 The
Barnsley Canal Consortium aims to reopen derelict sections of the Barnsley
Canal and the Dearne & Dove Canal to revive the link between the Aire &
Calder Navigation and the Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation.
The consultants Atkins have been appointed by
the by the Barnsley Canals Consortium ( a grouping of Local Authorities, the
Inland Waterways Association, the Royston and Carlton Community Partnership,
the Barnsley Dearne & Dove Canals Trust and other interested bodies ) to
carry out a restoration feasibility study of the Barnsley Dearne & Dove
Canals, the “Yorkshire Waterways Link”
The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) and
its West Riding Branch have generously supported the supported the appeal.
Vaughan Welch Chairman of the IWA Restoration Committee said, “the recent
reopening of the Pennine Rochdale and Huddersfield Canals has put the
regional spotlight on the missing Yorkshire Waterways Link the Barnsley
Dearne & Dove Canals. We must further explore the potential to exploit the
abandoned former canals network of the region, to see if they can become a
catalyst for regeneration and a focus for tourism activity, as has happened
elsewhere in the country” .
The Calder Navigation Society has also
supported the appeal and study. “'Keith Noble, Honorary Secretary of the
Calder Navigation Society, said “Our Society was formed in 1969 to fight
proposals to abandon parts of the Calder & Hebble Navigation. Not only was
that campaign successful but 35 years later we have recently seen the
reopening and re-connection of the previously abandoned Huddersfield Narrow
and Rochdale Canals. We now look forward to seeing the Barnsley Canals fully
restored too and hope that our contribution to this study will help the
Barnsley Canals Consortium achieve that aim".
The feasibility study is also supported by a
grant from to the Rural Target Fund of the Objective 1 Programme for South
Yorkshire funded by EAGGF and DEFRA. We are grateful to the Yorkshire Rural
Community Council for their support in obtaining this grant, an award of
£5,000 or 10% of the feasibility study’s cost (whichever is the less) has
been granted.
A spokesperson for the Yorkshire Rural
Community Council Said “The Yorkshire Rural Community Council understands
the wider benefits that the canal restoration can bring to local communities
by improving access and recreational opportunities and in attracting
visitors into an area. It is for these reasons that YRCC, through the Rural
Target Fund, is happy to support the feasibility study project into the
canals restoration.”
John Openshaw Chair of the Barnsley Canals
Consortium and of the Royston & Carlton Partnership said, ”the Barnsley
Canals Consortium, through the support of its member organisations, has
highlighted the issue of canals in and around the Barnsley borough. The view
of both the Barnsley Canal and the Dearne and Dove Canals as derelict
waterways is being transformed. We have, through our work, begun to develop
a vision and future for both the Barnsley Canal and the Dearne and Dove
Canal. This vision is now becoming reality. Our study will, for the first
time, confirm the route of the Canals: some of which has been lost to
development.
We hope that once this is defined we can set
in place a strategy for incremental improvement and the Consortium’s
membership and other bodies we can now develop a long-term future for the
Canals within Barnsley, which will bring regeneration and prosperity to the
area.”
Derek Housley Chair of the Barnsley Dearne &
Dove Canals Trust, ( www.bddct.org.uk
) said, “ the restoration of the “Yorkshire Waterways Link” has the
potential for restoration to be a means to promote tourism, spur economic
development and urban renewal in the areas that it passes through. It is not
just about boats and barges; it will bring benefits to walkers, cyclists and
fishermen. It will bring a green finger of the countryside into the urban
areas that it passes through, creating a linear park and a transport
corridor, bringing bio-diversity with it along with it new employment
opportunities.”
He went on to say “I envisage that with
restoration of the Yorkshire Waterways Link it would become a public amenity
for all to use and enjoy, for nature appreciation, for generating revenue
for local economies. It would enhance the ‘remaking Barnsley’ strategy and
act as a catalyst for urban and rural regeneration.” |
