the setting of the canal and the Kensal Green and St Mary Cemeteries beyond, marking a transition from the inner suburb of North Kensington to an open area of industrial character’. EH go on to conclude ‘that the heritage value of the structures and their contribution to the wider townscape should be given further consideration when assessing their future. These features would also contribute to the potential designation of a Conservation Area relating to the Kensington and Chelsea portion of the Grand Union Canal’. Other buildings of historic interest in the Kensal Canalside Opportunity Area are Canalside House built c. 1928 as the headquarters of the Gas Light and Coke Company and a former water tower recently converted to a house for the designer Tom Dixon.
THE OPPORTUNITY AREA PLANNING FRAMEWORK (OAPF) The Local Planning Authority, the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (LBKC), are preparing a planning framework for the Kensal Canalside Opportunity Area (KCOA). The framework has to identify both the opportunities and challenges that need resolving such as land use, infrastructure, access, energy requirements, spatial integration, regeneration, investment, land assembly, phasing and set realistic programmes and timescales for delivery. Delivery of the development is likely to be a joint venture between the principal owners of the Kensal site; Sainsbury’s and Ballymore. In 2013 Allies and Morrison prepared a masterplan for the Kensal site illustrating Ballymore’s aspirations for the site. The 2016 RBKC Site Allocation for the Kensal Canalside Opportunity Area
2013 Masterplan proposal 28
ENVIRONMENT
envisaged a comprehensive development of the site with 3500 new residential units, 10,000sq m of new offices, 2,000sq m of new non residential floorspace including community and local shopping facilities, a Crossrail station and relocation of the existing Sainsbury’s supermarket. Proposed improved infrastructure included a new access road and bridge over the Great Western Mainline and a pedestrian/ cycle bridge over the canal to provide a link to Harrow Road. Despite numerous feasibility studies and reports going back as far as 2013, progress with the preparation of the OAPF by the Borough has been noticeably slow. The Grenfell Tower disaster may have been a factor as well as the uncertainty by Network Rail whether or not to build a Crossrail station at the site. The Crossrail station issue was addressed by the Planning Inspector in the RBKC Local Plan Partial Review. The Inspector’s report of July 2019 considered the implications
of the Crossrail station not being built and the GLA advice that there is a need for a ‘plan B’. However this alternative plan would rely on enhanced bus services and the existing underground network and would reduce the number of residential units below the London Plan housing target requiring a review of the Local Plan. A recent Scoping Report for a Strategic Environmental Assessment (Land Use Consultants Ltd September 2019) suggests that the masterplan informing the Council’s Supplementary Planning Document for the Opportunity Area will now consider the implications of up to 5000 homes on the site; a considerable increase from the 3500 new residential units proposed in 2016. This is an alarming prospect as a development of this size will require very tall buildings that are likely to completely destroy the setting and historic character of the canal in Kensal Green.
open space and the retention of residential moorings in the canal basin. We fully support this vision as it accords with our Branch consultation responses to the RBKC 2016 Local Plan Partial Review. A meeting has been held with the North Kensington Environmental Forum to discuss common ground about our response to any emerging proposals for the redevelopment of the Kensal site. We have shared views on the quantum of development and the impact this could have on the historic environment of the canal. Kensal Green is of considerable historic significance and the Branch will continue to strive to ensure that the heritage of the area is preserved. Basin No 2 should be restored to provide open water space and residential moorings and the towpath bridge and
dock entrance retained. The existing masonry wall along the towpath should be preserved and access between the towpath and the development site limited to a few carefully designed new openings. The cast iron gasholders contribute to the townscape and should be conserved as an important local landmark. The award winning development at Kings Cross demonstrates that new uses such as a garden and apartments can be successfully integrated within historic gasholder frames. Finally we believe the density of new development should be design led, taking account of the existing exceptional environment rather than being target driven. There is an opportunity at Kensal Green to create a remarkable new exemplar canalside development in central London.
