WHAT has happened to the revival of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal? In the late 1980s, the "rediscovery" of the waterway prompted a multi-million-pound programme of investment in the derelict land and buildings that lined its banks.

Imaginative renovations schemes such as Eanam Wharf in Blackburn breathed new economic life into buildings that had stood empty and derelict for decades.

Lancashire County Council brought together a consortium of local authorities to make a concerted effort to restore the canal to its former glory.

With research showing that a corridor of land alongside the canal was among the most deprived and derelict in Europe, councillors put aside political and geographical differences to assemble the most ambitious economic development initiative seen in the UK.

And, for a while, it worked. An estimated £300 million of investment was attracted to canalside schemes in Lancashire. European and UK Government grants flowed into East Lancashire to pump prime schemes for industrial and commercial property, leisure, retail, housing and environmental projects.

The then Blackburn Borough Council was an enthusiastic supporter of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Corridor Project. Its Blackburn Waterside initiative brought in more than £30 million of private investment to some of the town's most run-down areas.

Hyndburn, Burnley and Pendle Councils all developed their own schemes designed to create new jobs and improve the environment. Some projects were over-ambitious - remember Hyndburn's Zeri project to create a "winter wonderland" holiday resort on the site of Huncoat Power Station. Many achieved their ambitions, like the redevelopment of a derelict corn mill in Appleby Street, Blackburn, which is flourishing as Daisyfield Business Centre.

Today, it would appear that our town planners have once again turned their backs on the "cut". The Leeds and Liverpool Canal Corridor Project lost its way in the early 1990s, the victim of behind-the-scenes political squabbling, the development of out-of-town business parks and a shake-up in the way Government grants were awarded.

The "competition culture" introduced under the last Conservative Government and perpetuated by Labour, which had councils fighting each other for handouts, has not helped. All of a sudden, innovation was the name of the game and councils had to come up with new ideas for economic development. Tried and tested projects like the Leeds and Liverpool Canal no longer qualified for the big grant prizes.

Regrettably, the politicians left behind an incomplete job. Large parts of East Lancashire still stand decaying and derelict, much of it close to the canal. Fine old buildings are left empty, not afforded the dignity they deserve.

While other parts of the North West have belatedly made their own waterways a focus for economic renewal, East Lancashire is now doing very little.

Hyndburn Borough Council was awarded a £282,000 grant this year to renovate a canalside warehouse dating back to the 1830s. Small-scale environmental improvements are still taking place through agencies such as Groundwork. British Waterways, the Government agency that manages the canal network, has begun a study into redevelopment opportunities alongside the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

But what is missing is a concerted drive to redevelop the canal corridor. The public-private sector partnerships that started the job must be brought back together. You only need to visit Manchester and Salford to see what can be achieved if you have a strategy and the political will to carry it out.