Agenda item

Declarations of interest: None.

Officers:

Fiona Shipp, Canal Manager, Basingstoke Canal Authority

Phil Allan, Countryside Service, Hampshire County Council

Andrew Smith, Countryside Service, Hampshire County Council

Key points raised during the discussion:

1.    The Canal Manager explained to the Committee that the weather had been a challenge, with three storms bringing down around 200 trees. The whole team had been involved in the clear up operation, with around 10 – 15 trees still down. There was a risk that the banks would be breached during the winter weather and this was being monitored closely.

2.    Officers informed the Committee that an additional landslip had taken place at Dogmersfield which had further narrowed the canal at this point. This may lead to long narrow canal boats being unable to navigate the corner. Officers were looking to remove trees and test whether a boat can navigate the narrow channel. Officers stated it was important to mitigate the risks.

3.    Members felt that the biggest risk facing the canal was that due to this further landslip the canal was now closed. The impact on the commercial businesses was large as they were unable to run, however the difficulty was that part of the land involved in the landslip was privately run.

4.    The Committee felt that it was important that a solution was found to ensure the economic viability of the canal of businesses. Officers assured Members that fixing the issue was a priority of Hampshire County Council, and that engineers were looking for a temporary solution for the summer with a permanent fix in the autumn/winter. It was stated that engineers felt that the permanent fix would take six to eight weeks to complete, dependent on weather. Officers were however continuing to assess and mitigate the risks.

5.    The Canal Manager informed the Committee that due to the storm damage the team were behind on winter maintenance work, however they were looking to start replacing locks within a week. The Canal Authority had recently signed a contract to have 365 day backup cover with a contractor. This would mitigate the risks associated if a major incident took place in the future. Furthermore officers had updated the emergency plans.

6.    The Canal Authority had the abandoned boats along the canal removed and had begun auditing the boats along the canal to ensure they all have licences and the right licences.

7.    The Canal Manager thanked the Canal Society for their help throughout this period as the support had enabled work to take place while the Authority were concentrating on storm damage clear up.

8.    Officers had attended a dredging conference and hoped to work with the Environment Agency to produce better guidelines on dredging which could be used nationally.

9.    The Committee were informed that work was still taking place with Greenhouse Graphics to establish a branding for the canal and the aim was to have an update report at the next meeting.

10.  Members queried whether a telemetry system was still being procured and were informed that officers were discussing this with the Hampshire County Council procurement team.

11.  Officers informed the Committee that they were still looking into making a Heritage Lottery Fund bid, but that this would require dedicated officer time which was not possible at the time. It was suggested that the Business Sub-Group could consider this during their meetings.

RESOLVED: That

1.    The report be noted.

2.    The Business Sub-Group consider a Heritage Lottery Fund bid.

Actions/further information to be provided:

The Committee to receive a report on the branding of the canal at a meeting in June 2014.

Committee next steps:

None.