THE FUTURE OF KENSAL GREEN In 1997 the North Kensington Environment Forum published a remarkably prescient document setting out a strategy for a mixed-use redevelopment of the Kensal Green Gas Works site. Their vision was for a sustainable development of high-density housing, community facilities, units for craft and light industry, new public Gasholders at Kings Cross development ENVIRONMENT
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BOAT NUMBERS IN WEST LONDON
Kensal Green-a mooring hot spot
The Canal & River Trust has recently reported that boat numbers sighted in London have gone up to 4000 from approximately 2000 in 2010. The problem has been exacerbated by glowing and often inaccurate articles in the national press that exaggerate the charms and low cost (in comparison to bricks and mortar) of boat dwelling in London. It is reported that the average length that a continuous cruiser remains in London is eighteen months so it is clearly not an easy life. This may account for the rate of increase in boat numbers slowing down somewhat. Little analysis has been carried out to assess the exact nature of the problem in different parts of London. Looking at our own Branch area it is apparent that the problems may be quite different to the issues along the Regent’s Canal. In the West London Branch area the mooring hot spots are mostly along the Paddington Arm. It is usually a matter of good fortune to find a mooring space along Delamere Terrace to the west of Little Venice, at the Kensal Green Cemetery area and on the towpath at Perivale/Horsenden Hill.
30
BOATING
So what is to be done? The recent IWA Vision for London report proposed several measures to control the number of continuous cruisers coming into London. The ‘Vision’ discusses towpath conflicts, heritage and the built environment as well as freight opportunities but the bulk of the report is designed to address the mooring issue. The most controversial proposals contained in the appendix suggest charging for facilities (elsan disposal, pump out and refuse disposal) or the possibility of a charging zone for stays longer than 14 days. Social media and last year’s London Waterways Forum indicate that many London Boaters see the IWA suggestions as a threat to their way of life. Many continuous cruisers in London believe that, provided they abide by the CRT guidance on movement and have paid their annual licence, they have a legal right to cruise in a relatively small area of London. On the other hand the IWA see the proposals in the Vision for London not as a way of penalising boaters but as a means of raising money to pay for much needed additional facilities to serve the increased boat population.
CRT has been noticeably silent about the Vision for London report. Their own London Mooring Strategy produced in 2017 proposed measures such as additional bookable moorings, additional mooring rings in selected areas, improved boater facilities, new long term off-side moorings and changes to the stay period on visitor moorings. New off-side long term moorings would be welcome but they will not solve the overcrowding unless a good proportion have permitted residential use. None of these measures on their own would probably do much to actually control boat numbers. It seems that the current CRT approach is to avoid any form of conflict with the different canal users and steer down a middle course, which effectively ‘kicks the can down the road’. The IWA should seek changes to planning policy that will encourage developers to construct off line basins with moorings. Opportunities clearly exist in west London to create off line basins on the Paddington Arm within the Old Oak and Park Royal
Development Corporation area. Developments such as Paddington Basin demonstrate the higher buildings are likely to be more acceptable when they are arranged around a basin and of course flats overlooking water command higher values. Developers would also have the benefit of significant mooring fees. Engineers Wharf in Northolt is a good example of an existing basin incorporating 23 residential moorings within the Grand Union Village development. Under the London Plan Urban Greening policy all new developments are assessed during the planning process for the contribution they make in increasing green cover. Different surfaces such as seminatural vegetation or green roofs are given Urban Greening factors to allow a target score to be calculated. The Urban Greening factor for Detention Basins should be changed to 1 from the current factor of 0.2 to encourage their incorporation in the design of residential and commercial developments.
