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| Volume 6, Number 10 - Spring 2008 | |
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From the Chairman
Cynthia Greenall, Peter Keen and myself were returned unopposed for the roles of Treasurer, Secretary and Chair. Neil Forshaw and Pat Robinson were re-elected to the Committee for another three years and I am very pleased to report that Mike Harrison put himself forward for the vacant spot created by the resignation of our former Chairman. Many thanks, Mike, for heeding the call and welcome to the Committee. Wearing my Political Group hat, the main issue that has been concerning us since the last issue of Cuttings was the approval granted by St Helens Council, despite our objections, for a new low level bridge across the canal close to the former Sutton Branch junction. Originally planned as a footbridge to provide town centre access for the proposed new Saints stadium, the proposal was hijacked (there really is no other word) by last-minute revisions to the need for emergency vehicle access to the leadworks development south of Parr Street. Emergency vehicles were hitherto going to access the site from Chalon Way, via the bridgehole under the railway at World of Glass, but as negotiations with Network Rail stuttered to a halt, an alternative solution had to be found in order that the development could proceed. That alternative is across the canal from the Linkway roundabout, and while the Saints footbridge, which would also cross the Linkway, could easily have been built high enough to accommodate through navigation, this new vehicular access from the roundabout will have barely enough clearance for canoes. While we have to accept that developments such as the leadworks are vital for the prosperity of the town, and a solution to the emergency vehicle dilemma had to be found, we cannot be happy that our canal has been the sacrificial lamb. The current St Helens Unitary Development Plan policy ENV22 says "Development proposals which would prejudice the long-term aspiration of returning the canal to navigational use will normally be refused." While this is not an absolute, it is certainly very disappointing for us that such a departure from the Plan did not at least merit the application going to full Planning Committee - instead it was processed by a planning officer. There will always be conflicting issues for local authorities, but it is hard to reconcile the 'commitment' of ENV22 with the way that this application has been pushed through. Planning Policy Guidance 13 says "local authorities should identify and where appropriate protect disused waterways (by allocating the land in development plans and ensuring sites and routes are not severed by new development or transport infrastructure) where there is a reasonable degree of certainty of a restoration project proceeding, in whole or in part, within the development plan period". This provision of PPG13 is also reinforced by Waterways for Tomorrow, government policy issued in 2001. We cannot pretend that there is any short-term certainty of the canal being restored into St Helens, but one would like to think that the protection in the UDP coupled with PPG13, might have counted for something, if only an opportunity for SCARS and other interested parties to state our case at full Planning Committee. There are already outline proposals for redevelopment of the current Tesco site on Chalon Way (Tesco will be moving to the Saints stadium site) so we are keeping an eye on them to see how they might affect the canal. In Warrington we have managed to secure ourselves a position on the Steering Committee of the Warrington Parks and Green Spaces Forum, where we shall endeavour to push the cause of the canal, particularly through Sankey Valley Park. Our own remit on the Forum extends to Waterspace Management in general, so we expect to be working with other groups who want to use the canal. In Halton, an announcement by Cllr Morley at the AGM gave us encouraging news on the plan to convert the two fixed bridges across the canal in the borough to movable structures that would allow through navigation, and improve the waterway immeasurably across the developing Widnes Waterfront. Watch this space. The first detailed consultation on Mersey Gateway is underway but it relates to matters that will not impact on the canal, so requires no action on our part. Finally, as ever, we are very keen for members outside the Exec Committee to participate in SCARS activities as there is more than enough work to do. Please do contact any of the Committee, and more in particular the five Group Leaders if you think you can help in any way. For fear of my own email address being incorrectly shown inside the front cover for the third magazine in succession, you can email me at andrewscreen@btinternet.com, if you feel you have something to offer. All the best, Andy Screen
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Already, the AGM of mid-March seems a very long time ago. Our thanks to Cllr Roberts and Halton BC for providing us with a new venue this year - the Halton Stadium in Widnes. We hoped to see a few new faces there, but maybe the St Helens fixture is so long in the tooth now that the AGM will pull in the same loyal members, whatever the venue. Nil desperandum - we may try somewhere in Warrington next year.