Harlesden Canalside

OPDC's (Client Team) objectives for the Harlesden Canalside project are to

• Explore and demonstrate how the Grand Union Canal and the public open spaces alongside it can become core to the identity and future success of Old Oak and Park Royal. It pilots key principles outlined in the OPDC Canal Placemaking Study, in terms of the ways that the canal can be a valuable, well used amenity for all the surrounding communities to enjoy - workers, boaters, local residents and visitors from further afield - by establishing a critical mass of activities on and alongside the water here.
• Support the boater community to contribute more effectively to the Old Oak and Park Royal area, addressing some of their practical needs by clustering together a range of facilities, and create opportunities for the boater community to interact positively with the workers and residents of Old Oak, Park Royal and the surrounding areas.
• Support the wider communities, including residents, businesses, employees and canal users, and their particular challenges in terms of health and wellbeing, inter-generational divide, unequal access to community and infrastructure and public and green spaces.
• Develop a 'bottom up' project methodology which is focused on using on-site prototyping and collaborative working with the local communities (the future end users) to define the brief and scope of the final capital project, ensuring that it genuinely responds to the site opportunities and local needs/interests.