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Wilts & Berks Canal Trust Environmental Statement Melksham Link canal 3: Need and Alternatives 3.0 PROJECT BACKGROUND AND ALTERNATIVES 3.1 Introduction 3.1.1 The EIA Regulations require an ES to include ‘an outline of the main alternatives studied by the applicant … and an indication of the main reasons for the choice made, taking into account the environmental effects’. 3.1.2 To provide the context for the alternative developments that have been considered, the background to the project, and the benefits considered by the applicants, is set out in section 3.2 below. 3.1.3 Section 3.3 then describes the main alternative routes to the planning application proposals that have been studied and considered by the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust. 3.1.4 As the planning application proposals were defined, as set out in 2012, and the amendments evolved in conjunction with this ES, a number of alternative design measures were examined, and these are set out in Section 3.4 below. 3.2 Project background and need for the development 3.2.1 The Wilts & Berks Canal was promoted from 1793 as a means of providing cost effective transport. The Bill empowering construction of the canal received Royal Assent in 1795 and the canal was cut from the Kennet & Avon Canal at Semington, near Melksham, to the River Thames at Abingdon during the years 1796 to 1810. 3.2.2 A link from Swindon to the Thames & Severn Canal at Latton (near Cricklade) was completed in 1819. This link, known as the North Wilts Canal, allowed traffic to bypass the difficult River Thames navigation between Lechlade and Abingdon. 3.2.3 The Wilts & Berks was cut to take narrowboats 72 feet long and seven feet wide, carrying 35 tons. There were three short tunnels, and 42 locks on the main line, 11 on the North Wilts Canal and three on the Calne branch. 3.2.4 The Wilts & Berks enjoyed a period of prosperity between 1817 and 1841 as part of the chain of canals providing a transportation route for goods between the West Country and the Midlands, including for coal from the Radstock and Paulton mines in the Somerset coalfields. However, with the coming of the Great Western Railway in 1841 decline set in. When the Stanley Aqueduct between Chippenham and Calne collapsed in 1901, this stopped through traffic, and the canal was abandoned by Act of Parliament in 1914. WBCT/NPA/10653 Page 3 - 1 NICHOLAS PEARSON ASSOCIATES ES ch 3 Alternatives FINAL Wilts & Berks Canal Trust Environmental Statement Melksham Link canal 3: Need and Alternatives 3.2.5 Much of the canal subsequently became unnavigable, with many of the structures falling into disrepair and some even being deliberately damaged by army demolition exercises. Parts of the route were filled in, some areas have reverted to farmland, and some areas have been built over, including by the Melksham Police Station at Hampton Park. 3.2.6 The Wilts & Berks Canal Amenity Group was originally formed in 1977 to trace and record what remained of this once important waterway, and protect what remained of the route. Some 10 years later the Group started to restore stretches of the canal for their amenity and ecological value. 3.2.7 In 1995, the Group decided to fund a professional study and Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick & Co Ltd (SWK) were commissioned to undertake a Feasibility Study into the complete restoration of the 67 mile length. 3.2.8 The Amenity Group reformed itself as The Wilts & Berks Canal Trust in 2001, declaring an objective of full restoration of the waterway. The aims of the Trust were to protect, conserve and improve the canal and its branches, with the ultimate aim of restoring the whole canal to navigable status. 3.2.9 Also in 2001 the Wilts & Berks Canal Partnership was established bringing together local authorities and other outside agencies in support of the aims and aspirations of the Canal Trust. The Canal Partnership was then renamed as the Wiltshire, Swindon and Oxfordshire Canal Partnership in 2012, to reflect the three administrative local authority areas where the canal is being restored. The Canal Partnership includes Wiltshire Council, Wilts & Berks Canal Trust, Melksham Town Council, Melksham Without Parish Council and many other organisations as partners. 3.2.10 To date, several miles of the historic line of the Wilts & Berks waterway have been returned to water with many structures, including bridges, locks and lengths of towpath, restored or in the process of restoration. Where the historic line has been lost in Swindon and Abingdon, new links have been constructed (see 3.2.12 & 3.2.13 below). All of this work has been achieved through the drive, determination and dedication of volunteers and the work of both the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust and the Canal Partnership. 