Towpath mowing will benefit boaters – CRT
Changes are result of six-month trial
THE needs of boaters, towpath users, anglers and others accessing the waterways will be met by its new national mowing policy, according to the Canal & River Trust.
It will also increase habitat for the wildlife that thrives along the towpaths and canal banks, including in urban areas.
Prior to the trial, all towpaths were cut at the same frequency which meant climatic differences, soil nutrient, urban or rural setting and frequency of use were not accounted for.
Over the past six months, CRT has been collecting feedback from boaters and towpath users, advisory groups, colleagues and specialists, and has been undertaking periodic spot checks on the trial areas, which covered 375 miles (around a fifth of the trust’s network).
It claims the majority of the feedback has been in favour of increasing the amount of habitat fringe, with certain amendments to the trust’s mowing specifications to ensure that the towpaths are suitable for all, especially boaters.
The new national mowing programme will ensure sightlines on the inside of sharp bends are mown to the water’s edge and vegetation at locks and moorings continues to be cut most frequently to meet boaters’ needs.
Where there are no formal moorings along a canal and the towpath fringe is allowed to grow, informal moorings will be cut every kilometre. There will be minimum width for the towpath walking area so the fringe width will vary rather than the width of the towpath.
The trust will seek alternative management to break up long stretches of tall vegetation, and a full width cut removing the season’s growth, including saplings, will remain. This will commence annually from August to replicate a ‘hay meadow’ style cut.
Peter Rodriguez, operational projects manager at Canal & River Trust, said: “Canals are unique ecological corridors that offer tremendous benefits to the nation’s flora and fauna by providing sanctuary to many much-loved and endangered species. Due, in part, to changes in farming practices and urban sprawl, the canal network, with its linear hedgerows and verges, provides vital connecting routes between increasingly fragmented woodlands and other important wildlife habitat, especially in urban environments.
“Seeking to increase the amount of biodiversity across the network doesn’t mean letting everything grow; it’s about providing a mix of habitats or trying to improve a section of towpath through a specific management regime. For example, tall grasses suppress lower-growing plants. Keeping them shorter by regular mowing and collecting the clippings to reduce the amount of nutrients available for them encourages wildflowers, which prefer more nutrient-poor soils, to flourish.”