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Lapal Canal Eastern Strategy |
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Lapal Canal Eastern Strategy |
Focusing our Vision - in seven steps.
1 The Lapal Canal Trust has the grand Vision that the derelict 'half' of the Dudley No.2 Canal, from Hawne Basin in Halesowen to the Worcester & Birmingham Canal in Selly Oak, via the Lapal Tunnel, should be restored, eventually to full navigation.
However:
2 Recognising that restoration of the UK's fourth longest canal Tunnel (at 3795 yards) will be a mammoth task, the LCT tempers its vision and divides it into three distinct missions; The Western Approach (i.e. the Halesowen section), The Lapal Tunnel and The Eastern Approach, i.e. the Selly Oak Extension Canal.
2A This results in a pragmatic strategy to re-open the canal incrementally along both extensions towards the Tunnel, which may then be restored as the "final link".
(The LCT offers its detailed plans, either as a wallet of paper documentation or a comprehensive Web Site, and provides, here, just the seven key points of its full strategy, as they relate to the Selly Oak Extension Canal.)
3 The Selly Oak Extension
Canal proceeds west from the W&B, via a section that
adjoins the Battery Park trading estate, into the Selly Oak
parkland and then along the Lodge Hill backland to flank the
Weoley Castle ruins, in close proximity to the Eastern Portal of
the Lapal Tunnel in California.
(For much of its length, it aligns exactly with the boundary
between the Districts (and local government Wards) of Selly Oak
and Harborne.)
3A In principle, it is entirely plausible to re-open this derelict canal as a level waterway from the W&B to a navigable limit in the vicinity of the Weoley Castle site, and;
3B As a long-term project, it already has the tacit support of BWB (British Waterways) for providing an additional water supply into the BCN, if (some of) the Stonehouse Brook water may become diverted into the reinstated canal.
However:
4 The long (1500+ yds) section through the Lodge Hill backlands requires significant funding to remove infill and create bridges as part of a comprehensive restoration engineering project. Thus, the interim plan is to restore the canal from the W&B to a navigable limit near to the west end of Selly Oak Park.
4A This will provide an attractive water feature for the parkland and a 'lay-by' canal for boats travelling on the W&B.
However:
5 The restoration of the Selly
Oak Park length requires significant landscaping to create the
pleasing south-side waterfront, and substantial engineering to
provide a watertight offside embankment, above the Reservoir Road
properties. Previously, this north-side embankment had been the
canal's nearside along which the towpath had been routed, so the
proposed restoration here includes an alteration that
calls for additional reshaping of the channel profile. This
increases the cost and complexity of that section.
Therefore, the more immediate interim plan is to re-open the
canal into Harborne Wharf; being the small basin section between
Harborne Lane Bridge and Park Lodge Bridge; the old masonry
accommodation bridge, towards the east end of the parkland.
5A Being basin-shaped, the Harborne Wharf would provide an interim turn-around (a 'winding') for boats from the W&B to 'lay-by' along the Battery Park section for a "shop-stop". Even if no further restoration takes place, this lay-by arm to the W&B becomes a viable amenity that also has the support of BWB. (The W&B is quite heavily used, as part of three BCN cruising rings, but it currently offers no opportunities for shopping; e.g. food, from Sainsbury's.)
However:
6 While various alternative plans for developing the Battery Park trading site are still being proposed (by Sainsbury's, QE Hospital, etc.) for consideration, restoration of the Battery Park canal section is better held in abeyance. Among several other issues, this avoids the significant cost of providing a footbridge to give continuity to the W&B towpath at the junction.
6A Instead, the LCT 'celebrated' the bi-centenary of the entire Canal's first opening (1798) by an interim pre- restoration clearance of the Harborne Wharf section and then some necessary repairs to the masonry accommodation bridge in Selly Oak Park.
7 The LCT has already had valuable assistance from WRG (the Waterways Recovery Group; a national organisation of highly-experienced volunteer restorers) to perform clearance work and recover the towpath as a once-again accessible footpath. It also has detailed plans for the necessary restoration tasks, and is consulting with local conservation groups in order to preserve the wooded ambience of that section for the mutual benefit of the wildlife and recreational users (e.g. walkers, cyclists).
7A Equally, this restoration has benefited the LCT in providing useful representative evidence of the condition of the canal; its bed, puddling, etc., both from the 'open' section (at the west, towards Park Lodge Bridge) and under the infill (at the east, towards Harborne Lane Bridge).
7B Further, unlike any other section of the canal, this is a benign section with no adverse impact on Properties in its immediate vicinity, if, for unforseen reasons, the full restoration was to become frustrated.
* In short, the Eastern Strategy is for investigation and preparation to commence in the Harborne Wharf section, to be followed by the restoration and preservation of the Battery Park and Harborne Wharf sections together.
© PJB
99/02/11