Boaters' Update September 2011

An open letter from the Waterways Minister

Richard Benyon MP, Minister for Inland Waterways in England and Wales, has confirmed his intention to proceed with the move of British Waterways’ canals and rivers in England and Wales into the charitable sector. In an open letter published on Waterscape he outlines gratitude to the organisations and individuals who submitted responses to the recent public consultation on the charity move – evidence he believes of the commitment and enthusiasm that people have for the waterways. As a result of the consultation, several improvements to the proposals have been recommended. This includes the shape and form of the Council which will represent waterway users, as well as the Waterways Partnerships which will give people a greater role in how their local canals and rivers are run. An improved draft of the charity’s purposes is available at www.defra.gov.uk/consult/files/110912-waterways-summary-responses.pdf.

This month a supplementary consultation paper was published on certain aspects of the proposed Transfer Order for transferring the functions of BW in England and Wales to a New Waterways Charity and for making consequential provision in Scotland. The consultation is open until 24 October 2011 and can be found at www.defra.gov.uk/consult/2011/09/12/waterways-1109. The Waterways Minister hopes that many of those who gave their views the first time round will also respond to this consultation. A response will be issued later in the year.

Read the full open letter from the Waterways Minister

Chairs sought for Waterways Partnerships

Following confirmation from the Waterways Minister to proceed with the move to charitable status in England and Wales, the charity is looking for exceptional volunteers to chair the new Waterways Partnerships that will give people a greater role in the management of their local canals and rivers. Each of the eleven administrative areas of the waterways network will have a volunteer Chair and Partnership Board up and running by April 2012. There will be two further Partnerships for the waterways museums and All-Wales issues.

Chairs are being recruited before Christmas for Manchester & Pennine, North Wales & Borders, South Wales & Severn, Kennet & Avon and the All Wales Partnerships. Chairs for the partnerships in the North East, Central Shires, East Midlands, South East and London will be recruited in a second round starting in January.

The Transition Appointments Committee is recruiting the Chairs on behalf of the NWC. The Committee comprises Roger Clarke and Dinah Nichols, who are members of the Defra Advisory Panel on First Appointments and Transition, and two transition trustees, Lynne Berry and Tom Franklin. They will be working with Roger Hanbury, Chief Executive of The Waterways Trust, and local waterway managers to recruit Chairs for the Local Partnerships.

See more details about the Waterways Partnerships

You can find further details about the role at www.britishwaterways.co.uk/working-for-us.

BW’s winter stoppages programme

The scheduling of this year’s winter stoppages has benefited from more direct input from boaters this year and the full programme (2011/12) is now available on Waterscape at www.waterscape.com/stoppages. If you have any questions regarding specific stoppages please contact the local waterway office directly. Contact numbers can be found at www.britishwaterways.co.uk/contact-us. Any necessary updates to stoppage details will be made as soon as known. The stoppage maps will be updated on two occasions over the winter stoppage period in early November 2011, immediately as the stoppage season goes live and in early January 2012, to capture any known weather-related impacts.

Take a closer look at canal open days

Following the success of last year’s winter works open days, BW is once again opening up a number of stoppages across the country for the public to get a behind-the-scenes look at the work that goes into keeping the canals open.

This winter, the national maintenance programme will include the replacement of over 100 handcrafted British oak lock gates. As well as giving the public access to a number of lock gate replacements across the country, the open days will also give an inside look at the creation of the gates at Stanley Ferry workshop in Yorkshire. Each bespoke lock gate is hand-crafted by a highly skilled team of carpenters and made from sustainably sourced British oak. A single lock gate weighs on average 3.6 tonnes and can take up to 20 days to make.

This year’s winter works are being sponsored by May Gurney. Eddie Quinn, framework manager for BW at May Gurney said: “We are incredibly proud to play our part in British Waterways’ essential work to preserve Britain’s canal network.

“Repairing and maintaining the canal network is a painstaking task, which requires traditional materials and methods to be used to preserve this vital part of the UK’s heritage. However, the canal network is more than just a historical monument, it’s also a vital wildlife refuge and well-loved leisure resource.”

