The Canal & River Trust is the owner, operator and Navigation Authority for the Grand Union Canal, North Stratford Canal and South Stratford Canal within Warwick District. We are a registered charity and look after over 2000 miles of canals & rivers across England and Wales. Our waterways contribute to the health and wellbeing of local communities and economies, creating attractive and connected places to live, work, volunteer and spend leisure time. These historic, natural and cultural assets form part of the strategic and local green-blue infrastructure network, linking urban and rural communities as well as habitats. By caring for our waterways and promoting their use we believe we can improve the wellbeing of our nation. The Trust is a statutory consultee in the Development Management process.

In Chapter 5, Table 4 sets out the range of measures identified as Type 2 mitigation and includes measures to support cycling and walking infrastructure. The Trust manages some 37km of canals across the district, passing through both rural and urban areas. The canal towpath can provide a sustainable, traffic-free environment for walking and cycling for accessing services and facilities or for leisure and recreation. In order to fully realise the potential of canal towpaths to fulfil this role and contribute to reducing reliance on private motor vehicles for journeys, it is important to ensure that they are, and will remain, in good condition, and that they are as accessible as possible to the widest range of people.

The Trust considers that it is reasonable and justified to consider improvements to canal towpaths, whether in the form of upgrading towpath surfaces or improving access arrangements, as being appropriate mitigation measures that developers could be required to contribute towards. We suggest that reference to this could be included within the SPD as an example of appropriate Type 2 mitigation