| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Brentford Waterways | |
| Posted by: | Andrew Dakers | |
| Date/Time: | 19/01/10 18:47:00 |
| Just to add I find it particularly disappointing that British Waterways seems to have given up on the freight potential of the Grand Union. If they were committed guardians of the waterways they should be considering its medium-long term contribution to tackling climate change as a low carbon form of transport. I was staggered to discover when I recently met with British Waterways management that they were worried the water would run out in the canal if there was too much freight traffic on this stretch of the Grand Union. This is due to a lack of funding from government, which has led to the Welsh Harp ‘top up’ reservoir not being dredged and thus having far less water than when the canal system was first built. British Waterways should be shouting from the rooftops about the implications of this funding crisis. Instead they are as quiet as mice. British Waterways also complain about the relative cost of labour given the slower speed of water borne freight versus road transport. However as far as I am aware they have undertaken no robust studies to understand the impact of carbon taxes on different forms of freight and what goods do not need to be moved at great speed around the country. Best, Andrew |