Regeneration

British Waterways works with a range of partners to create places where people want to live, work and play. Many of London's waterways are now at the heart of regional regeneration priorities and help bring familiarity, opportunity, enjoyment and intimacy to new development.

Upper Lee Valley
With the help of local people, businesses and local authorities, British Waterways London is helping to deliver a new sense of place in north London centred on a shared value and importance of the riverside. The River Lee Navigation is being improved to support the development of new homes and businesses.

At Tottenham Hale, proposals are well underway to create a new community and waterside leisure destination with the development of Hale Village and proposals at Hale Wharf. The first phase of Tottenham's new riverside was completed with the arrival of three new commercial barges, styled along traditional lines, which includes a new art gallery. Further along the river, supporting the green open spaces of Tottenham Marshes, new community facilities have been provided which include a meeting room, kayaking base, canoe and cycle hire business and boaters' amenities at Stonebridge Lock.

Lower Lee Valley
In recent years, British Waterways London has led the restoration of 6km of derelict and under utilised waterways, which are now at the heart of the Olympic Park. The new water control structure and the lock at Three Mills has opened up Bow Back Rivers for navigation for the first time in 50 years and will provide a waterway legacy which will enrich the lives of people living and working around the new Olympic Park and Stratford City.

With the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation, we have identified projects which compliment the regeneration of the Lower Lee Valley. Over the next few years, riverside access will be improved through the construction of new bridges and improved towpaths. New businesses, leisure opportunities, education, cultural activities and community projects will reconnect people to the area's rich river heritage.

For more specific information regarding the Olympics and the lock at Three Mills please visit www.britishwaterways.co.uk/olympics

West London
The Grand Union Canal provides an important corridor around the growth of Heathrow, the commitment to Crossrail and major developments at Southall Gas Works and Stockley Park. Following years of under utilisation, this waterway corridor is now being seen as an important transport route and canal frontage for businesses and new homes to use.