Agenda and draft minutes

Join us to discuss questions including:

·  What should our canal and towpath be used for?

·  How do we make sure it is attractive to and used by all residents?

·  How can we get involved in making that happen?

Joining us will be representatives from the Canals and River Trust and the Council’s transport team.

Venue and attendance

The meeting was held in the Pink Room at St Peter’s Crypt, De Beauvoir.

Present: Cllr Tom Ebbutt, Cllr Robert Chapman, Ben Kennedy (Hackney Council Transport team), Ben Bradley (Hackney Council - Chief Executive’s Directorate), Dick Vincent (Canal and River Trust), Tim Storey and James Hewson (Canals in Hackney User Group), Hector Proud (the Proud Archivist), and about forty five residents were in attendance.

Discussion

Cllr Tom Ebbutt opened the meeting, and thanked everyone for coming.  He invited representatives from the Canal and River Trust (CRT), the Council’s Transport team, the Canals in Hackney User Group (CHUG), and the Proud Archivist to speak in turn.

Dick Vincent spoke about the work of the Canal and River Trust (http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/), and their role in managing the canal and towpath.  In response to questions, Dick clarified that CRT is a charity but has a 15 year contract with the government, which includes core funding.  Concerns about cyclists along the towpath were acknowledged; amongst other efforts to address this, CRT have handed out 25,000 code of conduct leaflets out along the canal in the last year, and are working with the police to produce new guidance for the Safer Neighbourhood Teams on enforcement.

Ben Kennedy outlined a scheme the Council is hoping to implement by March 2014 to encourage cyclists off the towpath by opening up other routes.  The plan affects the stretch of canal between De Beauvoir Road and Kingsland Road.  Any comments on the scheme should be sent to Ben on ben.kennedy@hackney.gov.uk, or 020 8356 8023, by 15^th November.

Tim Storey and James Hewson spoke about the work of the Canals in Hackney User Group (http://chug.org.uk/), including educating about the canal, promoting sustainability and protecting and enhancing the wildlife in the basin.  In response to a question about access, it was clarified that public access to the basin is provided from dawn to dusk, via a gate by Reliance Wharf which is kept unlocked during these hours.

Hector Proud then spoke about the Proud Archivist (http://www.theproudarchivist.co.uk/), a combined gallery, bar, restaurant, café, and events space he had opened on the canal this month.  Hector is keen to reach out to the local community and other venues along the canal and is, for instance, speaking to other venues along the canal about joint programming.

The meeting then split into four separate discussion groups, to identify local issues and opportunities in relation to the canal.  The issues identified are outlined overleaf.

At the end of the meeting, it was agreed that it would be useful to meet up again to continue the dialogue.  It was suggested that the next meeting focus on the possibility of adopting a stretch of the canal (http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/volunteer/adopt-a-stretch-of-canal-or-river-near-you). 

The next meeting has been arranged for 7pm on Tuesday 4^th February, at the Proud Archivist – everyone is welcome to attend.