BEDFORD & MILTON KEYNES APRIL 2010 Volume 8 no 2

Transcription

1 BEDFORD & MILTON KEYNES APRIL 2010 Volume 8 no 2 On 12 th February 2010 the Inception Meeting of the new Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Consortium was held under the capable chairmanship of David Hackforth from MK Council. David described the Consortium as an exciting way of taking the project to the next level locking up in boating terms! The Consortium is the new body which will take the Waterway forward into the next stages of planning and design. The member organisations are: The three local authorities through which the route passes: Bedford Borough Council, Central Bedfordshire Council, Milton Keynes Council The two navigation bodies involved: Environment Agency, British Waterways The two local growth agencies: Renaissance Bedford, Milton Keynes Partnership The two local charities which take care of green and blue spaces: Milton Keynes Parks Trust, Marston Vale Trust and of course, us, the Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust, as the communitybased campaigning body which maintains the vision of the waterway. Members agreed to invite MKSM (Milton Keynes & South Midlands) to join as an 11 th member, to represent the regional perspective and draw on regional government connections. Members will feed back their organisation s comments on the Terms of Reference by 31 WATERWAY TRUST Project Locks Up To Next Level 1 March, so that these can be officially signed on 24 May The Secretary to the Consortium is Drew Marchant of Renaissance Bedford. A new Chair will be appointed when David Hackforth retires in June The Consortium will meet twice a year, with the main work taking place through two local Steering Groups: Milton Keynes Waterway Park group: Milton Keynes Council, Milton Keynes Partnership, British Waterways, Milton Keynes Parks Trust, B&MK Waterway Trust. Marston Vale & Bedford Waterway Parks: Central Bedfordshire Council, Bedford Borough Council, Renaissance Bedford, Environment Agency, Marston Vale Trust, B&MK Waterway Trust. The Trust Board will be represented on the Consortium by Richard Wood, and on the Steering Groups by Graham Mabbutt for MK and David Fowler for Marston Vale & Bedford. The Consortium asked the Trust to go on providing its valuable first point of contact and referral service, and we agreed willingly, as long as we can fund our Project Office. The Trust handed over to the Consortium the A-Z Work Packages document which provides a snapshot of where the project currently stands, and makes clear the working method of the project developing in phases as opportunities arise. The Consortium will use this as a key tool to manage progress against. We have also given Consortium members access to all the information the Trust holds in its resource bank for the project. Bedford Information Boards In Prime Positions Three new information boards have now been erected in prominent positions along the river, in the centre of Bedford. The signs were designed by Andrew and Jenny Eardley and were funded by an Awards For All Lottery grant. More pictures on page 6.

2 View from the Chair It s Sunday teatime and I ve just finished this week s 80 or so s about the BMK. They cover a wide range of topics the launch of the Environment Agency s Strategic Priorities for Water Related Recreation (where we ve lobbied hard, so we hope the BMK features in it), to papers on the future of BW, plans to check, meeting notes to approve, updates on a walk I m leading, an analysis that shows our events team recruited 87 new members last year (well done!), plans for the AGM and items for the next Trust Board meeting. And, of course, a gentle reminder that this column is due! Another item in my in-box was the exhibition team s draft review of 2009 poster. The headings reveal the range of our achievements: Waymarking projects completed First structure built 350 volunteer days spent Record turn outs for walks in May and September Minerals & Waste Planning application approved Meetings about a new Waterspace Strategy for Bedford Great Ouse Navigation Feasibility Study published. (See centre pages.) This list doesn t include all the behind-thescenes work on new organisational structures. These don t make for the most exciting of news stories, but the Consortium Inception Meeting, and the final Partnership Committee meeting, are huge strides forward. We now have not one, but two powerful new collaborative structures. The Consortium will drive the project forward; new practical ways of working with our Partners in the Community will create greater awareness, community involvement and pressure to make the Waterway happen. With these changes in place, the Trust Board is focussing on four As to shape our future priorities. The first A is for raising Awareness a year round task. The second A is for Access opening up the route for the third A activity, on both land and water