Leading planning and housing charity, the Town and Country Planning Association^[1] (TCPA) has published its latest Policy Advice Note on Inland Waterways - Unlocking the Potential and Securing the Future of Inland Waterways through the Planning System - at the Local Government Association’s national conference in Harrogate today.

TCPA Senior Policy Officer Fiona Mannion said:

"The inland waterways of England and Wales are national, regional and local cultural and natural assets. They link urban and rural communities - as well as linking historic buildings and structures with the wider landscape and forming key strategic wildlife corridors - and planning policy has a vital role in securing their future.”

TCPA Chief Executive Gideon Amos OBE added:

“Waterways offer attractive sites for both leisure and development but also provide opportunities for low carbon transport and other uses and a natural tool to help us adapt our environment to hotter summers and increased flood risks – it is time to ensure planning policy helps to realise all these opportunities.”

The central purpose of this Policy Advice Note is to highlight the areas of opportunity to strengthen existing planning policy at all the different spatial levels - national, regional and local - in order to provide robust planning policy frameworks that:

• support the inland waterways as a cross-cutting policy theme;
• support the inland waterways’ ability to contribute fully in the delivery of Government agendas; and
• secure the long-term sustainability of the inland waterway network, their corridors and adjoining communities.

The Policy Advice Note has been produced by the TCPA with the support of British Waterways^[2], the largest navigation authority in the country.

Robin Evans, chief executive of British Waterways said:

“The regeneration of derelict brownfield watersides has transformed the prospects of towns, villages and cities across Britain in the last decade and created new waterside neighbourhoods in once no-go areas. The long term sustainability of these areas, and the waterways on which they rely, depends to a very large degree on collaboration between planners, navigation authorities and local people, and we very much welcome TCPA’s contribution. Planning advice can sometimes seem a little dry, but in this case I believe it provides planners with the tools to transform local people’s lives for the better.”

The findings and recommendations contained within the Policy Advice Note have been informed by a series of workshops and discussions with planning and policy personnel from local authorities, Regional Development Agencies and other public bodies, the principal navigation authorities, and the Government-sponsored Inland Waterway Advisory Council (IWAC).

Download the Policy Advice Note on Inland Waterways - Unlocking the Potential and Securing the Future of Inland Waterways through the Planning System

 Notes to Editors

1. The Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) is an independent campaigning charity calling for more integrated planning based on the principles of accessibility, sustainability, diversity, and community cohesion. The TCPA puts social justice and the environment at the heart of the debate about planning policy, housing and energy supply. We inspire government, industry and campaigners to take a fresh perspective on major issues including climate change and regeneration. www.tcpa.org.uk

2. British Waterways is a not-for-dividend public corporation that cares for a 2,200-mile network of canals, docks and rivers. We are accountable to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) in England and Wales and to the Scottish Government in Scotland. Together with a broad range of public, private and voluntary sector partners, British Waterways works to protect and find new uses for the nation's historic waterways. www.britishwaterways.co.uk