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News & Media > Waterways Services

15:06:2010

May Gurney congratulates Waterways Renaissance Awards winners

Congratulations to the Lough Neagh Regeneration Programme for its success in the 2010 Waterways Renaissance Awards, sponsored by May Gurney.

The Waterways Renaissance Awards, organised by The Waterways Trust and BURA, seek to recognise and encourage best practice in sustainable waterway development and regeneration. May Gurney is actively involved in the maintenance and upkeep of Britain’s river and canal network, under a long-term contract with British Waterways.

This year, the judging panel made a special award to the Lough Neagh Partnership for the transformation of the lough, an initiative that exemplifies true vision in waterway regeneration.

Situated in the centre of Northern Ireland, Lough Neagh is the largest body of water in the UK. Historically under-utilised, the lough lacked a navigation authority and received little statutory or local authority investment. In 2003 the Lough Neagh Partnership was formed to develop a management strategy for the lough.

Over the past six years the partnership has identified and worked with strategic and local stakeholders to understand the needs of the lough and those of the communities living around its perimeter.

By creating strong relationships with a range of private and public organisations, the partnership has managed a £3.8m regeneration programme, developing more than 140 projects and attracting a further £6.4m of leverage funding which has resulted in increased visitor numbers.

The judging panel said: “The scale and impact of the multidimensional programme is very impressive. It demonstrates the effectiveness and sustainability of a community inspired bottom-up approach to regeneration.”

Click here to read more about the Waterways Renaissance Awards.

Footnote: May Gurney is working under a long-term framework contract with British Waterways for the maintenance and improvement of its canals and rivers. The four-year contract, with a possible two-year extension, is estimated to be worth around £20m per annum, and includes a range of maintenance and improvement activities across approximately 80 to 150 projects each year.