and encouraging the fourth A getting individuals and organisations in the community to Adopt sections of the route. There is some debate about how much energy we should put into a path project. My view is that the more we can waymark and walk/run/ cycle the route, the more it becomes visible and talked about. But we must always keep sight of our long term purpose - enabling the creation of the full navigation. Jane Wolfson With A Little Help from Our Friends Thanks This Month to : Bedford Borough Council, Central Bedfordshire Council, Milton Keynes Council, and the Environment Agency, for their continued funding of the Trust Project Office in ; and to British Waterways for providing us with serviced office and meeting space. all those who attended the 29 meetings of the B&MK Partnership, whose efforts over the years have moved the project from discussion to action, from talking about whether it could happen, to planning how and when it can. Thanks are also due to the Milton Keynes Branch of the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) who donated 75 to the Trust s funds. In every issue of B&MK News we include a list of people and organisations who have contributed their time, energy and funds to furthering the work of the Trust. One person who rarely gets thanked is our fantastic Chair, Jane Wolfson. I m convinced that without Jane s knowledge, enthusiasm and wholehearted commitment, the project would have folded years ago. We all owe her a huge debt of thanks for leading us so expertly. Geoff Wheeler (Editor) B&MK News Published by the Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust. Editor...Geoff Wheeler Proof Readers...Don & Jill Allison Photo enhancement...keith Malone Distribution...Leigh Willows Printed by...murrays Comments or articles for inclusion in the next edition should be sent to editor@b-mkwaterway.co.uk 2

3 Future of The Partnership After 29 meetings over almost 10 years, the Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Partnership Committee has closed. Originally an advisory Board drawn together by British Waterways, and later a Trust Committee, the Partnership has achieved its purpose - to develop the project to the point it would be adopted as a collaborative venture by the local organisations best placed to make it happen, ie the new Consortium. We ve moved from talking about the project to doing it. At its final meeting in March, Jane Wolfson, Ken Matthews and Dick Bennett recalled the first meeting, hosted at the Forest Centre, where some 60 people listened with mounting enthusiasm to James Clifton s outline of the project. That first meeting led to a second, which led to funding for the first feasibility study, undertaken by Halcrow in 2001; and the rest, as they say, is history. The Partnership Committee is dead long live Partnership Working. Some Partnership Committee members are now members of the Consortium. Others for example the Internal Drainage Board are key contacts for the new Consortium Steering Groups. The Trust looks forward to working with them on Waterway planning, design and build issues. Others are the Trust s Partners in the Community organisations involved in leisure, education, healthy living and community involvement. We re delighted to be undertaking projects with MK Heritage, Bedfordshire Area Ramblers, and the MK Eastern Expansion team, for example, as well as continuing links with long-standing supporters. The Trust Board is introducing four new ways of working to ensure that our Partners in the Community are better informed and more involved than ever: An annual Partnership Conference on or around 4 November - a date which avoids holiday seasons and gives an excuse for fireworks to celebrate progress (and, next year, the 200 th anniversary of the first ever public meeting about a waterway link). see poster top right. Collaborative Projects with Partners based on specific localities and/or themes, eg Leisure & Waterway Activities; Biodiversity & Landscape Amenity; Sustainable Transport. Developing the Trust Newsletter to become the newsletter of the Trust & our Partners in the Community. This will, of course, contain quarterly news on project progress. Developing the Trust Website, to offer more opportunity for interaction with our Partners in the Community. 3

