THE Royal Canal, completed 200 years ago, should be developed as a significant public amenity for recreation and tourism, according to a study published today.
Adequate water should be provided to ensure navigability, it says, adding that the canal should also be recognised as a "nationally important industrial archaeological monument" under the National Monuments Acts.
The study, commissioned by the waterways division of the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, recommends appointing a project manager to oversee a strategy to reopen the canal to navigation by the year 2000.
Detailed development and conservation proposals are put forward for the Royal Canal corridor stretching from Spencer Dock on the Liffey to Allen Bridge in Kilcock, Co Kildare, by the consultants, RPS Cairns.
One of the fundamental objectives of their study is to encourage the participation of community groups living adjacent to the canal in its development, in collaboration with statutory bodies, and the private sector.
It is estimated that a total of 450,000 people live in areas immediately surrounding the Royal Canal corridor between Dublin and Kilcock, and the study says they should be given a sense of "ownership" in protecting this amenity.
In general it says the development of the Royal Canal would enhance communities along its length through its use for walking, fishing, boating, canoeing and education, as well as the potential to create jobs.
However, it warns that the integrity of the canal corridor could be compromised by the potential expansion of Leixlip, Kilcock and Maynooth, and says this would need to be controlled to protect the canal's rural character.
The broad aim of the study is to provide a physical planning framework for the revitalisation of the canal corridor, which the consultants say should be fully reopened to navigation. Deemed redundant, it was closed down by CIE in 1961.
"Plans for a proposed new lifting bridge at Newcomen junction should be implemented, thereby allowing unimpeded navigation from Spencer Dock to Mullingar. This would facilitate cruising tourism on the canal," it says.
"The value of the canal for pleasure and tourism boating should be further enhanced by the provision of safe moorings. Ideally, these should be provided at Spencer Dock as part of an overall redevelopment programme for the area.
According to the consultants, the feasibility of developing the run down Spencer Dock area for housing and services should be investigated fully by CIE and the Custom House Docks Development Authority.
"Existing potential infill sites elsewhere in the canal corridor provide opportunities for small to medium scale residential or commercial development [and] these should be identified and monitored for planning purposes."
The study cites a proposed four storey residential development on the derelict Dakota printing works near Cross Guns Bridge. However, this was turned down on the basis that it might compromise the security of Mountjoy Prison.
A comprehensive programme of fish restocking is also recommended, involving the fisheries boards in collaboration with angling clubs, the Royal Canal Amenity Group and the Office of Public Works, which now owns the canal.
A similar corridor study, concentrating on the semicircular stretch of the Grand Canal in Dublin, was completed last year by consultants, Brady Shipman Martin.
