THE Regent’s Canal could be a key route for getting freight vehicles off the streets of Camden Town, according to campaign groups and the Canal and River Trust.
A report, commissioned by developers Stanley Sidings Ltd from engineers Arup, said that using the canal to move materials to and from the multi-million-pound redevelopment of Hawley Wharf would be uneconomic but campaigners said that the canal was originally designed to move freight and that more lorries on Camden’s narrow streets would add to congestion.
Friends of Regent’s Canal chairman Ian Shacklock said: “This is yet another missed opportunity to use the canal for its intended purpose. If the developers were serious about embracing the canal instead of exploiting it then they would invest in the canal by shifting traffic from the roads to water.
He added that the potential cost of using the canals was not a legitimate reason for using freight lorries instead.