4 Kempston To Cardington Feasibility Study A preliminary study to identify opportunities and challenges in improving navigation between the site of the proposed junction with the River Great Ouse and Cardington Lock has been published. The study was funded by the Environment Agency and carried out by Halcrow. This is an extract from the summary which will be passed to the consortium for their consideration It is currently possible to get a narrowboat to within 70m of Kempston Mill, however craft with a deeper draft cannot get this far up the river. The section from Kempston to Queens bridge has silted up due to lack of use as there is no destination point upstream of Bedford. Once the BMK Waterway has been connected or a destination point delivered at Kempston then the river channel should be dredged to provide a 1.2m to 1.5m navigation depth across a 12m width of the river. In addition to the dredging works there are a number of other works which are desirable in the longer term to open up the river for larger craft, these are indicated in the following sections and are presented in order of priority. Boating on the Upper Ouse Channel Works the upper section of the river requires dredging and minor channel bank realignment and bank protection at the islands in the Hillgrounds area in Kempston. These works should be undertaken in conjunction with the dredging works. Bank Protection Works minor areas or scour in natural riverbanks require soft engineering repairs to avoid these getting worse with increased boat traffic. Footpath Upgrades There is access available on at least one bank for the whole study reach. However the 2km section through the Hillgrounds area in Kempston has no formal surfacing and can become wet and difficult to access in winter. This section would benefit from a formal path and some footbridges being installed on the right bank of the river to cross drainage ditches. Minor upgrades to the surfacing on the path on the left bank in the area between Longholme Bridge and the Canoe Slalom weir would benefit cyclists although alternative nontraffic routes are available. Navigation Structures and Facilities Both of the lock structures covered in this study are currently fully operational, however in the longer term both would benefit from reconstruction on revised alignments across adjacent land to improve entry and exit arrangements. New locks should be built with wider lock chambers to allow access for a greater range of vessels. If boat traffic to the Bedford area is increased then additional temporary moorings will be required in the area. Proposed upgrade works are as follows: Additional temporary moorings could be provided by adding fenders and mooring bollards to the left river bank of the main upper river channel alongside Mill Meadow. These would be close to the main centre of Bedford. In addition the option for converting the pond area in front of Borough Hall could be further investigated. This would be relatively expensive as engineering works would be required to support the sides of the deepened mooring area. If this is to be taken forward additional investigations are required to assess the potential impact on the foundations of Borough Hall. Bedford Town Lock The upstream entrance to Bedford Town Lock is difficult to negotiate safely as it is orientated at 90 degrees to the main river. The downstream end of the lock is also affected by high flow velocities from Ducksmill weir. It is recommended that a new 5m wide lock is constructed across Mill Meadow from the Boat Slide channel to the confluence area of the Navigation channel and weir tail channel. This will create an improved alignment for entering and exiting the lock which will avoid the safety issues associated with the existing lock. Bedford Town Lock Cardington Lock The entrance to Cardington Lock is located too close to Cardington Weir and the lock chamber would benefit from widening. A new 5m wide lock should be constructed at an angle across the park area upstream of the existing lock. This will move the entrance away from the weir and prevent boats being dragged towards the weir during high flows. Bridges There are a number of key bridges which provide a headroom restriction to larger craft using the river, proposed works are as follows: Bletchley line railway bridge currently has just under 2m of air draft. Smaller boats can pass below this bridge but for larger craft this needs addressing. Options include complete replacement or using a drop lock in the river to increase headroom. Initial indications are that the drop lock, although not an ideal solution, is likely to be the cheapest and have the shortest implementation time but does result in long term operation and maintenance costs for the pumping system and lock gates. The footpath could also be dropped to improve headroom and the lock pumps used to keep this low spot drained as well. Before taking this option forward it is recommended initial detailed discussions are held with Network Rail and a more detailed feasibility study is undertaken to discount all other options. The two Mainline railway bridges have a headroom of 2m on the main river spans. An option for opening up one or two of the adjacent flood relief arches on the left Side arches could be used for navigation bank would provide a further half metre of headroom. This option should be taken forward with Network Rail and a detailed engineering feasibility taken forward to ensure that the solution satisfies Network Rail s concerns over the long term integrity and safety