BOATING
31
THE RESTORATION OF RAYMOND
The launch of Raymond at Braunston June 1958
At our November Social Evening, Robin Bishop, our Branch Secretary and Secretary of the Friends of Raymond, gave a fascinating slide presentation on the restoration of the butty boat Raymond, the last wooden working narrow boat to be built. This was an evening of pure canal nostalgia spanning Raymond’s original launch at Braunston on 11th June 1958; her time with the Samuel Barlow Coal Company crewed by the Brays and later with Blue Line Canal Carriers; followed by her ‘retirement’ when she was moored outside the Stop House at Braunston where Arthur Bray his wife Rose and her son Ernie Kendall continued to live aboard until 1980. In 1993 Raymond was given to the Wooden Canal Boat Society but in 1996 she was discovered in a semi submerged condition at Runcorn and the Friends of Raymond was registered as a charity to raise money for her restoration. Robin went on to describe the huge amount of work required to restore Raymond to allow her to visit numerous canal festivals. In 2002 Raymond took part in the commemorative 32
HERITAGE
Jam ‘Ole Run between Atherstone and Bulls Bridge, the site of the Kearley & Tonge jam factory. Raymond was towed by Nutfield – a Blue Line pairing of motor and butty dating from 1968. The Friends of Raymond were subsequently able to purchase Nutfield to allow the working pair to be permanently reunited.
The canal basin at Kearley & Tonge’s factory
At the end of an absorbing evening Robin sold jars of Kearley & Tonge jam and marmalade in aid of the Friends of Raymond.
THE WEST LONDON HERITAGE LIST
In 2017 former IWA National Chairman, Ivor Caplan, requested Branches to undertake a survey of historic structures and buildings in their area. The purpose was to identify and record waterways heritage on a database to enable the IWA Navigation Committee to determine the extent of the risk to heritage and to work with Branches to try to ensure that they were protected. The survey was conducted using a standard Excel spread sheet and allowed Branches to identify if a building or structure was at risk or might be in the future.
Our survey was slightly unusual in that we included some artifacts that were shown on old maps but where there was no longer any evidence of their existence on the ground.
The West London Branch (formerly Middlesex) completed the survey of 36 miles of canal in 2018. Out of a total of 89 entries the list included:
We have also included some heritage assets that are not waterways related but are important in preserving the setting of the canal.
• 3 Scheduled Ancient Monuments
• 30 Listed Buildings • 10 Locally Listed Buildings
• 23 Buildings and
Structures considered to be at risk
Many of these are on old industrial sites that are likely to be redeveloped in the future. By including this material we have a readily available resource when planning proposals emerge for redevelopment. During the pre-planning consultation process it will allow us to campaign for the possible reconstruction of former canal structures such as wharves and basins.
If you would like a copy of our survey information please email us (ray.gill@waterways.org.uk) and we will email you the spreadsheets as PDF attachments.
Coal Duty boundary marker on the Slough Arm
WHAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE 2017 In 2018 the Association set up a new Heritage Advisory Panel (HAP) that operates in parallel with the IWA Restoration High Level Panel and the Planning Advisory Panel. HAP has a core of four experts to provide advice on heritage matters who meet regularly to discuss ongoing concerns and report annually on their activities to the trustees. HAP works with the Planning Advisory Panel to facilitate better protection of heritage through the planning system.
