Boaters' Update April 2011

New era for canals and rivers

On 30 March, the government launched its three-month public consultation into the future of the inland waterways in England and Wales. The consultation sets out the proposals for a new charitable trust to take over the management of the waterways, including how the organisation will be governed and how it will give communities a greater role in looking after their local canals, rivers, reservoirs and docks.

BW’s chairman, Tony Hales, comments: “The consultation is an important step forward in achieving a long held vision among waterway supporters. Having set out our proposals in 2009 for a ‘national trust’ for the waterways, the Minister is embarking upon the biggest shake-up of the waterway governance since nationalisation in 1948.

“Caring for a 200-year old network requires intense management and significant funding. The consultation is an important part of establishing the best framework for the long-term security for our canals and rivers, which harnesses community enthusiasm to deliver local priorities. I would encourage all those who have an interest in the nation’s magnificent former industrial waterway network to take part.”

The consultation document is published at www.defra.gov.uk/consult/2011/03/30/waterways-1103/

Your canal needs you

Two new trial local Waterway Partnerships have been established – to work with and advise local waterway managers and to champion the interests of the canal network in the West Midlands and North West. Together with a third trial already underway on the Kennet & Avon Canal, the Partnerships will work with local BW managers until the new waterways charity becomes fully operational in 2012.

The chairman for each of the new trial Partnerships have been appointed and the hunt is on to find suitable members to fill another seven positions on each of the advisory bodies.

Candidates should be locally based, approachable, team players, credible, knowledgeable and willing to take a lead in one or more of the relevant areas of expertise. They must also be able to commit adequate time to ensure the success of the trial Partnership. The duty of all members of the Partnership will be to act in the best interests of the waterway rather than to represent any particular interests or causes. The aim is to have each of the new Partnerships operational by the end of May 2011.

Peter Mathews CMG has been appointed as chair of the trial Partnership for the West Midlands. Peter said: “The Midlands’ canal system has a great story to tell and I welcome the opportunity to enable people in the West Midlands to have a real say in how these local waterways are run and to support their improvement and development.”

In the North West, Professor Steven Broomhead, is the chair of the trial Partnership. Steven said: “Our canals and rivers are an important part of our heritage and I am looking forward to working with the local waterway manager and the community to rejuvenate the North West waterways and to safeguard their future.”

The deadline for applications to fill the remaining positions on each of the trial Partnerships is 3 May 2011. Interviews will be held in the two weeks beginning 9 and 16 May 2011. All positions will be unpaid, but agreed expenses will be reimbursed.

BW’s chief executive, Robin Evans, comments: “Both Professor Steven Broomhead and Peter Mathews together with the other volunteers on the trial Partnerships will bring great experience and energy and I am extremely grateful to each for offering the waterways their time.

“Subject to the consultation by Defra, each of the existing eleven administrative waterway regions in England and Wales will have Local Partnership Boards appointed by the new charity to guide local decisions. The trials being set-up and chaired by Steven and Peter will provide important lessons ahead of 2012 about the scope of the charity’s Local Partnership Boards and how they should operate.”

For further information on the local Partnership Boards and details about how to apply

Read more about the two new Chairs and trial local Waterway Partnerships

Read Robin’s blog on these important milestones

Crick Boat Show

The country’s biggest inland waterways show is taking place in Crick, Northamptonshire, on 28 – 30 May 2011. As well as a huge range of exhibitors specialising in all things boat-related as well as food, crafts, leisure and arts, there is plenty of entertainment for all the family. Highlights for children include an appearance by Peppa Pig at various intervals on all three-show days, water spheres, a bungee trampoline, go karting and a funfair.

There will also be live cookery demonstrations, a heritage marquee, real ale, wildlife features from The Wildlife Trusts and RSPB, live music (including BBC Radio 2 Folk Award Nominees James Fagen and Nancy Kerr) and a massive £6,000 worth of prizes confirmed so far ranging from moorings to boat batteries and everything in between.

To find out more or to book tickets, or a mooring or camping space, visit www.crickboatshow.com

Waterscape has ten three-day family tickets worth £52 each to give away. For your chance to win visit www.waterscape.com/crick

There are still a few remaining exhibitor spaces left, if you are interested, please call Ian Sharpe on 01283 742977.

