The garden must go
MANY boaters, ourselves included, have admired the garden at Lock 15 on the Audlem Flight of the Shropshire Union Canal, but not alas, Canal & River Trust.
The garden, that was created from waste ground, has been in existence for four years and admired by many, and it was supported by the then British Waterways. But the Trust, though stating its intention of 'Encouraging biodiversity by creating new wildlife habitats' and 'Keeping our waterways alive we can ensure that visitors will always enjoy the boats, wildlife and sense of community', it does not want this particular 'wildlife habitat and 'sense of community'.
No longer allowed
The Trust has intimated that it will no longer allow the garden to continue, though it gives no reason for its change of heart.
Yet at a recent Audlem Parish Council meeting, a spokesman for the Trust wanted a 'Welcome to Audlem' area and volunteers, though the village had provided many such volunteers creating the garden as an entrance to Audlem already, that was not mentioned by the spokesman.
An article in Audlem Online tells that those tending the garden have been trying for the last five months, without success, to seek a meeting with CaRT to talk over how aesthetically and productively the gardens can continue to be a fitting 'Welcome to Audlem'.
Grand design
The worry is that CaRT will want a 'grand design', that will have an artificial 'municipal park' appearance—all showy and useless to the biodiversity that the present gardens sustain, the web team wrote.
In Audlem Online, Adrian Leighton explained the situation:
CaRT has not exactly shown an awareness of encouraging the prospering of the natural environment (upon which we all do and will depend) in its towpath maintenance. Very aggressive strimming has now wiped out this year's wild flowers along a whole stretch of the towpath and together with the massive use of weed-killer (is this legal near water courses?) have left ugly bare streaks and patches.
If this all sounds very negative, it is borne out of the frustration that CaRT will not communicate directly with those of us who are 'stake holders'. It even seems to deny that we are 'stake holders' who already have an interest in what happens at Lock 15.
I am not surprised that in the "Volunteer Force" we hear so much about, so few are actually from the Audlem area. There is an enormous amount of expertise in Audlem that could be harnessed, but CRT seems unwilling to engage with those in the local community.
Local groups, such as the Audlem Wildlife and Ecology Group and ADAPT are well placed to help fulfil CaRT's stated aims in developing community partnership.
The question that I ask is, "WHY doesn't CRT communicate with us?" I hope that this article reaches those parts which our communications so far have not been able to reach.