Friends of Regent’s Canal - Meeting Report

NOTE: this is not the final version of this web page; it is a temporary version for review by the attendees

1. Present

2. Apologies

Roger Squires

Carolyn Clark

Rod Wakeham

Helen Brice

Elliot Lancaster

Lee Wilshere

Cllr Una O'Halloran

Marnie Collins

Emma Smith

Veronica Seymour Farr

Cllr Sara Hyde

Caroline Neller

Jenifer Chan

Cllr Joseph Croft

Nic Shore

Sarah-Jane Elvin (Islington Boat Club)

Gideon Corby

John White

3. Introductions

At the start of the meeting, all the attendees introduced themselves.

4. Announcements

This was our first meeting since the pandemic and various events and issues were worthy of mention.

4.1 Regent's Canal bicentary celebrations

The year 2020 was an important milestone for the Regent's Canal. Numerous events and exhibitions had been planned to celebrate the 200th year since the canal was fully opened in August 1820. Sadly most of these events were cancelled.

4.2 East End Canal Festival

A successful festival took place on 16th and 17th July at Mile End Park. This had been delayed by two years due to the pandemic.

See leaflet

4.3 Angel Canal Festival

This festival, which had been running every year since 1986, was cancelled in 2020. It was revived in September 2021.

4.4 Little Venice Festival

The 3-day Canalway Cavalcade, which had been running every year since 1983, was cancelled in 2020 and 2021. It returned in May 2022.

4.5 Hackney Council cyber attack

In October 2020 Hackney Council was hit by a major cyber attack and its website was out of action for a prolonged period.

Several planning applications on our watch needed to be put on hold and they were resubmitted after new systems were in place. It looks like we will never be able to view the historic applications again.

4.6 Goodbye to Starbucks

The lease for the Lock Keeper's Cottage in Camden Town has expired and the Starbucks store is now closed. A new coffee store will be opening once the lease has been signed but the identity of the new tenants is unknown. This building is an official information centre for the Regent's Canal so it is important that we remain involved in any refurbishment plans.

4.7 Regent's Wharf demolition

The demolition work at Regent's Wharf in King's Cross has completed and the developers employed barges instead of HGVs for some of this work. However their use of the canal appeared to be very reluctant even though it was in the best interests of the environment. We will need to follow this up.

4.8 Regent's Network archive

Following the death of Del Brenner in 2021 we have taken ownership of all the archive information for the Regents Network. This is a huge collection of campaign material covering Greater London over a 20-year period. Eventually this will be passed on to a permanent archive store or museum, but it will take effort from volunteers to work through it.

Some examples of this collection are available here.

4.9 Planning reforms

In August 2020 the government launched a consultation for a major shake-up of the planning system. The intention was to eliminate any checks and balances that interfered with developer's wishes. The public would have had little or no say in individual plans and even the local councillors would have been excluded. Here is a copy of our bulletin where this was first announced.

4.10 Ongoing complaints about towpath cycling

We still receive complaints about aggressive cyclists on the towpath. Things are now worse than ever since the arrival of e-bikes and e-scooters, which are faster and heavier than conventional bicycles; yet the surrounding roads have become quieter and safer. The meeting agreed unanimously that cycling is a serious problem on the towpath.

The chair commented that the Friends of Regent's Canal were not in a position to spearhead a campaign against cycling, but we could give support to a wider campaign. He offered to set aside an area on the website to publish people's experiences.

4.12 In Memoriam

Since our last meeting in 2019 a number of our colleagues have passed away. Tributes can be found on our website.

5. Update on Holborn Studios

For the past ten years we have worked with Holborn studios to fight off their landlords' plans to demolish the buildings. Several planning applications have been submitted. The first one was withdrawn and the next two were approved in questionable circumstances only to be overturned in the High Court. In March 2022 a further attempt was made by the developer but five of the councillors voted to keep the studios complex and buildings intact. The developer has now appealed to the Planning Inspectorate.

Holborn Studios and Hackney Council will now be working together in order to defend this decision at a Public Inquiry in January 2023.

Here are some slides that were shown at the meeting to provide a timeline of events and to illustrate the nature of the unpopular plans.

6. Update on Belmont Wharf

For over three years the residents and users of Belmont Wharf (near Bethnal Green) have faced the threat of eviction. Tower Hamlets Council submitted its own planning application in 2020 to demolish a community hall, flatten a community garden and build a four-storey housing block right on the edge of the canal. We have been helping the community to fight that application for over two years and in mid October 2022 the newly formed council made a decision to withdraw its predecessor's unpopular application.

Here are some slides that were shown at the meeting, to illustrate the biodiversity in the garden and the timeline of its evolution.

