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Powerdays is a brand new state of the art recycling centre at Willesden in West London beside the Grand Union Canal.
By highlighting the areas in which it meets the Mayor’s Strategies, for example, on transport, ambient noise, and biodiversity, Tom Chaplin has ensured that the company will achieve maximum PR advantage from its use of canal transport. His attendance at public meetings was key to persuading its opponents that the scheme deserved to succeed. The result was a successful planning approval. Tom subsequently obtained funding for the new wharf, mostly through grants, and advised on its design and construction.
The facility is now coming into operation and Freight Afloat Consultants are involved in detailed discussions to secure a 120,000 tonne contract.
Harleyford Aggregates approached Tom Chaplin at the time they were proposing to start excavating a new gravel reserve at Denham. The material was to be transported to Hanson’s canal-side batching plant at West Drayton.
There was a problem, though. The quarry was about a quarter of a mile from the canal. Undaunted, by the time the quarry became operational, Tom had secured a grant exceeding 90% from the Department of Transport to install a conveyor to link the pit to the canal.
A further grant, this time from the London Waterway Partnership, was obtained to finance the unloading equipment and money was procured from Transport for London for a new winding hole. Even the planners were persuaded to change the terms of their consent to facilitate the barge option. By the end of the contract, 46,000 road journeys will have been saved from the roads of West London.
Not surprisingly, the PR was spectacular. The project was launched by the Minister of Shipping, David Jamieson. The BBC Radio 4 Today programme announced “while most of you are stuck in traffic jams.....a barge is gliding through London on uncongested canals...” All the major papers carried the story.
Trials took place for moving waste electrical and electronic equipment by barge along the Forth and Clyde Canal from Glasgow and East Dumbarton to Twechar.
Because the lowland canals have only recently been reopened there were no carrying vessels left on the canal. Tom’s role was to advise and procure craft from south of the border, and thanks to his expertise, the trial was successfully completed. Despite stiff competition from major football news, the trials were reported on all major channels in Scotland, raising the profile of sustainable transport across the Lowlands.
Tom has been highly influential in the introduction of freight studies across the central belt. These have been financed by local authorities and the Scottish Executive and form a sound basis for future growth. Already several major companies have commissioned reports to look into the costs and also environmental benefits of changing their logistical approach.
The residents of Birmingham are proud to state that “Birmingham has more miles of canal than Venice”. The canal system in 1905 carried 7.5 million tons and yet today there is virtually no traffic. Tom has negotiated external funding to carry out a detailed survey of all canal-side companies on the long, lock-free sections so that possible trade can be investigated.
Tom also instigated trials using tugs and trains of Joey boats to show that larger tonnages can be hauled by both pushing and pulling boats. Funding by Brierley Hill Regeneration Partnership enabled studies and trials of swift boats to be carried out. This has raised the prospect of (relatively) high speed deliveries of both people and retail goods into the city centre. These ideas are being used as part of Transport Plans for major canal-side developments in the area.
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