Minutes:
It was agreed to postpone this item to the next meeting due to lack of time. TH stated that there is a lot of local interest about the re-development of the basin and the towpath for its leisure potential. WS added that the local disabled groups would welcome a suitable place to fish from a wheelchair. TH mentioned a pontoon installed at Bloom Park for this purpose which was incorrectly sited due to overhead cables.
JW asked if the Friends of Slough Canal have an action plan for the Slough Arm. TH confirmed they have a general strategy while there is still uncertainty about basin re-development plans. A smaller scheme is now being considered by CRT as Travis Perkins is unwilling to move from their site. Any re-development needs to incorporate public open space and widening of the access routes to encourage use by making people feel safer. As the Canals and Rivers Trust the emphasis is now on fund raising to help improve the canals.
There is a user meeting in late Oct 2012 with CRT updating the Friends Group. They are planning a full dredge using a single channel process. The biggest cost is disposing of the material dredged. TH queried whether the material could be deposited around the periphery of Bloom Park. JW agreed to speak to Parks department about this possibility. The dredged material would need to be sorted and contamination levels would be low. Etiquette on shared use paths was discussed and TH suggested that something similar to the “two tings” campaign could be used on multi-use paths in Slough. All agreed to look at this at a future meeting.
Resolved – JW to circulate the Friends of Slough Canal action plan to all members and add to next meeting agenda.