Plans Approved

Harlesden Canalside gets the go ahead!

After a long slog, planning permission has been granted for the development at Harlesden Canalside, meaning that improvements to our facilities at Harlesden, NW10 will now happen.

What will happen?

There is a lot more to the development at Harlesden Canalside, other than the facilities for The Sharks. The Old Oak Common and Park Royal Development Corporation, are investing in improvements along teh stretch of the canal we use, making it better place to walk, to sit and enjoy the environment in the green corridor created by the Canal. Full details can be found here.


For The Sharks it will mean:

  • A second container to store more kit, enabling us to do more activities more often.
  • A walkway and steps down to the canal from the containers, making access to the water easier, the sloped access will be retained so that the canal is accessible to all.
  • A floating pontoon will be installed in the canal at the base of the base of the steps, this will make it easier to get on the water and to get going. It will be clean and nettle free, it will also ensure that boats cannot moor up blocking our access.
  • An area of the carpark will be pained (red, with a Shark on it if we get our way) and will become a safe area for us to prepare for paddling.
  • Provision will be made for the Young Brent Foundation Boat to be moored near by, providing us with other facilities (somewhere to change, to sit and get drinks.)

This will be a big step forward, but is only part of our long-term plan to secure permanent facilities. We would like to thank the staff of the Old Oak Common and Park Royal Development Corporation for their ongoing support and imagination in making this happen.

When?

The most important question of all, we hope a soon as possible, we know the OPDC people are on teh case, we have had onsite conversations with them and the money is already there, and contracts are being placed, the design work has already been done.

All work should be completed by the end of the financial year (March 2023) so ready for a launch at Easter 2023.

In the mean time, we need to plan our future and we want to hear from you, we want your input into what The Sharks should be doing, we want to hear from groups and individuals that would be interested in getting involved. We want to create a mass participation paddlesports club in the heart of Harlesden/Park Royal, NW10.

Help us do it by getting in touch, call us on 07951 770241 or email: sprint@thesharks.org.uk.

Published 30th September 2022