-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Harriet Thomsett Sent: 14 May 2007 16:27 To: londonwrg List Member Subject: [londonwrg] Radio 4 programme on canals {01}
Hi everyone, Have just seen this in the Radio 4 schedule for tomorrow (Tuesday), and thought some of you might be interested: ************************* Gridlocked Tuesday 15 May 2007 20:00-20:40 (Radio 4 FM) Repeated: Sunday 20 May 2007 17:00-17:40 (Radio 4 FM) Gerry Northam asks whether canals built in the 18th century can provide sustainable transport for the 21st. The government wants to get freight off roads and onto waterways wherever possible. But commercial barge owners say vital wharves are being sold off to property developers, and feel that British Waterways is not interested in freight. British Waterways vigorously defends its record. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/pip/r8b7c/ ************************* Harri T ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Palmer-BM" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "londonwrg List Member" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, May 14, 2007 5:10 PM Subject: [londonwrg] Radio 4 programme on canals {02} This is as it was reported in our internal magazine: A green way to build Salford Could canal traffic offer a realistic alternative to trucks? by Karen Carter As the BBC's plans for its media centre at Salford Quays edge closer to reality, a Radio 4 documentary highlights the way in which the corporation might 'go green' when building work gets underway. Gridlocked looks at ideas for getting freight off overcrowded roads and on to the country's waterways, and at 21st century obstacles that stand in the way of what would appear to be an eco-friendly alternative. Could the BBC reduce its carbon footprint as part of future development in the north west? One of the programme's contributors, a merchant captain whose barge is moored at Manchester Ship Canal close to the media city site, certainly thinks so. Producer Kathy Flower explains: 'Captain Heather Chaplin maintains that huge quantities of building materials could be delivered by water to Salford, and that barges could also be used to take away ground spoil and other materials. It would all need to be costed to see if it was economically viable, but it has to be worth the BBC looking into the possibility.' Alice Bows, from the Manchester-based Tyndall Centre for climate change research, says that at a rough estimate lorries emit four times more levels of pollution than barges. 'We could save thousands of lorry journeys,' says Flower. 'One 500 ton barge could take 45 lorries off the road in terms of haulage. But you wouldn't want lots of shorter trips made by lorry to 'feed' the barges.' One drawback concerns wharves up and down the country that are being destroyed by large-scale canalside property developments, although there are some success stories. On the Thames, 35 wharves have been protected leading to a 47 percent increase in river freight in 2005, saving an estimated 950,000 road trips by heavy good vehicles. Flower discovered that barge trains were often seen on the Grand Union canal in the 1950s. They each carried up to 700 tonnes of freight, the equivalent load of 30 lorries, and produced less than three percent of the carbon emissions the trucks would have belched out. 'Wharves need to be preserved if we want to keep the option open of using the waterways for freight,' says Flower. 'Will we be preserving them at BBC North? Maybe it's something we need to look at sooner rather than later in planning?' Gridlocked, Radio 4, May 15 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 0121 567 6942
