When there is a downturn or recession the thoughts of treasury officials turn quickly to ways of finding extra money – and there is always a danger that they will come up with the bright idea of selling off the family jewels. That is why I asked the Prim Minister last month to make sure that Britain’s canals are protected in the current financial climate. They are environmental corridors linking our countryside and our city centres and their value is truly long term and sustainable. Selling off assets without adequate thought for the long term happened in the early 90’s - a costly decision in the long term as we have seen with the railways.
The good news this week is that the Government has decided that British Waterways, the organisation that runs Britain’s canal network will not have its property portfolio sold off, using the land to help fund both the canals and regeneration projects as they did during my time as Waterways Minister. Creating a sort of National Trust for the waterways makes sense. Instead we will look for a new way of organising our canals.
British Waterways’ waterside land and buildings, which range from deep in the countryside to city centres, include brownfield regeneration sites to 18th century warehouses, fund a significant proportion of the maintenance of Britain’s historic waterways and have been vital to the recent renaissance of the 200-year-old network over the past decade.
In the last 10years Britain’s inland waterway network has undergone a major revival, with more than 200 miles of canals built or restored. Record number of boats and towpath visitors using the system. Had the land been sold off the shortfall in funding would have to be met by the Government or we would have risked turning significant proportions of the UK’s 2,000mile canal network turning into unappealing cesspools. I am glad to have lobbied Ministers and played my part in achieving this decision so that the regeneration of the canal network can continue and everyone can enjoy the benefits from our canals.