WaterWorks – A Training and Volunteering Lottery Bid for Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal

A full application has been submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund by Torfaen County Borough Council and the Monmouthshire, Brecon & Abergavenny Canals Trust to support an innovative programme of volunteer led restoration work and associated training on the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canals at Ty Coch to the south of Cwmbran.

Chris Mitchell of Portmead Ltd and Terry Kemp Facilitating People Ltd assembled a team of specialists to prepare a detailed Restoration and Conservation Management Plan to support the application which has been titled aptly ‘WaterWorks’.

Terry Kemp of Facilitating People Ltd said,” The teams experience and knowledge in waterways schemes and water space planning was a terrific advantage in the preparation of the plan. The strengths of the proposals are in the detailed understanding of the work to be done and the benefits that will accrue from skills training and community development. The team are hopeful of success.‘

The project will utilise community volunteers and skills trainees to restore and enhance the historic and natural environments of the canal corridor. One key part of the project will be the development of a dedicated training programme in heritage construction skills and canal management techniques for volunteers and the long term unemployed.

The Canal Trust and Torfaen County Borough Council hope to hear from the Heritage Lottery Fund later in the New Year of 2012

Background

The waterways and their surroundings are an important repository of the natural, built, cultural and industrial heritage. They are also changing to meet modern demands for learning, skills training, volunteering, tourism and leisure. They can contribute greatly to peoples’ health and well-being. The challenge of this project is to ensure that we protect and enhance this heritage whilst meeting these demands, or else we jeopardise the very things that make them unique and attract people to them.

The waterway’s restoration project meets this challenge by linking and using the initiative with learning and skills training activities engaging communities and individuals in the process.

Torfaen County Borough Council in partnership with the Monmouthshire, Brecon and Abergavenny Canals Trust require a Restoration and Conservation Management Plan to support an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund.

That application will be to –

·         Restore the historic Built Structure of the canal using volunteer support.

·         Restore five locks including lock gates and associated mechanisms

·         Provide training and skills development in canal heritage restoration techniques and maintenance

·         Set up a workshop and training programme to construct lock gates using traditional techniques

·         Develop heritage related education and learning opportunities for the local communities and users of the canal.

The partnership should be congratulated for their determination to carry out the restoration of the canal in an exemplary manner according to the recognised principles of sustainability. The Restoration and Conservation Management Plan will underpin this and therefore guide all the works as they progress.

In accordance with the brief the Restoration and Conservation Management Plan will address the following aspects of the restoration,: built heritage and archaeology, ecology and biodiversity, landscape, access and amenity, training and volunteering, education and interpretation. To ensure that the Plan is in accordance with the key principles of sustainability an assessment will also be included on the benefits of the proposed restoration to the local economy and the local community. The plan should also describe how the project will address the Heritage Lottery Fund Strategic Aims 2008 – 2013

·         Help people learn about their own and other people's heritage (learning)

And also do either or both of the following:

·         Conserve the UK's diverse heritage for present and future generations to experience and enjoy (conservation of heritage assets) and/or;

·         Help more people, and a wider range of people, to take an active part in and make decisions about heritage (participation of local people).