Open days are taking place across England and Wales between October and March. For more information, visit www.waterscape.com/canalopendays.

Licence fees from April 2012

All boat licence fees will increase by 6.4% from April 2012. This is in line with the announcement published in November 2010 which indicated that, for the following three years, an increase of 2% above the prevailing consumer prices index would apply. BW’s board approved the increase based on the Government’s July 2011 consumer price index, which showed inflation running at 4.4%. Gold licence fees are calculated as a weighted average of EA and BW increases. The EA has yet to determine its fees for 2012 but has recommended that the Gold licence should increase by the same amount as BW fees. If EA’s 2012 increase turns out to be significantly less or more than 6.4%, an adjustment will be made to the Gold fee for 2013.

Boat checker update

During August, customers reported 77 sightings of unlicensed boats via the BW website. Of these, 16% have subsequently relicensed and a further 40% were already in BW’s enforcement process. 22% resulted in new cases being opened for action, and the remaining 22% 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

Winter moorings

BW is again promoting the concept of winter moorings for boaters without a home mooring of their own. ‘Bona fide navigation’ can be tough when the weather gets bad, so having somewhere to tie up confidently for several months can be a real benefit. Private mooring operators are listed on waterscape – navigate to ‘in your area’ and use the left hand menu to find boating and moorings. Up to 50% of the length of many BW visitor moorings are being allocated for winter moorings and permits will go on sale on 17 October at approx. 3pm – go to www.bwmooringvacancies.com/winter-moorings.php.

Proposed mooring plan for Lee & Stort Navigations

BW has published an update following the public consultation on proposals to introduce a new moorings management plan for the River Lee, River Stort and the Hertford Union Canal. The plan was initiated by the need to manage the 40 per cent increase in boat mooring in the area over the past four years.

Having reviewed all the consultation responses, BW has decided to shelve its previous proposals in order to explore the potential of a new model for managing demand on the rivers. Following feedback from waterway users and local authorities, the organisation wants to explore the potential for establishing a new facilitating body, such as a social enterprise, to help achieve a more sustainable model for residential boating on the Lee and Stort Navigations.

BW will now hold discussions with stakeholder representatives to gauge support for this direction of travel and to develop the outline of an action plan. It is hoped that early progress will be made on the development of a code of conduct for boaters without a home mooring. This winter, BW will be offering winter mooring permits at five locations between Stonebridge and Hertford. Details will be published shortly at www.bwmooringvacancies.co.uk.
Read more about the proposed mooring plan for Lee & Stort Navigations.
Read more about the consultation and BW’s response.

Plan ahead for your Olympic boating summer

BW is urging you to plan ahead to make sure you can continue to enjoy London’s waterways next summer, when restrictions to navigation and use of the waterways will be put in place during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

BW’s waterway manager, Jon Guest said: “While we understand that the suspension to mooring and the restrictions on travelling by boat along the River Lee Navigation are going to cause disruption to some users during summer 2012, working with the security organisations and police, we think that this is a fair and sensible way to help ensure the safety of all visitors to the Olympic Games.”

Met Police Commander Bob Broadhurst, in charge of the Met’s safety and security operation for the Games, said: “Together with our partners we have been in discussion with BW about how we can best protect the Olympic Park during the Games. These measures are being put in place due to the specific geography of this area and how close the canal is to the Olympic Park. We recognise that these restrictions will impact on boaters, and we have worked to find a solution that will ensure the majority of the waterways remain open and to minimise disruptions.”

If you wish to pre-book a passage through the restricted area on the River Lee Navigation email olymoorings@britishwaterways.co.uk or call 0207 985 7200. Boaters should book at least one week in advance of their intended travel date.
Read full details about the restrictions.

Keep up to date with the latest information about mooring in and around central London during summer 2012 at www.waterscape.com/londonboats2012.

Thank you to our volunteer web testers

Following last month’s boaters’ update we’ve heard from a huge number of readers who have volunteered their time to take a look at the plans for our new website. We’re incredibly grateful to everyone who got in touch and we’re expecting to have something ready to view over the next month. For the latest updates on the progress of the new charity website take a look at the waterscape editor’s blog.

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Last updated: 29/09/2011