New focus for Oxford tourism

By Kaye Wiggins

Canals may become the focal point for tourists in Oxford, after regeneration work began this week.

The £25,000 project to renovate a city-centre stretch of the canal is the first in a series of plans to clean the waterways and create waterside parks and wildlife corridors.

Bob Price, leader of the city council, said: "This is the start of a new type of tourism in Oxford. Instead of walking around the busy streets to visit the colleges, tourists could reach them by strolling or boating along the waterways.

“This will take them to attractive parts of the city that they wouldn't normally see.

"Until now, the canalside has been neglected. The stretch we've started working on had dustbins from the college scattered around, and had been left to grow wild."

The scheme will dredge the canal, relay the towpath and plant greenery alongside the waterway.

West end project

It is part of a scheme worth more than £100m to regenerate Oxford's west end. While other parts of the project are struggling in the recession, the canal plans are going ahead.

Price says: "The bigger west end regeneration project is difficult to get off the ground without credit, but the canal scheme is doing well because it's more accessible financially.

“There's also more funding available for environmentally-friendly schemes like this.”

British Waterways and Oxford city council are working closely with an Oxford-based canal partnership on the scheme. Its members include narrowboat owners, community organisations, preservation trust, ramblers and the civic society.