A New Era for England’s Canals and Rivers
We have come a long way since the idea of
transferring England and Wales’ canals and rivers from direct state
control into national trust status was first floated. Since that
House of Commons debate back in May 2009, we have seen a host of
stakeholder meetings, Government consultations and much discussion
amongst waterways stakeholder groups. Not to mention a change
in Government. But all that is now behind us and last week’s
announcement of a £1bn package and the Government’s guarantee on
the pension deficit were excellent news for the Canal and River
Trust. Subject to some last little details and the passing of the
Transfer Order through Parliament, the Trust should be open for
business from June.
A number of people have put in a lot of work over the last three
years to ensure that the industry has been fully represented on
this issue. Experienced people, from our inland associations,
came together to agree our policy and approach to the future of our
inland waterways. This has enabled us to present one united
industry view and to robustly lobby Government Ministers, MP’s,
DEFRA officials, BW senior management and, more recently, the CRT
Interim Trustees. The Government announcement shows that our
voice has been heard. All our areas of concern have been
addressed in the contract with Government and funding
package.
You could say though that the really hard work starts now. The
Trust needs everyone who has an interest in the future of these
canals and rivers to come together and get involved in delivering
the Trust’s plans. At a local level, the Waterways Partnerships
offer an excellent opportunity for BMF members to get involved, and
I would urge anyone with an interest to look at that option
further, to get in touch with my team (email Andrew Harries
aharries@britishmarine.co.uk)
to find out more about what is involved. For my part, I am
delighted that, alongside BMF member Nigel Stevens of Shire
Cruises, I have been nominated by our inland members to stand for
election to the Canal and River Trust Council. Nigel has over 40
years experience of canals and running a waterside business and has
been the BMF representative on the British Waterways Advisory Forum
for many years. Together with my 20 years of representing the
inland industry, Nigel and I believe we can serve the industry’s
interests well on the CRT Council and we hope we can count on your
vote.
If you would like full details of the funding
package for the Canal and River Trust, more information is
available on the DEFRA website
here. If you would like to get more involved with the Trust’s
work, you can get more information and register your interest on
the Waterscape
website. Or if you just want to know more about how the BMF
will be working alongside the new Trust, drop us a line on
governmentrelations@britishmarine.co.uk