New project launched to improve Oxford’s waterways

Oxford City Council has launched a new partnership project which seeks to make the most of Oxford’s waterways, setting a new vision for improving the river and canal.The Oxford Waterways Project brings together the city council, Oxfordshire County Council, the Environment Agency and the Canal & River Trust, all of whom have responsibility for the waterways and the areas around them. Published today (Monday 7 October), an introduction to the project describes how the waterways benefit the city. It sets five themes which will be used to identify improvement opportunities. These include:City regeneration – improving the way the waterways look and feelMooring and service provision – reviewing the way the waterways are managed for those on boatsTourism – attracting new visitors to the city and supporting the local economyActive communities – boosting health and wellbeing and engagement with communitiesEnvironment – responding to the climate change emergency by protecting and enhancing the environmentOver recent months, the project has already delivered successes across the city:Over 200 hours of volunteer time given by groups such as GoodGym, the Towpath Taskforce and Oxford City Council’s Countryside VolunteersSupporting the county council on its £1.8m towpath resurfacing programme, improving cycle and walking routesVolunteers sowed wildflowers seed alongside the River Thames£350k dredging programme on Oxford Canal to improve navigation Bank improvements to residential moorings on the Oxford CanalLitter-picking, fly-tipping, abandoned boats and pollution tackled 1,000 school children received water safety advice in Wild Water campaignGraffiti cleaned from over 100m of wallsOver 50 native shrubs planted in the canal corridor to promote biodiversity and prevent graffitiLooking forward, the Oxford Waterways Project partners are looking to deliver further improvements, including:Improvements to areas at Hythe Bridge and Folly Bridge, including new bins, benches, plantings and exploring the potential for a new caféCanal towpath resurfacingDeveloping new walking trails and visitor attractionsWorking with the NHS to encourage healthy activity on the waterwaysWorking with schools on a new “citizen science” water testing projectCreating “nature corridors” alongside the waterwaysEncouraging people from the whole city to enjoy the waterways spacesThe partnership is now asking the public to share their ideas for improving the waterways, no matter how large or small, by emailing waterways@oxford.gov.ukThe Oxford Waterways Project: A Shared Vision document is available to download from the Oxford City Council website.The public can share their ideas for improvements to the city’s waterways by emailing: waterways@oxford.gov.uk