Issue and Options 2023

The Canal & River Trust is the charity which looks after and brings to life 2000 miles of canals & rivers. Our waterways contribute to the health and wellbeing of local communities and economies, creating attractive and connected places to live, work, volunteer and spend leisure time. These historic, natural and cultural assets form part of the strategic and local green-blue infrastructure network, linking urban and rural communities as well as habitats. By caring for our waterways and promoting their use we believe we can improve the wellbeing of our nation. The Trust is a statutory consultee in the Development Management process. Within South Warwickshire we operate of 80km of canals, comprising parts of the North Stratford, South Stratford, Oxford and Grand Union Canals. The canal network is an important visitor attraction in its own right, as well as providing links to other visitor destinations and attractions in the locality. Appropriate and sensitive development can help to enhance this role and encourage more visitors to the area by making it an attractive environment for boaters choosing to travel along this part of the canal network. Provision of facilities and links to other attractions can encourage boaters to break their journey, whether for the day or to moor their boats for overnight stays, in order to use facilities and to visit other attractions in the locality. To fully realise this potential, it is important to encourage appropriate canalside development and to make provision for boat moorings, as well as improving the connectivity between the canal and the surrounding areas. The Trust considers that this could be achieved through the inclusion of either specific canal-related policies within the Part 2 Local Plan and/or through explicit consideration of the role that the canal network can play within wider leisure, recreation and tourism policies.

The Canal & River Trust is the charity which looks after and brings to life 2000 miles of canals & rivers. Our waterways contribute to the health and wellbeing of local communities and economies, creating attractive and connected places to live, work, volunteer and spend leisure time. These historic, natural and cultural assets form part of the strategic and local green-blue infrastructure network, linking urban and rural communities as well as habitats. By caring for our waterways and promoting their use we believe we can improve the wellbeing of our nation. The Trust is a statutory consultee in the Development Management process. Within South Warwickshire we operate of 80km of canals, comprising parts of the North Stratford, South Stratford, Oxford and Grand Union Canals. The Trust does not wish to comment on the merits of the different options under consideration, but we do consider that it is important for any options selected to have regard to the canal network within the Plan area. The canal network is a multi-functional resource and is an important heritage asset, leisure, recreational and tourism resource, which can offer significant benefits to the health and well-being of local communities through offering a free-to-use active travel option for walking and cycling as well as playing an important role as a wildlife habitat supporting a wide range of biodiversity and providing a link between other green spaces and habitats. New development should seek to strengthen the role of canal corridors as part of the strategic green/blue infrastructure network, and particularly their value in providing a connection between other areas of green space. The canal network should therefore be identified within the Plan and taken into account when determining which growth strategy option to select.

selected

selected

selected

Inland waterways can play an important role in mitigating the impact of climate change and can help to reduce the levels of greenhouse gas emissions. For example, canal water can be used to help provide low-carbon heating and cooling solutions to existing and new build properties adjacent to our canals as well as providing options for surface water discharges from new developments without increasing the risk of flooding of adjacent land. New development proposals near to waterways should consider the feasibility of such solutions in minimising their impacts on climate change. Prospective developers should contact the Canal & River Trust’s Utilities Team to discuss the potential for utilising canal water in heating and cooling systems to identify such opportunities near to our waterways; within South Warwickshire we operate 80km of canals, comprising parts of the North Stratford, South Stratford, Oxford and Grand Union Canals.

The Canal & River Trust considers that the health and wellbeing of local communities is an important consideration, and new development should always be required to consider how it can help to maximise opportunities for people to pursue healthier and more active lifestyles. We believe that the canal network can play a valuable role in encouraging people to be more active. Within South Warwickshire we operate 80km of canals, comprising parts of the North Stratford, South Stratford, Oxford and Grand Union Canals. Canals offer a real opportunity for supporting and promoting healthier lifestyles and helping to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of local communities by encouraging people to be more active, whether through leisure and recreation (including activities such as canoeing as well as walking or cycling) or offering a more active travelling option that is a sustainable alternative to using private motor cars to access services and facilities. Canals provide a free-to-use resource that can benefit the whole community and it is important that nearby new development seeks to maximise the opportunities presented by them.

No answer given

The Canal & River Trust considers that encouraging connectivity is important, particularly where such connectivity is achieved by providing opportunities for active travel. Canal towpaths are an important traffic free route for walking/cycling for both leisure and utility walkers and provide a key link through parts of South Warwickshire, including the towns of Leamington Spa, Warwick and Stratford as well as providing links between urban and rural areas. Within South Warwickshire we operate 80km of canals, comprising parts of the North Stratford, South Stratford, Oxford and Grand Union Canals. Towpaths offer a safe, convenient and attractive walking and cycling network which links with the wider walking and cycling network across the Plan area and increasing its use and improving its accessibility will help to promote the health and well-being of local communities, consistent with the aims of the NPPF. Towpaths should therefore be considered as an integral element of the infrastructure needed to encourage and achieve greater connectivity, providing a sustainable option for people to use, and the Plan should identify ways to improve access to towpaths, opportunities to create links between towpaths and other walking and cycling routes and improvements to towpath surfaces to further facilitate year-round use by both walkers and cyclists wherever possible.

Nothing chosen

The canal network within the Plan area is a multi-functional resource and in addition to its importance as a heritage asset and a leisure, recreational and tourism resource, it plays an important role as a wildlife habitat supporting a wide range of biodiversity and providing a link between other green spaces and habitats. The Plan should seek to ensure that new development close to canals aims to protect and enhance this role through appropriate and sensitively designed landscape planting schemes and design of open spaces within developments. New development should seek to strengthen the role of canal corridors as part of the strategic green/blue infrastructure network, and particularly its value in providing a connection between other areas of green space.