3.2.11 The SWK Feasibility Study was completed in 1997 and concluded that restoration of the canal was feasible. However, it was acknowledged that for the major towns of Cricklade, Abingdon, Swindon and Melksham, alternative routes would need to be examined where the historic line had been blocked by subsequent development. WBCT/NPA/10653 Page 3 - 2 NICHOLAS PEARSON ASSOCIATES ES ch 3 Alternatives FINAL Wilts & Berks Canal Trust Environmental Statement Melksham Link canal 3: Need and Alternatives 3.2.12 Detailed design work on a new route to the south of the Abingdon blockage led to the construction of a new junction with the River Thames and a short length of new alignment to the west of this junction. Further action was put on hold while Thames Water deliberated on the construction of a new reservoir. 3.2.13 Detailed design work on a new route to the south of the Swindon blockage led to the construction of a new alignment at Wichelstowe comprising entirely new channel, bridges, locks, aqueducts and other structures built as part of a successful new District housing and commercial development. An extension of this to the east is now being discussed with interested parties. 3.2.14 At Melksham, the Trust decided to proceed with the design and construction of a new route to bypass the blockage. The ‘Melksham Link’ would include a new connection with the Kennet & Avon Canal and its delivery would be a major step towards the complete restoration of the Wilts & Berks Canal. 3.2.15 In 2009, the Wilts & Berks Canal Partnership published a strategy (‘Restoration Strategy for the ‘Completion and Development of the Wilts & Berks Canal’) for the restoration of the whole Wilts & Berks Canal. The Melksham Link is one of 18 separate projects considered in the strategy, and the Melksham Link was identified as the ‘priority’ scheme for delivery. The strategy was revised in 2011 and is being reviewed and updated further. 3.2.16 As a result, the Trust then decided to proceed with the design of a new route for Melksham. 3.2.17 The delivery of the Melksham Link project and its connection with the Kennet & Avon Canal would be a major step towards the complete restoration of the whole Wilts & Berks Canal. The Trust and Partnership are both aiming to complete restoration of the Wilts & Berks Canal by 2025. As a stand-alone project the Melksham Link will effectively become an extension of the Kennet & Avon Canal corridor. In the longer term, when full restoration of the Wilts & Berks Canal is progressed and completed, a new 60 mile long recreational and wildlife corridor will be created. 3.2.18 After successful lobbying over several years, the line of the Wilts & Berks Canal has become protected in the local planning policies of the county and unitary (and former district) councils along its route. The Melksham Link canal route is now protected and allocated for the canal development in Core Policy 16 of the Wiltshire Core Strategy (adopted January 2015). Planning policy is further described in ES chapter 6. WBCT/NPA/10653 Page 3 - 3 NICHOLAS PEARSON ASSOCIATES ES ch 3 Alternatives FINAL Wilts & Berks Canal Trust Environmental Statement Melksham Link canal 3: Need and Alternatives 3.2.19 The applicants have also commissioned studies that have looked into the economic benefits that the Melksham Link canal scheme may bring to the area, to help build a case for scheme funding and to identify the economic and social opportunities that would follow from the scheme’s successful implementation. These are outlined in ES Chapter 12. 3.3 Alternative route options 3.3.1 The process of route selection in Melksham started back in 1997 with a proposal to bypass the town using a greenfield route to the east. A number of feasibility reports were then commissioned which have proposed a line in the general vicinity of the current proposal. 3.3.2 In their report dated January 1998, Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick & Co Ltd (SWK) identified 8 possible routes around Melksham, which are illustrated in Appendix 3.1. Initially, the River Avon route (Route B) option was preferred, with the ‘Eastern Route’ (Route G) retained as a fall-back (while noting the Environment Agency’s concerns). Route G came close to adoption via the West Wiltshire District Local Plan, but was abandoned after Melksham Town Council and other partners asked for a solution that was more inclusive to the town. 3.3.3 SWK were then asked to look in more detail at their ‘Route B’ and their subsequent report (Restoration of the Wilts & Berks Canal Strategy Study, 1999) gave more detail and estimated cost for a modified ‘Route B’. This included constructing 7 narrow locks, making the River Avon navigable through Melksham and re-joining the historic line north of the town.