In their application for the grant to pay to turn the Caldon Canal towpath in to a cycle path Derbyshire County Council state, "It is forecast that an additional 12,030 people will be attracted to cycle along the Staffordshire Moorlands Link.....This provides an overall total of 13,827 users of the route per year". http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/images/Pedal%20Peak%20Phase%20II%20-%20DfT%20Bid%20Document_tcm44-224114.pdf The Staffordshire Moorlands Link is the cycle route between Stoke on Trent and the Manifold Trail (Peak District).
In order to withstand that level of use, presumably the towpath repair and resurfacing is going to require some fairly hefty engineering. I can't see how that can be done without causing considerable damage to the canal ecosystem (e.g. a hard-engineered uniform towpath edge replacing the current muddy, uneven, varied boundary between path and water). This will result in an urbanisation of what is essentially a rural area.
Muddy edge of Caldon Canal winter 2012. Heterogeneous soft edges are beneficial for wildlife.
Rather ironically I think, the applicants considered an alternative route to the canal towpath. The other potential route was for the cyclist to travel by road between Stockton Brook and Brown End (where the Manifold trail starts). But they dismissed this route on the grounds that the canal towpath is safer for cyclists. They don't seem to have considered the risks of non-cyclist towpath users being hit by a careless cyclist! And cyclists have to go on the road from Leek to Brown End anyway (of course the disused railway route would avoid roads almost completely, but this wasn't considered).
The document says that the cycle path will be a segregated route, though it does not say how this will be done. I have to say, however it is achieved, there isn't much space to fit in all the potential users of the upgraded towpath. This will be unsatisfactory for both cyclists and pedestrians (as these arrangements always are). I think cyclists are being given a bad deal.
The application also says that it will take about an hour to cycle from S-O-T to the Peak District. Clearly, only the most dedicated and fittest cyclists are going to be able to cycle for an hour, at about 23miles/hr (the route is 23 miles), then continue to cycle around the Peak District, following this with the hour long journey home.
Personally I doubt whether the sort of cyclists who are able to cover such long distances, will want to keep slowing down or stopping whenever an obstacle such as a low bridge, a parent with a push chair, an angler's rod, gets in the way. I suspect they currently do, and will continue to, use the road (they have eventually to get on to the road at Leek in any case).
Improvements to the towpath are necessary. In places it is in a very poor state.
I am sure improving the towpath will increase the number of users of all categories (ramblers, families, anglers, perhaps boaters and local cyclists). But I doubt that the strong, fit experienced cyclist will enjoy the Caldon canal towpath route.
I think that the level of urbanisation that this project will require is unnecessary. I think soft engineering techniques could be used that would be sufficient for the level of traffic that the canal towpath will actually receive. Examples of soft engineering are coir sausages as here http://evidence.environment-agency.gov.uk/FCERM/en/SC060065/MeasuresList/M5/M5T6.aspx?pagenum=2
Soft engineering would cause minimal damage to the canal biodiversity, indeed it may enhance it. And it would be more appropriate to a rural environment.
The Caldon Canal towpath (nearside) at the turning space between Endon and Denford. The reed fringe on the opposite side is the type of habitat in which Sedge Warblers, ducks and fish might breed. In the foreground is tall herb vegetation which will probably be eliminated by the engineering works to upgrade the towpath in to a cycle route.
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