to Richard Parry and Ros Daniels
Dear Richard and Ros,
I would like to draw your attention to a CRT proposal to dispose of some lockside land at Limehouse. This has attracted some strong opposition and it exposes a disturbing trend.
This proposal was spotted on a Public Notices page on the CRT website. I am not aware of any prior consultations with boat operators or water strategists and it looks like teams within the CRT have started to 'think the unthinkable' without weighing up the long term implications.
Objections have been submitted by the IWA, GLIAS, the Lower Regents Coalition and myself. No e-mail addresses were supplied on the public notice, so we all needed to rely on surface mail.
There are various reasons for objecting to this proposal, but I particularly want to draw your attention to the risk that the canal will never reach its full potential as a transport system if the second lock chambers are permanently blocked off. It is quite bizarre that, in a climate emergency, we are widening the motorways and narrowing the waterways.
Can you please look into this proposal and either cancel it or find a compromise, such as leasing the land for 15 years instead of disposing of it forever?
Regards,
Ian Shacklock
Friends of Regent's Canal