of the structure. If the new Bedford Milton Keynes Waterway is connected to the main river upstream of Kempston Mill Footbridge then this bridge will require raising by 1.2m. The availability of land on the right bank needs further investigation and discussions need to be held with the Environment Flood Risk Management Team to address the issue of raising approach ramps in the flood plain. Open ramps supported on columns will be required to minimise impact on the flood plain which will significantly increase the cost of raising this bridge. The two old railway bridges on the cycle route close to Longholme Bridge and downstream of Cardington Lock would also benefit from increased headroom but these are not priority structures. In the longer term these could be replaced with new lighter iconic cycleway bridges to provide increased headroom on the river. Recommendations for Next Steps There are a number of key next steps to enable investigations to be commenced and help to define and clarify the scope of works. These are as follows; Identify potential funding streams for the key aspects of the proposals and develop an implementation programme for work. Progress landowner discussions to determine the preferred connection point for the Bedford Milton Keynes Waterway at Kempston. Undertake a dip survey and sampling of the river bed from Bedford to Kempston to determine the quantities and type of dredged material which will require disposal. Initiate discussions with Environment Agency biodiversity staff to assess impact of dredging works and undertake habitat and species surveys to inform any mitigation works. Commence landowner discussions to identify potential local disposal sites for dredged material, Start necessary approvals for footpath upgrades, particularly in the Hillgrounds area where no footpath currently exists. Contact Network Rail and start consultation in relation to options for the Mainline Bridge works, and detailed discussions on proposed solutions for the Bletchley Line Bridge, confirm costs, implementation periods and clarify preferred options. Contact Eastern Electricity regarding the depth of the power cables across the river in the Hillground and Queens Bridge areas, Contact Transco regarding the realignment of the 12 inch gas mains on the upstream and downstream faces of the Main line railway bridges and adjacent to Borough Hall, Make a decision on excavation of the pond in front of Borough Hall to provide additional overnight moorings and adjacent river frontage wall,

5 Consortium adopts project identity We are delighted that the Consortium has chosen to adopt the project logo that The Set ( designed to our commission last year, and you will increasingly see this on Consortium communications and on the new project website that Consortium members will create. The Trust logo will remain unchanged but our website will undergo a much-needed overhaul to allow us to communicate more effectively with the public, our members and our partners in the community. Over 40 people turned up on a cold Saturday morning in February to view the new information boards in Bedford. Board Walking Bedford s new Mayor, David Hodgson, and Bedford MP, Patrick Hall, were among the walkers. The boards were already catching the attention of members of the public. Volunteers We Need Your Help This year we have the opportunity to display our project at around 12 exhibitions. It would be great to be able to accept all the offers we ve had, but manning the stalls from our small group of active volunteers is a constant problem. Last year we had to turn down several offers. If you can spare a couple of hours to be part of a team manning a display, we would love to hear from you. You will be working alongside more experienced members and you will be well briefed before the day. It s very rewarding to meet members of the public who are always curious and nearly always extremely supportive. Contact Don Allison on or donallison@btinternet.com. 6 This years Displays Include: April 17th Broughton Easter Market May 1st MK Parks Trust May 3rd MK Walk the Route May 23rd Bedford Walk the Route May 19-31st Crick Boat Show June 12-13th Stoke Bruerne Festival June 6th Ideas day community Involvement July 17,18th Bedford River Festival July 25th Linslade canalside Festival August 7,8th Blisworth Canal Festival August 28 30th IWA Beale Park, R. Thames September 4,5th Woodworks Forest Centre November 4th Partnership Annual Conference

