| AdminHistory | In 1923 the Council began to consider in more detail questions of public control and improvement of Birmingham’s waterways. Issues were discussed as early as 1887, and the subject was reconsidered in 1906 when a Royal Commission on Canals was appointed. This led to the formation of an association based in Birmingham, although it operated across the Midland counties and elsewhere, its purpose to stimulate public opinion in favour of legislation on lines suggested by the Commission.
In October 1913 the Council approved a recommendation by the Commission for the appointment of a Central Waterways Board, and agreed that the local authority should bear some part of the cost of waterways improvements. In June 1923 a Special Canals Sub-Committee was appointed, with its terms of reference similar to a special sub-committee appointed by the General Purposes Committee previously (see BCC 1/AG/37), namely the improvement and development of the waterways linked up with Birmingham, in relation to other transportation facilities. The main routes considered were the ‘Severn’ and ‘Mersey’ routes.
The former route comprised the Birmingham and Worcester Canal, part of the River Severn between Worcester and Gloucester, and the Berkeley and Gloucester Canal. The latter route comprised the main trunk canal between Broad Street, Birmingham, and Wolverhampton, as far as Horsley Fields, and the section of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal between Aldersley Junction and Baswick, with deviations to Aston Lock, near Stone, and the Mersey Canal, through Stoke-on-Trent and the Weaver Navigation, entering the Mersey at Weston Point.
In July 1923 the Special Canals Committee consulted leading manufacturers based in the West Midlands to decide on the extent of canal use in the area, although only 4 per cent of the recipients gave information in the manner requested in the questionnaire. The exercise suggested that the canal network as a whole was underutilised, and that it was necessary to concentrate on specific routes deemed suitable for improvement. It was decided in December 1923 that the Birmingham and Bristol (Severn) route would be most suitable for acquisition and development to meet the capacity for navigating barges of up to 100 tons, to an estimated cost of £2.5 million.
Before making a final decision, the committee asked the consulting engineer to draw up an additional report that highlighted particulars on the required alterations and costs entailed in bringing the Severn route up to a lighter 80 ton standard, which was projected to save the Corporation £860,000. It was also recommended that a public authority be formed to acquire and control the waterway and secure of government funding. Following a joint conference of local authorities on 24 February 1925, the Minister of Transport received a deputation three months later, but he was unable to guarantee financial aid from the government in London. Other conferences took place during 1926 with canal owners and other groups, and further questionnaires were sent out to business leaders.
In January 1927 the Special Canals Committee reported to the General Purposes Committee that it would be inadvisable to begin an expensive scheme of widening and improving the route, but it was decided to recommend the maintenance by acquisition or otherwise of the existing route as a ‘free’ waterway. The General Purposes Committee felt that only the acquisition of the full Severn route under an encompassing improvement scheme would suffice, but the lack of enthusiasm for the scheme on the part of local manufacturers and the huge projected costs meant that the main acquisition and improvement scheme was shelved.
On 1 March 1927 the Council concurred with the General Purposes Committee not to proceed further with the matter, although consideration was postponed at the request of Bristol City Council in order that it might propose its own scheme for the upkeep of the Severn route. On 16 October 1928 it was reported that the Corporation of Bristol had made an agreement with the Sharpness New Docks Company and interested manufacturers and companies based in Bristol and the Midlands to maintain the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, a decision that was agreed as satisfactory by the General Purposes Committee of Birmingham Corporation. |