IWA launches Waterways for Today report

TAKING advantage of its unique position as the only independent national charity dedicated to supporting and regenerating all of Britain’s navigable rivers and canals, the IWA has produced a new report.

Waterways for Today can be used by waterways organisations to highlight the value and importance of the waterways network and is particularly relevant for anyone in discussions about funding for a waterways project.

The report demonstrates how rivers and canals can contribute to the country’s economic recovery and why the ongoing maintenance and regeneration of Britain’s navigable waterways is essential.

By assembling diverse evidence and casestudies from throughout the sector, the report outlines the 12 most significant ways that inland waterways can benefit the economy, environment, local communities, and the lives of individual people.

It also shows how improvements to navigable waterways and the restoration of abandoned canals and rivers can act as a catalyst for wider investment and regeneration.

Commenting on the launch, IWA national chairman Les Etheridge said: “Inland waterways are an integral part of our life and landscape, stretching for 5000 miles throughout urban and rural Britain. Millions visit them every year and yet these blue-green corridors are constantly under threat from a serious lack of funding and investment.

“We want our Waterways for Today report to become a resource for all those on the front line at IWA or any other waterways organisation, restoration society or navigation authority to use when campaigning for funding. It has all the facts and figures needed to persuade those holding the purse strings that funding would be well spent on waterway regeneration or restoration projects.”

Download an electronic copy from the IWA website at https://waterways.org.uk. Printed copies of the report are available on request.