6 Ideas For A New A to Z We have accomplished a great deal over the past year, including the launch of the Consortium and our changing relationship with our Partners. It s time for a spring clean for us to take a fresh look at what we, the Trust volunteers and our partners, are really interested in doing. As Jane has said, our focus is on the Four A s: continuing to raise Awareness; opening up Access and marking the route; generating and stimulating Activity of all kinds on and around the waterway; creating opportunities for Adoption of sections of the route by local individuals and organisations. Now we need to translate this into action. The waterway A to Z served us really well over the past year. It allowed us to move forward on specific sections of the route without ever losing sight of the big picture. Responsibility for the A to Z work packages has now transferred to the Consortium. It s time to develop our next action-packed A to Z. The MK to M1 Group met in October to generate ideas for potential community projects. Since then, Vernon Draper has arranged for us to join the MK Heritage Association, and Don Allison will be heading the flotilla to this summer s Bedford River Festival. Here are a few of their other ideas: Widen the brook between the bridges in Broughton big enough for a trip boat, perhaps; Organise water events: paddle the route on Willen Lake, or dry boating across Newlands; Develop BMK based resource packs for local schools, to be distributed by the LEA; Run a schools competition, offering work experience in an engineering consultancy as the prize. Building on these ideas, the BMK East Group is holding its own Think Tank session in March. We ll see what the full set of ideas is beginning to look like at the AGM in May. In late June we will run a Big Ideas Day, to pull all of this together, and to decide what we want to do and how we will go about it. Please come along and join in, and help us shape and launch our new A to Z. Hilary Goldsmith Walk the Route There are two opportunities to walk parts of the route this year. If you ve never been on one of these walks why not give them a try. It s a great way to find out more about the B&MK and to meet other members. Friends and families welcome. Milton Keynes On Monday 3rd May At 10 00am Meet at The Old Rectory, London Road Broughton MK10 9AA There will be a choice of 2 walks of different lengths Bedford On Sunday 23 May At 10.30am Meet at Aspects Cinema, Bedford MK41 9LW Park on right-hand side of large cinema car park This year s route is a circular one of approx 7 miles taking in a section of the River Great Ouse from Bedford to Kempston Mill that will form part of the waterway. For those who missed The Boards Walk on 6 February it will be an opportunity to look at the 3 interpretation boards sited in the centre of Bedford. The walk will return to Aspects Cinema. Bring a packed lunch for a halt at Kempston Mill. Contact Andrew Eardley (01234) or andreweardley@ntlworld.com 7

7 Weekly and Short Break Holiday Hire 4-8 berth self drive Luxury Narrow Boats Excellent Boats on a Beautiful Canal Cruise through the waterside parks of Milton Keynes Our base at Linslade is within weekend reach of the Waterways Museum at Stoke Bruerne or the Chiltern Hills and Aylesbury. Choice of exciting one or two week cruises including the River Thames. Also Waterside Cottage (sleeps up to 11) set in the boatyard grounds The Wyvern Shipping Co Ltd Rothschild Road, Linslade, Leighton Buzzard, Beds, LU7 2TF Tel: Fax: Questions In The House In a debate on the waterways in Parliament last December, Milton Keynes North East MP, Mark Lancaster put in a plea for the B&MK to The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Huw Irranca- Davies): This is an extract from the Hansard report. Mr. Mark Lancaster (North-East Milton Keynes) (Con): The proposed Milton Keynes-Bedford canal enjoys cross-party support and will bring many benefits to the region. It has interesting financial arrangements and could well go ahead, but it is stalling at the moment. Will the Minister use his influence to get the project moving again? Huw Irranca-Davies: For obvious reasons we try not to intervene in individual projects, recognising that British Waterways has a good overview and has achieved a lot in the past decade in opening up new stretches of canals that had fallen into disrepair. I wish the project well and if the hon. Gentleman writes to me, I shall take a look at it. I applaud the enthusiasm of the people who want to open that stretch. We have many such instances across the country, showing why the strength and enthusiasm of volunteers are such a bedrock of the British Waterways network. Not sure about the project stalling but the support from Mark Lancaster MP (Con), coupled with that of Patrick Hall MP (Lab) on page 6 shows the cross-party support that the B&MK enjoys. Ed. AGM This years AGM will be held at the United Reform Church Newport Pagnell on Wednesday May 19th at 8pm We hope to have a speaker from the Environment Agency. B&MK WATERWAY NEWS is published by the Bedford and Milton Keynes Waterway Trust, a non profitmaking company limited by guarantee (No ). Registered office 16 Cuthberts Street, Bedford MK40 3JG and a Registered Charity (No ). Contact us at enquiries@b-mkwaterway.co.uk or B&MK Waterway Trust, PO Box 3611, Newport Pagnell, MK16 OXN Tel (mornings) 8