BOATING BULLETIN London

ISSUE 6– July, 2014 Welcome to the July Boating Bulletin. In this edition we bring you news of a busy July and what’s happening in the month to come. Last month saw us out and about meeting boaters and towpath users at pop-up meetings and events with the Police and Fire Service, as well as getting stuck in with volunteers on towpath clean-ups. This month we’re rolling out changes to visitor moorings in central London based on what we heard, as well as running some more great volunteer events and preparing for an emergency stoppage in Camden. Thanks to the people who’ve contacted me with ideas and feedback—keep it coming! Contact me at [email protected] to go on the mailing list, or follow us @CRTLondon and @SorzCRT. Sorwar Ahmed Boater Liaison Manager (London) In this edition: News Dates for your Diary Central London Visitor Moorings 6th-15th Aug: Closure of Regent’s, Acton’s Southall towpath upgrade The navigation will be closed for major towpath works in Mooring pins—a reminder! the area of the recent cable strike at Haggerston. Passage Islington wildflowers is available each day before 8am, between 11am and 1pm, and again after 5pm. Crime and security Sat 27th Aug: Emergency stoppage—Camden 14 day reminders coming soon Overnight emergency stoppage at Hawley Lock, Camden Remember how to lock! from 6pm, Saturday 27th August to 8pm, Sunday 28th Aug. to deal with water level issues (see Maintenance Update). Stonebridge cycling pop-up Sun 31st Aug: Lea Rowing Club Autumn Regatta Beery boaters raise money! Between Watermint Quay and Spring Hill Boat House on Updates the Lee Navigation (9.30am-5.30pm). Lend your support to local communities. Volunteering update Sun 7th Sept, 11am-5pm: Angel Festival Enforcement update Sat 13th Sept: Slough Festival Maintenance update

News Central London Visitor Moorings plan

In June 2014, we published proposals for changes to Visitor Moorings in the central part of London between Kensal Green and Victoria Park to help ensure some popular locations can be shared more fairly by a wide range of boaters.

The changes in the proposed plan took account of feedback from the & Little Venice Visitor Moorings consultation (February 2014), and a visitor moorings workshop held by the London Better Relationships Group (BRG) in January 2014. The proposed plan was amended further following feedback from the BRG’s meeting of May 2014.

Following a 3-week online survey which closed on 7th July and three pop-up consultation meetings, we have now gathered responses and feedback and will be implementing the following changes:

 In Victoria Park, half the moorings at the site will remain at 14 days while half will change to 7 days, following feedback from boaters who felt reducing the whole length to 7 days was not necessary in the area. With excellent tube connections at Mile End, the seven day stretch will benefit visiting boats who want a base to explore London.

 In Broadway Market the Trust will create a new 7-day mooring site of approximately three berths. The area has become a popular tourist destination, with a thriving bar and restaurant scene as well as the Saturday market, and is within easy reach of Shoreditch and the City.

 In Little Venice the eastern half of the visitor moorings (those closest to the Trust’s Little Venice office) will be 7 days while the western half will be 14 days. Little Venice is a beautiful spot, and isa fantastic gateway to central London.

 The Trust had also proposed reducing the stay times of two visitor mooring berths at Kensal Green, but the view from the Better Relationship Group and boaters was that the site wasn’t enough of a visitor hotspot to justify the changes. Following this advice, the whole stretch will remain a 14-day visitor mooring.

These changes will be introduced in mid-August, and reviewed in November to get boater feedback. We are also investigating options for rolling out the volunteer Caretaker Boater scheme across other visitor moorings in London to help manage the sites and provide information and advice to boaters. Alongside the wider London visitor mooring plan, in August the Paddington Basin visitor mooring plan will be implemented, installing a new water point, new signage, double mooring adjacent to the hospital, and bookable moorings at Rembrandt Gardens. We are also developing new casual mooring sites in Camden (Camley Street) and Haggerston (Acton’s Lock). The sites require the completion of a technical assessment prior to installation to protect cables under the towpath. We hope to begin installing mooring rings at the sites shortly. Alongside this we’re continuing to introduce signage to identify lock landings and water points to let boaters easily recognise them and use them appropriately. Thanks to everyone who came to see us at the pop-up meetings and submitted comments and survey responses. The survey results can be viewed at http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/library/6758.pdf. Towpath upgrade in Southall

