Canal path ‘should be part of county infrastructure’

Herefordshire should make the towpath of the county’s former canal more accessible as it looks to boost cycling and walking, a senior figure has urged.

Herefordshire Council has just adopted a Local Cycling, Walking and Wheeling Infrastructure Plan (LCWWIP) as urged by the Government, following extensive consultation with local organisations and the public.

Welcoming it, Independents for Herefordshire group leader Coun Liz Harvey said the former Hereford and Gloucester canal is already “recognised as a piece of transport infrastructure, possibly just from a watery point of view”.

“But we feel quite strongly that the potential for the towpath to provide a walking and cycling link through the county should be recognised in the LCWWIP too.”

The over-arching Local Transport Plan for the county, adopted last November, pointed out that “sections of the canal are being restored and will help to increase opportunities for walking, wheeling and cycling for residents and visitors”.

The council is now due to prepare a “Canal Strategy,” which alongside the LCWWIP and forthcoming car parking and rail strategies, will provide more detail to supplement the overall plan.

Cabinet member for transport Coun Philip Price said he “took on board” Coun Harvey’s point, adding the forthcoming document “probably won’t be for a canal because the canals are probably past repair at present, but it will be for the towpath and using it for active travel.”

Tony Higgins, spokesperson for Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal Trust, which is already being consulted on the new plan, said the trust is also urging greater public use of its towpath.

“The problem is we do not own most of the land through which the canal runs, and the attitude of the landowners varies considerably,” he said.

And he added: “It has always been the trust’s view that we should do what we can to preserve and use the line of the canal even if that means it does not, initially, include having water in it.”

The former canal route runs from the current Station Medical Centre in Hereford northeast to Aylestone Park, where a small section can be visited, then onto Gloucester via Ledbury and Newent.

There are already sections of “canal walk” along it, but currently these do not link up.