Below is the text of the motion
to Islington Council identifying the canal management issues that impact
negatively on the Borough of Islington. This motion
was passed unanimously, supported by all elected members of the Council across the chamber.
"This Council notes:
Under Government reforms,
British Waterways became the Canal and River Trust (CaRT) – a charity that owns
and operates England’s inland waterways and infrastructure. The Regents Canal
and towpath run through the borough of Islington, passing through St Peters and
Caledonian wards, and in these urban areas the towpath passes very close to
people’s homes near the canal. Access to the canal and towpath is controlled by
CaRT and is not a public right of way.
Since the Trust took over the
running of the canal, there has been a sharp increase in problems with speeding
cyclists on the towpath, failure to keep the bins emptied, from noise and air
pollution coming from Canal boats moored on the banks of the canal, and congestion
from double and triple mooring in built-up areas. The CaRT has been very slow
to respond to these problems, and when they have, they have largely failed to
make any difference, or they allow different standards to operate on different
parts of the canal for no obvious reason.
We call on the Council:
• To work with CaRT, TFL and
London Borough of Hackney highways officers to achieve safe alternative cycle
routes for cyclists in a hurry, and to introduce cycle calming measures on the
towpath that force cyclists in a hurry to slow down.
• To bring legal pressure to
bear on CaRT to ensure that the Towpath is kept clean, the bins emptied 7
days a week, and an acceptable standard of public hygiene maintained.
• To bring legal and moral
pressure on CaRT to enforce higher environmental standards on the owners
of canal boats, to reduce noise and air pollution from noisy generators, and to
require boaters to burn only smokeless fuels, and to set up mechanisms to
enforce these standards.
• To lobby for changes to the
Clean Air Act to include the waterways.
• To bring pressure to bear on
CaRT to enforce their own mooring rules.
• To cooperate with CaRT to
erect new joint CaRT/LBI signage on the towpath making clear what are the
environmental and mooring rules.
• To commence joint working
between the Council and CaRT to establish ways of legally enforcing compliance
with these rules.
This council further notes:
• CaRT is the owner of the
canals, and needs to take full responsibility for the behaviour and actions of
people using the canal and the towpath, and for the environmental impacts of
that activity. "
