Woking wants CaRT to take over canal

THOUGH Woking Borough Council would like the Canal & River Trust to take over its neglected canal, there has been no agreement.

The official line from Woking is that 'discussions have taken place between the county council and the Trust but the latest position is that they have not been able to reach an agreement', Alan Tilbury reports.

Owners

The waterway is part of the Basingstoke Canal that is owned jointly by Surrey and Hampshire County Councils, with the Basingstoke Canal Authority set up in 1992 to manage the Basingstoke Canal as a managing agent on behalf of the two county councils. So it cannot be seen how the local Woking Borough Council can transfer it to CaRT.

The council has put forward a plan to upgrade the neglected towpath and construct a bridge over the waterway to encourage visitors to the canal, for as can be seen from the photograph the towpath is in a dire strait.

Basin

The plan is also to encourage boaters to visit with the construction of a basin that would be 'surrounded' by restaurants, cafés and pubs in an attempt to rejuvenate the canalside in Woking.

At a recent council meeting it was told that the canal could become an asset that was not used.