Canalside awaits developments

Bellway Homes have yet to put in a planning application for the British Waterways-owned land behind the Church. Preliminary indications, however, were worrying. Their development seemed to be reverting to the high-density housing familiar elsewhere. True, they envisaged a restaurant and a small square. But this seemed much less imaginative than earlier visions for the site. And since the square would be enclosed by the canal, the back of the church and two blocks of housing, and unconnected with the new bridge, it was unlikely to offer a lively public space.