Memorandum from Wyre Forest District Council
(BW 91)
I understand that you are currently conducting
an Inquiry into the performance of British Waterways and are currently
considering evidence.
I am very pleased to be able to associate this
Council with the work which British Waterways have carried out,
and continue to carry out, in the District through their West
Midlands (formerly Central Shires) offices.
British Waterways has been a valuable partner
to the Council and our productive relationship has seen success
in the following areas:
— £3.17 million Heritage Lottery
Fund monies secured for the improvement of Stourport Basins
— facilitating private investment in
regeneration works adjacent to the Stourport Basins and the re-instatement
of the former Lichfield Basin
— continued work on linking the Basins
to Bridge Street, Stourport, bringing land ownership with the
Council's CPO powers to assemble land into a development site
to open the basins up to pedestrians and realise the tourism potential
that had previously been identified in the Pieda & GHK studies
of the Stourport Basins
— improved access to the canal towpath
in Kidderminster Town Centre
The working relationship at officer level between
the two bodies is close and productive, as it also is with Elected
Members who receive an annual update at their Prosperity Policy
Panel of the work undertaken by British Waterways in the district
the previous year.
We are just embarking on further consultation
with British Waterways on the Local Development Framework Core
Strategy Development Plan document and will value their input.
I look forward to this partnership flourishing
into the future to continue to realise the catalytic regeneration
opportunities that the canal infrastructure offers Wyre Forest
district.
Wyre Forest District Council
April 2007
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