Monday 28th November 2022
To: The Canal and River Trust
(acting as Trustee of the Waterways Infrastructure Trust)
I am writing on behalf of the Friends of Regent's Canal, and also on behalf of future generations who might benefit from a sustainable water transport network, to object to any proposal to dispose of land adjacent to Commercial Road Lock at Limehouse.
I am resonding to your public notice (ref: LW/Prop41), which was posted on your website on 3rd November.
It is totally unacceptable to dispose of any land that forms part of the operational environment for a canal lock, even if the lock is currently working at a reduced capacity. The Regent's Canal was built to a high specification and all twelve of its locks could one day be upgraded to support dual chambers again.
Currently the water traffic volumes are low at this lock, but we all have a duty to protect them for future generations, who will no doubt be looking for environmentally friendly forms of transport.
The weirs have all been designed to allow a future reconfiguration of the locks in the event of reviving the second lock chambers. Their design is reversible. Land disposal, on the other hand, is irreversible.
Yours,
Ian Shacklock
Chair, Friends of Regent's Canal
289 Camden High Street
London NW1 7BX