Dear Laurence,

 

Thank you for your response to my e-mail. Some of the points you make are obviously true, especially those regarding the loss of canalside features in the area under review. However, I would like to make the following points.

 

I was pleasantly surprised when reading the report on the Factory Locks Conservation Area that the authors are proposing an extension of the area to other parts of Tipton, and that this includes the long lost Tipton Green Branch between Caggy's Yard and Coronation Gardens, Tipton on the Old Main Line. Of this only a somewhat vandalised lock chamber survives. Thus "conservation" would seem to extend to features that are no longer present (paradoxical as this may sound). As the Tipton report also makes clear, it may be possible to undertake archaeological work in an area to throw more light on its past and designation as a conservation area could prevent further deterioration of a site that might make such work more difficult. In my view Oldbury has at least as much claim to being an important canal town as Tipton (and I live in the latter, by the way) and I think we owe it to the town's residents to make them aware of this The Tipton report shows the kind of arguments that Sandwell MBC is likely to listen to, and these include placing an emphasis on canalscapes as amenities for a wide cross section of the local community - not just canal enthusiasts. By encouraging local people to appreciate their canals we may help to reduce further vandalism (of both the official and unofficial kind) and thus assist in preserving what is left of our canal side features. A conservation area may, at one extreme, amount to little more than a preservation of what little there is left, together with an interpretive document (a small leaflet or brochure) detailing where certain features once stood - insofar as this can be dtermined. This will do nothing for what has gone, I agree, but it could prevent further loss in the future - and not just in Oldbury. It is necessary to cultivate an interest in canal heritage in the general public if the group is not to seem a manifestation of  "grown ups with strange ideas" as rail entusiasts are sometimes unfairly depicted in some circles (as trainspotters).

 

I would agree with anyone who wishes to suggest that fighting losing battles can become demoralising and the case of Valencia Wharf may well prove to be a defeat, but - on a more positive note - lessons can be learned by going through the planning procedure. I would suggest that group members who wish to object should do so in order that they will be better prepared for the next time a similar situation arises.

 

Best wishes,

 

John Whitehouse.  
--- On Mon, 16/2/09, Laurence <lhpvideo@...> wrote: