Memorandum submitted by Leaside Regeneration
Limited
1. Leaside Regeneration Ltd is a not-for-profit
social enterprise driving sustainable regeneration in East London
and the Lower Lea Valley (please see www.leasideregeneration.com
for more details). We have worked extensively with British Waterways
as part of our £100 million regeneration programme in East
London, linked to a £500 million housing estate renewal programme
led by our close partners Poplar HARCA. This is part of Leaside
Regeneration's, Poplar HARCA's and British Waterways' shared ambition
to create a new Water City in East London, which rediscovers the
river and canals as excellent places to live, work and relax;
a programme now adopted by the Mayor of London, the London Thames
Gateway Development Corporation and the Olympic Delivery Authority
(please see www.watercity.org.uk for more details).
2. One key part of this programme is the
restoration of the Limehouse Cut, a canal running through the
heart of Poplar that was derelict and disused until we started
work on it approximately eight years ago. Work to date includes
towpath restoration; new and improved access points; public art;
lighting; a prize-winning floating towpath under the A12 for use
by pedestrians and cyclists; residential moorings; and a very
successful programme of persuading developers and planners to
construct new residential and commercial developments that face
the canal and treat it as part of the front street rather than
as a back alley.
3. This work has had an enormous positive
impact on the quality of residents' lives and has opened up a
large number of canal-side sites for residential and commercial
development, in line with the regeneration strategies of the London
Borough of Tower Hamlets, the Mayor of London and UK Government.
4. Leaside Regeneration Ltd is currently
working on three projects with British Waterways. These are:
— A new floating towpath and pedestrian
and cycle bridge on the Lea Navigation at Bow Gateway, the junction
of the A11 and A12 roads. This will provide much improved pedestrian
and cycle movement at a very hostile road junction and will greatly
improve access to the Olympic Park for residents of Bow and Poplar.
This project is a partnership between Leaside Regeneration Ltd,
British Waterways and the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation
(LTGDC). British Waterways is fully committed to the project and,
in particular, is fully committed to working with LTGDC to find
a solution to the problem of funding the development's long-term
maintenance.
— Tidal power generation at the River
Lea Tidal Mill at Three Mills. This project is linked to the new
water control measures associated with the reinstatement of Prescott
Lock. It is a partnership between the River Lea Tidal Mill Trust,
British Waterways and Leaside Regeneration Ltd. In particular,
Leaside Regeneration Ltd and British Waterways are co-funding
the process of seeking further capital investment for this project.
— Continued promotion of the Water
City vision and the identification of further practical projects
that will contribute to its realization.
5. British Waterways has told us that they
are fully committed to delivering these three projects and there
is no reason to believe they will withdraw from any of them.
6. Leaside Regeneration Ltd would welcome
the Efra select committee's ongoing support for BW's role in regeneration
and I am happy to provide more detail to the committee if that
would be helpful.
Leaside Regeneration Limited
March 2008
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