7. Talk by David Fathers

David Fathers, the author and illustrator, gave a short talk on the events that led up to the publication of his first book, the Regent's Canal ten years ago. The second edition of this book has just been published and David spoke about some the changes he has witnessed since the first edition.

Examples of his illustrations and text can be found on www.joemoon.co.uk/books/the-regents-canal

8. iRecycle

For over ten years we have campaigned publicly to encourage the freight industry to make better use of the waterways instead of automatically relying on road vehicles. In 2018 Elliot Lancaster founded a company named iRecycle and he has been using barges to transfer recycling and other waste from Camden Lock Market to the Powerday recycling facility. These barges have helped to put the Dead Dog Basin to proper use for the first time in many decades.

iRecycle is now working with other high profile clients and we hope to see a greater modal shift from road to water in the future.

Here are some slides that were shown at the meeting to publicise iRecycle's operations.

9. Planning applications

The chair provided a round-up of planning applications that we have dealt with since the last meeting. They are illustrated in these slides.

9.1 Active planning applications

Queen Mary University submitted an application in 2019 to demolish a listed building and to replace a 4-storey building with a much higher block. This was rejected in November 2019. A fresh application has been submitted that retains the listed building but we have objected because it is still too overpowering. (See our web page).

Newlon Housing Trust has submitted an application to build three bulky high-rise blocks above the western portal of Islington Tunnel. These breach the council policies for high buildings but the developers have made it clear in their planning statement that they do not perceive this to be an obstacle. We have objected. (See our web page).

LabTech, the owners of Camden Lock Market have applied to install a Ferris wheel alongside the historic Interchange Building. We are objecting to this application because it interferes with the operations of the passenger boats and the recycling barges. (See our web page).

In spring 2016 the owners of Arlington Wharf destroyed all the trees and vegetation between the towpath and their building. This happened without warning and without consulting the CRT. A year later their hoardings collapsed, throwing a pedestrian and cyclist into the canal. We have never seen any planning applications for their changes but we are following discussions between the Arlington Association and the CRT to re-establish some planting.

9.2 Closed planning applications

Hackney Council has granted permission for 7-storey blocks above the Access Storage facility at Sturt's Lock. (ref: 2021/0680)

Islington Council has granted permission for demolition and redevelopment at Regent's Wharf. Work is underway. (ref: P2019/3481/FUL)

Camden Council has granted permision to fill an open space at Eagle Mews (ref: 2021/2472/P)

Tower Hamlets council has granted permission to dismantle the gasholders at Bethnal Green (ref: PA/19/02717/A1)

In 2020 the Hackney councillors voted to approve a 4-storey encroachment on the edge the canal opposite Kingsland Basin. But the records were lost in the Cyber attack (ref: 2019/4090) and we have no update on this plan.

Camden Council has granted pemission for a 12-storey development at the Ted Baker Site (ref: 2017/5497/P)

For further context and illustrations of the above plans, please see our planning review page.

10. Safety hazards and ASB on the locks

Over the summer months we received several complaints about members of the public clambering over the locks and obstructing the safe passage of boats. Some of the visitors have been exceptionally rude and uncooperative. In one case, a cyclist had locked his bicycle to the lock ladder and blocked the skipper's access to the lock island. This is not a new problem; back in 2013 visitors were cooking barbeques and holding parties on lock islands, interfering with the ropes and boater's footwork. Nothing has changed since then and little or no action has been taken.

This problem does not arise when the volunteer lock keepers are on duty, but at other times it is a serious hazard. The CRT has started to paint red lines around the locks but it will probably take a public information campaign before the message sinks in.

Here are some slides that were shown at the meeting and here is an illustrated transcript of a BBC news item on this topic that was broadcast in August 2022.

11. Future of our group

The agenda for this meeting included an item on the future of our group and this would have been an important topic of discussion if the attendance had been poor. However the turnout was good and it was quite clear that enthusiasm for our meetings had not waned.

The chair commented that we have remained active behind the scenes throughout the three years since the last face-to-face meeting and that our main activity has been reviewing of planning applications. We also continue to coordinate with other groups, such as litter picking task forces and we continue to promote festivals. But these days we try not to duplicate the work of other groups and our focus is on matters that other groups cannot always get involved with.

12. Update on Islington Boat Club

The Islington Boat Club was closed by Islington Council without warning on 6th May 2022. No statements have been issued and there is no ETA for its revival. We were expecting one or more representatives of the club to attend this meeting, to provide an update and to take questions from the floor, but nobody was available. Some slides were supplied shortly before the meeting but they could not be included in the presentation.

A copy of the information supplied to the chair is available here.

There was an open discussion about the situation, but no conclusions were reached. There are still a lot of unanswered questions. For example, how many leases are in force, when do they expire, and who is responsible for repairs?