We’ve recently upgraded one of London’s muddiest stretches of towpath thanks to funding from Transport for London’s (TfL) Cycling on Greenways Programme. 1.2km of towpath in Southall was given a makeover so it is now safer and welcoming to all visitors to the area. On June 19th, a launch event was held with Julian Bell (Leader of Ealing Council) and Bassam Mahfouz (Transport Portfolio Holder) to celebrate the completed towpath improvement scheme in Southall. The event was hosted by Michael Polledri from the London Waterways Partnership, and we were joined by pupils, staff and governors from Blair Peach local primary school, as well as officers from Ealing and Hillingdon Councils, and David Brough, Chair of the Hillingdon Canals Partnership. The event was covered in the Ealing Gazette, and you can also read more on our website: http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/news-and-views/news/southall-towpath-gets-a- facelift

As part of a longer term strategy to encourage activity and engagement in the area, the Trust has become a member of the Ealing Community Network and will be attending their quarterly meetings. The Trust has made contact with several locally based community groups and is discussing potential joint projects, partnerships and volunteering opportunities.

We are organising a volunteering day in Southall on 5th October as part of SEWA day (http://www.sewaday.org/) and it would be great to have some boats along to help attract people to the canal. Please contact [email protected] for more information.

Mooring pins—a reminder

We want to draw attention to this problem because it poses both a risk to your safety and the infrastructure of our canals. We know mooring space is tight but driving pins in between coping or at an acute angle at a grass verge undermines the structural integrity of the canal wall itself, so please don’t do it. If you think we should install a mooring ring on a particular site, please let us know. If it’s a great idea we’ll want to support it, if there are reasons why we can’t, we’ll let you know. National Grid cabling runs under the length of our towpath, with cables carrying hundreds of thousands of volts to supply much of north London. Driving a long pin between stones, or at an angle, is a risky game as you don’t know what you’re knocking it into! Islington wildflowers

If you’re passing through the take a look on the north (towpath side) at the eastern mouth of the tunnel. Some lovely volunteers, led by a London continuous cruiser liveaboard boater and including local residents, have cleared the nettles and rubbish away and planted wildflowers in their place. The flowers are being grown from seed so please do be careful if you’re nearby, they’re still in their infancy! If you’d like to get involved in this boater-led project you can email mooring ranger Mikaela Khan-Parrack, [email protected]

Crime and security initiatives

Mooring ranger Scott Hamilton has been working with the Marine Policing Unit (MPU) to collaborate on initiatives to tackle crime and improve safety on the canal. Scott recently helped organise the MPU’s Victoria Park community safety day on 13th July, where there was crime prevention advice and free cycle security marking. Scott also supported the London Fire Brigade’s Boat Safety Day on 5th July, which saw free fire alarms being distributed on the Paddington Arm and advice from Trust staff on engine safety. Scott and campaigns manager Sarah Burns (above left and right, respectively) joined the MPU on patrol on the Thames to find out more about their service.

We want to remind boaters to continue to "target harden" by removing valuables from sight and securing items like bicycles. Boaters can also contribute to easing the pressure on police resources by keeping to noise and engine guidelines at visitor moorings, and continuing to be considerate to other boaters, residents and towpath users. If you are affected by crime or ASB on the towpath please call the Police, as we need evidence to help focus police resources where we need it. Remember, call 101 for any non- emergencies. Watch this space for more pop-up events and information on community safety.

Coming soon - 14 day reminders

This month we will be starting a new initiative of text-messaging every boater when they’ve reached the maximum stay time on a 14-day towpath mooring, as a gentle reminder that it’s time to move on. The text messages are not part of our enforcement process, but are intended to help boaters stay on the right side of their licence obligations. We will carry on speaking to boaters on the towpath and leaving patrol notices on boats, especially for those people who do not seem to be moving far enough to satisfy mooring rules. We hope this will encourage all boaters, whether continuous cruisers or those with a home mooring, to move around and let others moor up on our increasingly popular towpaths in London.