HERITAGE
33
Last summer the IWA London Region appointed Derek Humphries as Heritage Officer to oversee the heritage work undertaken by the Branches across London. Derek has been a member of South Oxon Archaeological Group, is an area inspector volunteer for the Churches Conservation Trust and is a member of the IWA Heritage Advisory Panel. Derek’s aim is to launch fieldwork and research within the London Region Branches to identify existing heritage assets with an emphasis on sites that may already be at risk. HOW YOU COULD HELP TO RECORD WATERWAYS HERITAGE Add to our Branch Survey of Historic Buildings and Structures If you are aware of any waterways historic structures or artifacts in the West London area that are not included on our Branch spreadsheets please let us know. These may be quite small things such as signage, mileage markers, old canal company boundary markers etc. Some artifacts and buildings of historic interest may be a short distance from the canal but they are of importance if their use was once connected with the waterways. The current coronavirus restrictions on movement away from your home 34
HERITAGE
means that this is not the time to go looking for heritage assets but there will come a time when your future towpath explorations may uncover something of interest. Please email the details to the Branch (ray.gill@waterways.org.uk with a cc to derek.humpries@waterways .org.uk). Try to include as much information as possible such as photographs and the location using an Ordnance Survey Grid Reference or what3words. There are apps for smart phones that allow you to access location information on site using either the OS Grid or what3words systems. Hanwell Flight The Branch has recently entered into a partnership with the Canal & River Trust to restore the historic side ponds at the Hanwell Flight (Locks 92 to 97) and Norwood Top/Bottom Locks (90 and 91) as well as carrying out general tasks around the locks (see page 4). Volunteer work on site cannot start at the moment but we are keen to research the history of the flight of locks at Hanwell and the Norwood locks. Please let us know by email (ray.gill@waterways.org.uk) if you have any information about the Hanwell Flight, the adjoining former Middlesex County Asylum and Three Bridges that will be of interest.
This could be old maps, photographs and newspaper cuttings or even anecdotal evidence about the operation of the locks and side ponds, the maintenance of the flight, the lives of the lock keepers or past incidents at the locks. Even recent history will be of interest. The IWA Heritage Tracker The Winter 2019 edition of Waterways included an interesting article on the Value of Waterways Heritage. This feature was part of the launch of a new IWA campaign to uncover the Value of our Waterways Heritage. The campaign aims to look at heritage that has been lost and heritage that has been saved as well as uncovering assets that are currently causing concern. A Heritage Tracker has been set up on the IWA website. (find the tracker at the Campaigns page on the IWA website). The tracker is designed as a survey to allow the IWA to find out what heritage means to you but it also allows you to record details of specific waterways heritage assets that you feel are at risk.
FREUD’S PADDINGTON
Lucian Freud c 1952
The painter Lucian Freud (1922-2011) lived and worked in two roads next to the canal in the less salubrious parts of Paddington between 1943 and 1965. A recently published book, The Lives of Lucian Freud by William Feaver (Bloomsbury Publishing), reveals a remarkable picture of a slum area of London during this period In 1943 Freud rented a first floor flat at number 20 Delamere Terrace. This once grand street overlooking the canal was in an area of slum properties and Freud lived alongside nefarious and violent neighbours. Freud’s painting Interior in Paddington (1951) includes a glimpse of the canal through the first floor window of his studio at Delamere Terrace.
Delamere Terrace in the 1950s
A rag-and-bone dealer had a shop under the concrete arches on the northern side of the Formosa Street footbridge (later reconstructed as the Ha’penny Bridge and our Branch boundary with North and East London). Freud would buy his paint rags there for five shillings a bag and apparently placed his bets there as they had a telephone.
Formosa Street footbridge constructed in 1914
After his marriage to Kitty Garman in 1948 Freud moved to Clifton Hill in Maida Vale but he continued to use Delamere Terrace as his studio. Delamere Terrace was demolished in 1962 and Freud moved to a room at 124 Clarendon Crescent. The street consisted of a long curved terrace of squalid narrow houses backing on to the canal. The street had been described as insanitary before the war and conditions had not improved. The shared lavatory was located in a shed on a balcony overlooking the canal. After three years Clarendon Crescent was also demolished in and Freud moved to Gloucester Terrace, Paddington where he lived until 1972.
Clarendon Crescent prior to redevelopment in 1965 HERITAGE
35
Who goes there…? When all British Waterways assets, liabilities and responsibilities were transferred to the Canal & River Trust in 2012 our Association had to decide how we would respond. The new Trust went part of the way in establishing a national waterway conservancy-something the IWA had campaigned for since 1945. Our relationship with the Trust was then described as a ‘critical friend’ - a phrase that is still in use today.
