Friends of Regent’s Canal - DRAFT Minutes of Meeting
| Date and Time: |
Wednesday 19th February 2014, 7pm to 9pm |
| Location: |
London Canal Museum, 12-13 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RT |
| Chair: |
Ian Shacklock |
1. Present
| Gillian Comins | Angel Association; Living Streets |
| Beverley Dean | Angel Association |
| Jennet Eyre | Angel Association |
| Tony Islander | London Canals Project |
| Helen Fawcett | volunteer |
| Richard Elkan | CRT volunteer |
| Christine Kemp | towpath ranger (Bow). Three Mills Mooring Assoc |
| Eric Naylor | Boater |
| David Fathers | Author |
| John White | Friends of Mile End Park |
| dave bedford | Thames 21 |
| Keith Brown | Community Organisers |
| Ron Gooding | Boater |
| Lee Wilshire | CASS/London Waterways Project |
| Gavin Soo | Resident, Lissen Grove Moorings. |
| Roger Squires | St Pancras Cruising Club; IWA (NE London) |
| John Checkley | Skipper, Angel Community Canal Boat Trust. |
| Jason Lord | Resident. |
| Charlie Kiss | Green Party. Resident. |
| Ian Shacklock | Friends of Regent's Canal |
| Alan Horwood | continuous cruiser |
| Gladys Greathead | continuous cruiser |
| Jonathan Trayner | narrowboat owner |
| Stephanie Dickinson | narrowboat owner |
| Stephen Ballard | CRT volunteer |
| Rebecca Aspin | resident |
| George Theo | |
| Gordon Meen | Reachview Resident |
| Dohne Arnold | Resident Noel Road |
| james tregaskis | Resident, Sturt's Lock |
| effric tregaskis | Resident, Sturt's Lock |
| Del Brenner | Regents Network. London Waterways Commission |
| Cllr Martin Klute | Islington councillor |
| Martin Sach | London Canal Museum |
| Andrew Boxer | singer (Kentish Town); cyclist |
| Robyn Litchfield | Canalside resident |
| Beryl Windsor | Angel Canal Festival. St Pancras Cruising Club |
| Nic Shore | volunteer |
2. Apologies
Bob Philpotts
Sukky Choongh-Campbell
Garrie Naden
Lisa Tang
Ian Heptonstall
Cllr Paul Convery
Cllr Alice Perry
Cllr Rupert Perry
3. Introductions
3.1 At the start of the meeting, all the attendees introduced themselves.
4. Announcements
4.1 Viewpoint at Camley Street Natural Park
This is now open to the public. For details see Camley-St/viewpoint.html.
4.2 Accessibility - ramp closure at the City Road Plazza
The contracts manager at Mount Anvil has approached the Friends to seek our views on some plans for the Plazza end of the basin. This will involve the installation of two or three planters. Additionally they need to undertake some essential maintenance on the ramp and the ramp will be closed for a short time.
Some images and documents can be found on the page accessibility/Mount-Anvil-plans.html
The Friends were not in a position to comment because the dates of the closure were unknown and no justification for it has been provided. Councillor Klute advised that this should be referred to Islington planners.
4.3 Accessibility - footpath closure at Vincent Terrace
Islington Council has recently closed the footpath that runs along the offside of the canal between Noel Road and Vincent Terrace. This is a picturesque spot that has been underutilised in the past yet it has great potential as a rest area. For some images of this site see accessibility/vincent-terrace-closure.html.
Councillor Klute explained that the closure (by Islington Greenpace) was a result of a health and safety review, that the lease had expired around two years ago and that the council was unsure whether to invest in corrective action. There was a perception (amongst council officers) that this space was of limited value to the public.
The chair noted that the timing of this closure was very unfortunate, because he was trying to use this wooded area as a selling point for designating this stretch of the canal as a "quiet zone", and he urged the Angel Association to complain to the council about this loss.
4.4 Accessibility - locked gates at City Road Basin
Leo Chapman has continued to lobby Islington Council about the locked gates around the basin. Things had improved last year when the walkway was finally opened up bewteen Graham Street Park and the Plazza, but there is still no access on the East side of the basin. Leo has been campaigning for about ten years, because the original redevelopment Masterplan promised uninterrupted pedestrian access around the basin.
There is no longer a good reason for keeping the gates locked and the council is encouraging a presumption of access.
4.5 Utilisation of the Regent's Canal Information Centre.
The refurbished visitor centre has been open to the public for three months but there are still a lot of canal supporters (e.g. towpath rangers) who are unaware of it. There is clearly a need to publicise this facility and to encourage volunteer groups to book the community table for meetings and to make use of the leaflet racks for canal promotions.
4.6 Planting events at Hanover School, City Road Basin. (1st and 8th March)
The parents and teachers of Hanover School are adopting a stretch of the towpath near City Road Lock and they are holding two events in early March to launch a new garden below the school wall. Further information is available on the web page Hanover-School-Garden.html
4.7 Blue plaque for Robert Aickman
Waterway campaigners are appealing to Camden Council to install a blue plaque in Gower Street to mark the centenary of Robert Aickman, co-founder of the Inland Waterways Association. Robert Aickman was instrumental in saving the canals from dereliction in 1948 and the chair offered to write to the council to support this idea in the name of the Friends. There were no objections.
4.8 Recycling Initiatives (dumb barges)
Lee Wilshere (London Waterways Projects) brought a model to the meeting, to demonstrate how "dumb" barges could be deployed on the canal for recycling purposes. Attendees were invited to review and discuss this model once the meeting had been adjourned.
4.9 Holborn Studios update
Hackney Council is proposing to get the Holborn Studios locally listed. The chair offered to write to the council's conservation officer to support this idea in the name of the Friends. There were no objections.
Further information on this proposal is available on the web page local-listing.html
4.10 Local elections (22nd May)
4.11 CRT User Meeting (22nd March)