Remember how to lock! Always close all the lock gates when leaving a lock, to preserve the water levels. Never drop the paddles, wind them down. We have noticed people doing this with our new-style catches several times. This could result in them failing and injuring someone, so please use them with care! Stonebridge lock pop-up consultation event

We’ve heard lots of concern about the need for respect on the towpath, especially when it comes to sharing the space safely and fairly between those moored up and cyclists. So we recently held a pop-up event at Stonebridge on 30th July to talk to different towpath users and hear your ideas about what can be done to improve things.

It was a great opportunity to hear people’s views, and it turned out the main issues raised were not related to cycling at all! They included:

 Safety, particularly at night. Several women said they felt very vulnerable and intimidated  General antisocial behaviour, including prostitution  Litter and fly-tipping  Moorings, and the lack of long-stay moorings affecting the sense of community  Longer visitor moorings - allowing boaters to stay longer would help improve the area and tackle some of the antisocial behaviour  Facilities considered not well managed or maintained (at Stonebridge Waterside Centre)  Concern that the Waterside Centre is not used by local groups  Some cyclists travel too fast and are inconsiderate  People thought that fast cycling was more of an issue in Kensal Town than near Stonebridge

Between 5.30pm and 6.30pm we counted 55 pedestrians and 111 cyclists passing through the event site , and 11 detailed questionnaire responses were completed.

We will be reviewing the comments and suggestions and aim to meet local groups to discuss how some of the ideas can be put into practise. For further information, please contact [email protected].

Beery boaters raise money for the Trust A big thank you to boater Ron Gooding and the other volunteers who worked at the Hop Farm music festival in Kent in return for free tickets, raising over £300 in donations for the Trust! If you’d like to take advantage of free tickets and help raise money to look after the canals, please get in touch. Updates

Volunteering update The London Towpath Taskforce had a busy month in July, with lock painting at St Pancras Lock, painting and a clean up at Ponders End Lock, painting and a canal clean up at Cowley, and lock painting at Old Ford Lock on the River Lee. If you’re interested in getting involved over the next few months, see below for some new dates for your diary!

(Left:) Group of volunteers from PIP (Pursuing Independent Paths) who did two mornings of volunteer work in Little Venice in July. They cut back overgrown vegetation, cleared pathways, weeded some of the beds and carried out a litter pick. They are planning to return in September to do one morning a month helping to look after the Little Venice area.

DATE & TIME LOCATION TASK Sat 16th August City Road Lock, Islington Canal Clean Up 10am-12.30pm Meet us on the towpath by City Road Lock. Help get City Road Lock and Basin looking their best for or 1.30pm-4pm Nearest access from Danbury Street Bridge, Angel Canal Festival. N1 8JY Tues 19th August Uxbridge Lock, Uxbridge Lock Painting & Clean Up 10am-3.30pm Meet at Uxbridge Lock, by the Swan and Spruce up Uxbridge Lock on the Grand Union with a lick Bottle pub, Oxford Road, UB9 4AF of paint and litter pick

Thurs 21st Enfield Lock – CRT yard Summer Social – Free BBQ! August Meet outside the Canal & River Trust office, Raft refurbishment, floating litter and work yard tidy up 10am-3.30pm Ordnance Road, Enfield, EN3 6JG - a bit of everything! Sat 6th Sept Old Ford Lock, Victoria Park Kit Store and Boat Painting 10am-12.30pm Meet at Old Ford Lock, accessed from Old Help get our volunteering kit and boat in order – we’ll or 1.30pm-4pm Ford Road, E3 5SP be sorting, labeling, tidying and painting Tues 16th Sept Southall, West London Yard and Boat Clear Out and BBQ! 10am-3.30pm Meet at CRT Boat Yard, Endsleigh Road Indus- Work yard clean up and boat tidy up, a spot of painting trial Estate, Off Endsleigh Road, UB2 5QR. and a free BBQ

Thurs 18th Sept Sawbridgeworth Lock Painting 10am-3.30pm Meet at Sawbridgeworth Lock, off Mill Lane, Join us on the River Stort for to give Sawbridgeworth CM21 9PL Lock a lick of paint