Droitwich Canal opening will hit the right note

The long awaited opening of the Droitwich canals, connecting the Worcester & Birmingham Canal to the River Severn, is to take place in the first weekend in July and there’s going to be a packed weekend of celebration to mark the momentous occasion.

The Droitwich Canals Partnership has timed the launch to coincide with the annual Droitwich Music Festival, which takes place over the same weekend.

BW’s senior regeneration manager, Jason Leach said: “The restored canals would bring a major long-term boost to the local economy, attracting more tourists to the area and bringing in more revenue for businesses along the canals. The canal restoration will create a sustainable legacy, providing an ideal opportunity for communities, individuals and interest groups to play an active role in maintaining, developing and improving the waterway corridor.”

Droitwich Canals Trust’s acting chairman, Vaughan Welch said: “Our members and volunteers have made a significant difference not only to the canals, but to local people, the region and to the country.”

The Droitwich Canals Partnership and community groups will announce more details about the programme of events in the coming months.

Read more about the opening of the Droitwich Canals

Reclassified to national cruiseway status

Following the good news last month that the Kennet & Avon Canal is officially classified as having ‘cruiseway’ status, the Scottish Government has also reclassified the Forth & Clyde and Union canals as 'cruising' waterways – illustrating the transformation of each canal and their importance to the local community.

BW Scotland director, Steve Dunlop, says: "This major milestone in the development of the lowland canals is a great testament to all the volunteers and canal enthusiasts who fought so hard to see the canals reopened ten years ago. It will also be welcomed by our many public, private and voluntary sector partners who are working with us on a wide variety of regeneration, tourism and healthy living projects along the Scottish canals which together attract 24m visits each year.

"It is particularly rewarding to see the lowland canals reclassified this year in the midst of a series of tenth anniversary celebrations. This September, we look forward to Forth & Clyde 10, a similar flotilla celebration and, next year, we will mark the tenth anniversary of the completion of the full Millennium Link and the opening of The Falkirk Wheel, which is one of Scotland's leading visitor attractions."

Read more about the reclassification of the Kennet & Avon Canal

Read more about the reclassification of the Lowland Canals

Judgment made in continuous cruising case

BW welcomed the Judgment made in Bristol County Court in which His Honour Deputy Judge O’Malley said he favoured BW’s interpretation of Section 17 of the British Waterways Act 1995 (relating to Continuous Cruising). In doing so, he found that the Defendant, Mr Davies (who lives on his boat), had not complied with the requirements of the 1995 Act and that BW was justified in bringing the legal proceedings against him.

The Judge said: “What is clear to me is that the defendant who is clearly living on the boat cannot successfully claim that he is using it ‘bona fide for navigation’ by moving it every so often up and down a short stretch of canal.”

BW’s head of boating, Sally Ash, comments: “This decision is a great help in bringing greater clarity to a subject which has caused much debate and difficulty within the waterways community. We very much welcome continuous cruising on our canals and rivers and are, as a result of the Learned Judge’s findings, refining our Mooring Guidance. The refined Guidance which is based on professional legal advice, including from Leading Counsel, will be published on BW’s website and we will shortly be inviting representatives of national boating user groups to discuss these.”

Read further details about this continuous cruising case.

‘Buy It Now’ – a new way to purchase a mooring permit

BW is now offering an alternative way to purchase a mooring permit. Using the moorings auction website www.bwmooringvacancies.com, you can use the new ‘Buy It Now’ option to purchase permits on selected moorings with immediate effect. Berths advertised as ‘Buy It Now’ will be available at the guide price (the amount currently being paid by long-standing customers at the site) to those boaters who want to secure a permit at a fixed price for a standard three-year term.

All berths in the ‘Buy It Now’ scheme are existing berths which have not been successfully auctioned as part of the 14-day open auction system. They will be advertised for a 28-day period.

BW’s national moorings manager, Kim Edwards, said: “We hope that providing another way to purchase a permit will be of benefit to those boaters who are uncomfortable with the idea of bidding for a berth in an auction and who would prefer an instant purchase at a fixed price.”

BW boat licence changes for 2011

Revised prices for both three and six-month BW boat licences have been in place since the start of April. Although the cost of each has increased as a proportion of the cost of an annual licence, the new pricing reflects increased administrative costs of issuing and enforcing short-term licences and compares favorably with EA pricing of short-term licences.