Editorial Comment
Looking after a two hundred year old infrastructure is difficult and expensive. There are parts of the system such as reservoirs and canal feeders that we hardly see. The events at Whaley Bridge last year were a reminder that the Trust has to manage a huge number of engineering assets with limited resources. The Trust are coping well with all they have to do and without exception I have always found, both on the canal and in CRT offices, that Trust staff are helpful and enthusiastic about their job. Of course there are things we can criticise about the Trust – there are concerns about loss of heritage at sites where CRT has entered into a development partnership and the lack of dynamism in addressing the issue of overcrowding in Central London.
Correction In our Autumn 2019 Newsletter under an item headed ‘A Question of Satisfaction’ it was reported that there was no refuse disposal point at Cowley Lock. A branch member has pointed out that this is incorrect and there is indeed a refuse facility at Cowley located on the off side just to the north of the Iver Lane Bridge (188).
Cowley refuse disposal facility 36
COMMENT
The Trust has made significant property investments with the aim of achieving greater self-sufficiency but the property market has a nasty habit of being something of a roller coaster. This government has already promised to proceed with ambitious and expensive infrastructure projects such as HS2 and northern powerhouse. Government investment will also be required in infrastructure to combat the effects of climate change and we may still be paying for the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic so money may be scarce in 2027 when the Trust’s fixed grant from DEFRA comes to an end. The clock is now ticking. In two years time a review of the Trust’s 15 year grant funding contract will start. In the run up to 2027 it will be vital for the IWA and the Canal & River Trust to be in active collaboration so that the case for sufficient future grant funding is recognised by the Government. The alternative to a successful funding outcome is certainly unpalatable; a hike in boat licensing and mooring fees, a more constrained maintenance regime, every last square metre of Trust property sold off, perhaps even the return of ‘remainder’ waterways? Please write to me, the Editor, at: ray.gill@waterways.org.uk
BRANCH COMMITTEE Chairman
Roger Still
roger.still@waterways.org.uk 07557 095 108
Secretary
Robin Bishop
robin.bishop@waterways.org.uk 07899 816 998
Treasurer
Keith Clayton
keith.clayton@waterways.org.uk 07504 087 667
Planning Grand Union
Ray Gill
ray.gill@waterways.org.uk 07785 255 886
Planning Paddington Arm
Roger Still
roger.still@waterways.org.uk 07557 095 108
Social Meetings Secretary
Roger Hazelgrove
roger.hazelgrove@waterways.org.uk 07777 605 613
Newsletter Editor
Ray Gill
ray.gill@waterways.org.uk 07785 255 886
Sales Officer
Robin Bishop
robin.bishop@waterways.org.uk 07899 816 998
Ex-Officio as Region Chairman
Paul Strudwick
paul.strudwick@waterways.org.uk 07885 240 291
Join us! We are currently expanding our activities and would like to strengthen the Branch Committee. The roles we have in mind are as follows:
• • • •
Publicity Officer Website and Social Media Administrator Navigation and Environment Officer Volunteer Organiser
If you feel that you could help with any of these roles we would be delighted to hear from youplease do contact Roger Still by phone or email. We are always interested to hear from any members with particular skills or interests who could assist the Branch. The views expressed in this Newsletter are not necessarily those of the Inland Waterways Association or of the London Region or its Branches. They are however published as being of interest to our members and readers. The IWA accepts no liability for any matter within this publication. Published by the Inland Waterways Association, Middlesex Branch at: Island House, Moor Road, Chesham, HP5 1WA. We very much welcome members to contribute articles, letters or photographs on waterways matters in the west London area. Editor: Ray Gill Email: ray.gill@waterways.org.uk INFORMATION
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The Inland Waterways Association is a membership charity that works to protect and restore the country’s 6,500 miles of canals and rivers www.waterways.org.uk/westlondon/westlondon