Memorandum submitted by Peel Holdings
My name is Lindsey Ashworth and I am Director
of Property Development for a company called Peel Holdings. The
Peel web site for further information is www.peel.co.uk. I am
a Chartered Surveyor and have worked for Peel for the last 19
years. Peel is a well established international property and development
company with assets in excess of £6 billion and a rent roll
of over £200 million pa. and employs directly over 5,000
people. Peel are also the owners of 5 airports, the Manchester
Ship and Bridgewater Canals and several dock systems throughout
the world.
Peel has worked with British Waterways throughout
the UK for at least the last 20 years.
Given we both own and operate canals there has
always been a special synergy between our respective organizations
and an appreciation of what is required to get the best out of
our waterways to at the very least keep them open for the people
of the future!
One of my current projects with British Waterways
is a mixed use regeneration scheme we call "Gloucester Quays,"
a £350 million investment which straddles the Gloucester
and Sharpness Canal and incorporates about 60 acres of derelict
underused land that was previously part owned by Peel and part
by British Waterways.
Both our organizations in the nineties were
struggling against an unwilling Council to develop our respective
land holdings separately on opposite sides of this Canal.
In 1999 we got together to form a partnership
which initially was based on trust and latterly a Limited Liability
Partnership.
I cannot stress enough that "Partnerships"
is the only way forward to make things happen. Most of us are
master of "something" but can't be master of "everything."
We all have different skills and attributes to offer and the combination
of these is the single ingredient that gives you the edge over
others that you so much need in this highly competitive and complex
world we live in.
We are now half way through the construction
of the Designer Outlet Shopping part of this scheme, the first
of many phases and our aspiration is that it will be the best
in the United Kingdom from all aspects.
The canal is the centre piece of Gloucester
Quays and together they will form a wonderful and exciting destination
and attraction for boat users and the public alike.
We are very proud of what we have jointly achieved
with our project Gloucester Quays and it has been a privilege
and pleasure to work with British Waterways over the years on
this. Both organizations have put in and will continue to put
in massive effort to its final delivery and beyond and in so doing
will revive this fantastic historic canal.
Peel as canal owners and operators are very
aware of the need to restore, regenerate and generally maintain
the canal system. They were constructed by our great ancestors
and it will have been in their minds that they are there for all
time and therefore it is our duty as the current generation to
ensure that we do not let them fall in to disrepair, neglect or
closure. We have no greater problems now than our ancestors had
over the last few centuries when they planned and built them,
just problems of a different nature so it is incumbent upon us
and our duty to find a way to preserve these canals jointly for
our children and our children's children.
British Waterways, as the name implies, is the
accepted custodian of these canals and in my view and many of
my colleagues' they have done an excellent job that spans over
many decades against all odds to ensure that they are retained.
The use of the canals by the evolution of the
way we go about our daily lives has changed. The needs of the
last few centuries is so different to the needs of this century
and it must have been a very difficult task with the limited resources
British Waterways has, to adapt the canal system to the demands,
needs and aspirations of our present society.
The many achievements of British Waterways has
not been properly acknowledged over the years. We seem to live
in a society where many take the easy option giving criticism
and sarcasm, quite often coming from those who contribute "little
or nothing to anything"
Such comments tend to get reported by the media
on the basis that it's more newsworthy who then conveniently leave
behind success stories—British Waterways seems to get this
unfair and unjust treatment which I find most irritating.
In conclusion long may British Waterways continue
with the excellent work they have done and are doing and long
may you continue to support them for which I applaud both. However,
a little more flexibility and freedom to go about their pioneering
business ventures from central government would not go amiss!
Lindsey Ashworth
Peel Holdings
March 2008
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