Three-month licences are available at 60% of the 12-month price. Six-month licences are available at 85% of the 12-month price. For visiting boats from other navigation authority waters or boats otherwise kept out of the water, a 20% discount is be applied to the three and six-month prices. Visiting boaters also have the option of buying consecutive one-month licences (which can be done easily online).

Sally Ash, BW’s head of boating comments: “An increasing trend for boaters based on BW waters buying consecutive short-term licences in place of a 12-month licence increases BW’s administrative and enforcement costs. For customers whose preference to buy consecutive short-term licences is based on their cash flow, we have extended our instalment payment terms so the cost of an annual licence can be spread evenly over 12 months – which will actually be a cheaper option than previously buying consecutive short-term licences.”

The changes to the cost of BW’s three and six-month licences (as a proportion of the annual licence) has seen prices revert to their pre 2003 proportions. Also, as illustrated by the table below, prices (even before the 20% discount for visiting boats) compare favourably with short term licensing of narrowboats on EA waterways. The six-month BW licence represents even better value.

	Period (days)	12 m boat	18m boat
EA Thames	31	£102.50	£161.00
EA Anglian	31	£128.43	£185.00
3 x EA Thames	c.90	£307.50	£483.00
3 x EA Anglian	c.90	£385.29	£555.00
BW short term one month	c.31	£97.45	£124.65
BW three month	c.91	£351.00	£449.00

Boat checker update

During March, customers reported 39 sightings of unlicensed boats via the BW website. Of these, 6% have subsequently relicensed and a further 51% were already in BW’s enforcement process. 15% resulted in new cases being opened for action, and the remaining 28% were boats which were not identifiable through a valid boat index number but the details have been passed to BW’s enforcement teams for further investigation.

Visit the online boat checker

Putting canals at the heart of our industrial past

As part of English Heritage’s annual Heritage at Risk report, a project is starting to find out how much of the country’s industrial heritage is in danger of neglect, decay or even demolition and to raise the debate about what needs saving and how. English Heritage is looking for any visible reminders of the Industrial Revolution, that great era spanning from 1750 to the First World War when Britain led the world.

As the arteries that fuelled the Industrial Revolution, the nation’s 200-year old canals are some of our most valuable icons of that era. BW is urging everyone who enjoys their local canal to take part in the debate by posting photos and comments onto the Flickr page set up by English Heritage, the Council for British Archaeology and the Association for Industrial Archaeology - www.english-heritage.org.uk/caring/heritage-at-risk/industrial-heritage-at-risk

You can include canal-side restorations or examples of buildings that you love, or, those structures that you feel need a helping hand and a new lease of life to bring them back to their former glory.

BW’s head of heritage, Nigel Crowe, says: “Today many of the nation’s canals are living and working reminders of how Britain became great as an industrial nation.

“BW looks after just 2,200 miles of what was once, at its peak, a waterway network that stretched over 5,000 miles. Whilst many miles of canal were filled-in during the last century, in Britain there are more than 100 local projects underway to rescue, restore and revive lost canals and canal architecture that could benefit from extra help.

“Thankfully, the efforts of these countless waterways campaigners over the past 60 years, and more recently, BW, have ensured that we have this wonderful legacy to cherish today. I would urge people to contribute to this debate not only by highlighting heritage at risk, but by showing what can be done when we work together to celebrate it.”

Since 2004, BW has ensured that more than 100 heritage structures in its ownership have been repaired or been made the subject of management agreements to remove them from local authority Heritage at Risk registers.

Read more about English Heritage’s project and how you can get involved

Stop the spread

Defra has launched a new campaign to help stop the spread of invasive plants and animals, such as the ‘killer shrimp’, in British waters. Invasive non-native species can have a damaging impact on British plants, animals and boats – by spreading disease, competing for habitat and food, direct predation and blocking propellers. Plants that grow profusely can choke waterways while some animals can damage banks – causing significant management costs.

As a water user, you may unknowingly be helping to spread invasive species from one water body to another in equipment, shoes and clothing. Help stop this happening by following three simple steps: Check, Clean, Dry - check your hull for invasive species and empty you bilge pumps before being craned into a new water body, and inspect and clean your hull when dry-docked; and let it dry out before putting it back in the water.

You can help by, where possible, avoiding strands of water plants when cruising and when removing weed from the weed hatch, putting in the bin rather than back in the water.

Find out about how invasive species effect waterways

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Last updated: 14/04/2011