Memorandum submitted by Countryside Council
for Wales
The Countryside Council for Wales (CCW), through
it role as Government's statutory advisor, champions the environment
and landscapes of Wales and its coastal waters as sources of natural
and cultural riches, as a foundation for economic and social activity,
and as a place for leisure and learning opportunities. We aim
to make the environment a valued part of everyone's life in Wales.
CCW carries out much of its work through partnership
arrangements with government and non-government organisations
throughout Wales. This includes British Waterways where we work
together on in inland waterways of Wales including the Montgomery,
Llangollen and Monmouthshire and Brecon Canals. Our greatest activity
to date is with the Montgomery Canal, in central-East Wales, which
is of European importance for its wildlife, being a Special Area
of Conservation (SAC) under the EU Habitats Directive. It is also
of UK importance for its wildlife and designated as a Site of
Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). CCW is responsible for the
operation of these designations and working with their owners/occupiers
to ensure they are correctly managed to safeguard the features
for which they have been designated.
In order to take this forward, CCW has been
engaged in the Montgomery Canal Partnership since 2000, working
with British Waterways and other partners to find a sustainable
solution to the problems facing the canal and to deliver environmental,
economic and social benefits in the canal corridor. This culminated
in production of a Conservation Management Strategy in 2005 which
created a framework to deliver protection and enhancement of the
Canal's European-designated wildlife value, nationally important
built heritage and locally valuable public space alongside the
canal. The agreement of the Strategy by partners with initially
conflicting interests was a major achievement and a credit to
British Waterways' staff who were able to bridge the initial difficulties
and take the Strategy forward.
Most recently the Partnership have been successful
in securing some £550,000 of Welsh Assembly Government and
European-development funding for the Powys Canal Tourism project
and over £1 million of HLF and European funding for restoring
a demonstration section of the English section of the Montgomery
Canal.
We are also working with British Waterways to
raise awareness of the regeneration benefits of inland waterways
nationally in Wales through its Waterways for Wales initiative.
All these pieces of work, especially the Montgomery Canal, are
long-term and CCW requests the Committee to ensure that British
Waterways remain engaged in the restoration and development of
Wales' canals and build on their considerable success to date.
Dr David Parker
Director Science and Chief Scientist
Countryside Council for Wales
March 2008
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