Shedder donated to clear towpath

LOCAL businesses in Banbury were so fed-up of the state of the towpath of the Oxford Canal in Banbury, that they have donated a shredder to a local canal volunteer group so the towpath and surrounding paths can be kept tidy.

A powerful Titan Shredder has been gived by Aberdeen Asset Management, the owner of Castle Quay Shopping Centre in the town to Banbury Canal Partnership so its members can clear away branches and undergrowth on and around the towpath that has been badly neglected, Alan Tilbury reports.

Hard work

It has proven hard work manually removing fallen branches and the like, and the shredder will now make short work of clearing the towpath of debris, making it more attractive and safer for the public.

Colin Garnham-Edge, Chairman of the partnership explained:

“As most of the canal we look after is nowhere near a road, we have to use a small boat to collect all of the branches and logs we cut, and then transport them away from the work site to be shredded. As you can imagine, this is time consuming, which is a real problem when you have limited time from volunteers.

“Now we can do the shredding quickly where we work, saving both time and money. The donation will also have a secondary use as it’s also great for the environment because we can turn these finer shredding fragments into compost.”

With a 15hp engine the shredder can handle branches up to 75mm in diameter, making short work of the branches.