The first winners of the C & R T’s Living Waterways Awards have just been revealed. The awards aim to recognise the most inspiring and exciting UK waterway based improvement projects. The awards were launched in January and sponsored by Keir, CPC Civils, Fountains and Hyder Consulting,
The winners, which were selected from dozens of entries by an independent panel of experts, led by Christopher Rodrigues CBE, include:
The world’s largest equine sculpture and regenerated canal at the vibrant new Helix parkland project on the eastern end of the Forth & Clyde Canal at Grangemouth.
Environmentally sensitive flood defences developed at the medieval town of Sandwich in Kent, minimising the scale of hard flood defences while providing a high level of protection.
The inspirational Row The Erne community project at Enniskillen in Northern Ireland which saw the construction of a 10-man a traditional Irish boat from the Bronze Age, and has led to over 300 local people rowing on Lough Erne.
The Kennet Project‘s painstaking restoration of a historic short boat on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, now visiting schools at Bradford, Keighley and Wigan and other canal-side towns along the way.
The Inland Waterway Association’s hugely successful national campaign to tackle the spread of the highly invasive Himalayan Balsam plant.
The new Pinkston Watersports paddlesports centre on the Forth & Clyde Canal in Glasgow – Scotland’s first and only competition-standard, purpose-built paddlesports venue which has transformed the site of a former power station in a disadvantaged area of the city.
The transformative restoration of 5km of the Cotswold Canals in Stroud (above) which has meticulously uncovered and archived historical records, heavily involved the local community, attracted inward investment, enhanced the local natural and built environment and improved floodwater conveyance.
The winners and runners-up were determined after a series of visits and assessments, which saw the expert judges, drawn from the environmental, engineering, architecture and regeneration sectors, travel from Sandwich to Enniskillen and from Glasgow to Devon.
Richard Parry, chief executive of the Canal & River Trust, adds: “These important Awards bring well deserved recognition for the amazing work which is taking place across the country to improve the waterways for the benefit of us all. There were some truly wonderful projects across all award categories and I congratulate all the finalists.”
Further details of the winners, runners-up and commended projects can be found at www.canalrivertrust.org.uk