Sat 20th Sept Little Venice, Central London Towpath Clean Up 10am-12.30pm Meet outside Waterside floating café, next to Help spruce up this London icon, we’ll be cutting back or 1.30pm-4pm Westbourne Terrace Road Bridge, W2 6NE vegetation, sweeping paths, and collecting litter. Towpath Taskforce Summer Social & BBQ – Thursday 21 August – Enfield Lock Whether you're a regular Canal & River Trust volunteer or a first timer, come and join our summer social at Enfield Lock. We'll be refurbishing floating rafts, painting, collecting floating litter and tidying upour work yard. This is a great chance to try out some new activities, see a different part of the network and most importantly to experience our well-honed BBQ-ing skills. If you’ve been thinking of trying Towpath Taskforce for while but haven’t quite made it along, this is the ideal opportunity, and while you’re at it why not bring a friend too? More information can be found on the London Towpath Taskforce webpage.

For more information on volunteering in London, check out our website: http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/volunteering-in-london

#lovelondoncanals Regent’s Canal Taster Events

Don’t forget, the next in our series of early evening taster events on the Regent’s Canal is on August 27th. These events are designed for Londoners who want to roll out of work and onto the canal to make the most of the long hazy days; think ‘litter pick meets Late Night at the V&A’ and you’re half way there. No experience required or booking, but swap your high heels for trainers.

To stay updated, keep an eye on http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/london-waterways, and follow us at @CRTVolunteers or @CRTLondon #lovelondoncanals

Below and right: Some photos from litter pick and paddle boarding event with Active360 on July 22nd

Help prevent fly-tipping!

Our bin compounds at Paddington and Cowley are often being abused by people fly-tipping. This causes several problems for all involved (both for the Trust and for customers, when the facility cannot be used). This also causes great expense in removing the items and redirecting resources to deal with the issues.

With the pressures on our budgets this impacts on our ability to carry out other works that we’d like to do for our customers, so please help us by reporting fly-tipping to [email protected].

We are investigating options for improving the provision of recycling and rubbish facilities. At Little Venice, we work in partnership with Westminster Council to provide recycling facilities adjacent to the Visitor Mooring, and are hoping to shortly provide new facilities at City Road Lock in partnership with Islington Council. Early discussions have also been held with Brent Council to explore sites near Grand Junction Arms Visitor Mooring in Park Royal.

If you’d like to get involved in creative solutions to address rubbish and recycling issues, please contact [email protected].

Enforcement update

Current open enforcement cases in London:

Licence enforcement cases 214

Continuous Cruising enforcement cases 251

Overstaying enforcement cases 12

Other cases (including Direct Debit defaulters, craft breaching T&Cs such as 57 mooring on lock landings, railings, mooring pins etc.)

Maintenance update

 We’ve started our planned works cutting trees on the River Stort, which will aid navigation in the area. Also, through both contract staff and direct labour, we dealt with approximately 10 fallen trees in July in the aftermath of the storms.

 We finished essential works to aqueduct wing walls on the Slough Arm with our construction team.

 After two years at college, our apprentice has completed and passed his qualification in carpentry!

 We have painted the bollards at the landing, upstream of Hampstead Road lock, to denote temporary mooring for use of the lock only. They are now bright yellow, so you can’t miss them! While in the past this has been used as a visitor mooring, we are obliged to provide safe access to locks and this is the safest point upstream of Camden Lock to provide a lock landing.

 Additional resource has been identified to cope with increased use of towpath litter bins on the Regent’s Canal, many of which have recently been found overflowing. Extra work was due to start on this at the end of July, so you should see improvements soon, especially to rubbish facilities in the City Road area for boaters.

 Following the completion of dredging on the Slough Arm, we’re now spot dredging on the lower Grand Union and River Brent at shallow spots below Hanwell flight.

 The Regent’s Canal at Acton’s Lock in Haggerston will be closed to navigation between 6th and 15th August, to enable major works to the towpath to be completed in the area of the recent cable strike. Passage will still be available daily before 8am, between 11am and 1pm, and after 5pm. We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused, but these really are essential works.

 We are preparing for an overnight emergency stoppage at Hawley Lock in Camden on 27th August 2014 to repair leaking gates. This is to alleviate the water loss through the bottom gates at Hawley Lock, which is leading to an issue with the water level on the long pound above Camden. The stoppage will take place overnight, between 6.30pm on 27th and 8am on 28th August.

 Weed clearance continues, and our contractors have now caught up with the backlog on grass cutting.