AS the closure of the Bradford Canal is set to be marked this weekend, a canals expert has said a £350 million canalside scheme proposed nearly 20 years ago was "not feasible".
The ambitious £350 million scheme proposing 2,600 family homes, apartments, a hotel, shops and offices beside a new canal basin - built by extending the Leeds Liverpool canal into Bradford city centre - would have taken ten years to complete.
"Canals were the flavour of economic development then," said Mike Clarke, chairman of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Society. "But it would have been incredibly difficult to carry out the development, particularly at the upper end near Shipley as it had been built over.
"Really it was a non-runner from the start," said Mr Clarke. "The Bradford Canal was approximately two-and-a-half miles long with eight locks. Bradford's geography is difficult with the hills and it's in a valley with steep sides.
"It also would have been very difficult to get people to want to use the canal. There was no more need to have the canal any longer.
"It really wasn't feasible and the end result is that the development wouldn't have been value for money.
"Canals are not suitable for modern transport but they are a super resource for leisure and the environment."
Expanding on this point, Mr Clarke said that a "good walk route from Shipley into Bradford" with Bradford Canal as a feature would be good for promoting the City of Culture.
"We're trying to get this canal route walk flagged up with Bradford Council.
"This would be a really good project have ready for the City of Culture 2025.
"It would reflect the industrial heritage of the city and would benefit the celebrations in the district and bring everyone together.
"You could quite easily link Shipley to Bradford with a footpath. It would also be good for the conservation of Bradford Beck."
Mr Clarke's comments come as the July 15, 1922, closure of Bradford Canal will be commemorated in an event on the heritage boat Kennet this weekend.
The Kennet will open at Gallows Bridge, Shipley, close to the old junction with the Bradford Canal, tomorrow and Sunday from 11am to 4pm.
Mr Clarke explained the 1922 closure of Bradford Canal was complicated.
He said: "The Ministry of Transport, formed in 1919, hadn't thought about canals.
"During World War I, canals received government funding to keep them running, but after the war they took this funding away.
"Bradford Canal was quite run down and roads were becoming the new mode of preferred transport, so the canal closed."
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