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Tuesday 20 September

Recruiting starts for waterways partnerships

As the deadline looms next spring for the formation of the new waterways charity (NWC) in England and Wales, the Transition Appointments Committee has appealed for qualified people to put themselves forward to chair its 13 new waterways partnerships. 

The partnerships are designed to let local people have a greater say in how their canals and rivers are run, developing strategies and plans to increase local participation in the waterways.
 
Each of the eleven administrative areas of the waterways network will require a chair and a partnership board in place by April 2012.  Two more partnerships will run the waterways museums and ‘all-Wales’ issues.  

Chairs are now being sought for the Manchester & Pennine, North Wales & Borders, South Wales & Severn, Kennet & Avon and the all-Wales partnerships. The existing trial Kennet & Avon partnership is included in this first round to confirm its position and bring the appointment into the recruitment process agreed by the transition appointments committee.  This round will also include a review of the existing trial partnerships in the West Midlands and North West with a view to releasing them from their trial status, and a museums partnership will be set up as the successor to The Waterways Trust museums management board.
 
Recruitment of chairs for the five remaining partnerships (North East, Central Shires, East Midlands, South East and London) will start in January. 
 
The Transition Appointments Committee selecting these chairs are Roger Clarke and Dinah Nichols (members of the Defra Advisory Panel on First Appointments and Transition) and two transition trustees, Lynne Berry and Tom Franklin.  They will be aided by Roger Hanbury, chief executive of The Waterways Trust, and local waterway managers.

“The Waterways Partnerships are integral to the stewardship and development of the waterways within each Partnership area”, said Roger Hanbury.  “They shape the strategies and plans for each waterway, guide decisions about spending, and help develop external funding and volunteering.  They will champion the interests of the waterways at a political level, with business, and with the community and develop action plans for local engagement and participation.”

Once the chairs are in place, they will work with Roger Hanbury and the local waterway managers to select further members of each partnership. Each chair will serve for three years and need to commit 4-6 days each month. The posts are unpaid, but agreed expenses will be reimbursed. 

Role descriptions and application details can be found at www.britishwaterways.co.uk/working-for-us and www.thewaterwaystrust.org.uk/about-us/jobs.

Andrew Denny  | 11.51am

Today's news from the web

  • 999-signature petition opposing wind turbine close to Rushall Canal birminghammail.net

    Worried residents have stepped up their campaign against a wind turbine in a Walsall beauty spot close to their homes – by handing councillors a 999-signature petition. The 40m mast and 57m-diameter rotor planned for College Farm in Bosty Lane, close to Rushall Canal has upset neighbours, who claim it will be an eyesore in beautiful green belt land and create an almighty din....

  • In search of Sheffield quay sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk

    “It's nice here. It’s peaceful,” said Sarah Whiteley after her tour of Victoria Quays/Sheffield canal basin last Saturday. The event was part of the English Heritage Heritage Open Days weekend in Sheffield, which saw well over a dozen volunteer-led events aiming to allow visitors into local places of historical and architectural interest, including buildings often not open to the public. Last year’s event attracted over a million visitors around the country....

  • Staines name-change to be run past residents bbc.co.uk

    The plan to rename Staines as 'Staines upon Thames', in order to promote the town and end negative perceptions, could be run past local residents and businesses. Spelthorne council's cabinet will vote on whether to hold a consultation next week, after which a vote on the name change would be held in December. They hope the new name will make the town seem 'green and pleasant'. Business leaders staged a boat trip along the 'Staines Riviera' on Tuesday....

  • New floating Thames pier opens at Vauxhall bbc.co.uk

    A £1.7m floating pier has opened in south London to help provide high-speed river boat services west of Waterloo. The pier, based at St George Wharf in Vauxhall, will open the west of the River Thames to passengers for the first time in two decades. From 3 October, a service will run every 40 minutes from St George Wharf to the City and Canary Wharf....

  • 200 year anniversary of ‘important’ North Walsham canal edp24.co.uk

    A group of enthusiasts gathered on 14th September at the King’s Arms in North Walsham to celebrate a landmark anniversary - the 200th anniversary of the meeting to create what would become Norfolk's only canal. The North Walsham and Dilham canal is now undergoing a rejuvenation as volunteers work to restore the waterways which have slowly been overtaken by nature....


Monday 19 September

Today's news from the web

  • Love for Broads inspires chaplain's mission networknorwich.co.uk

    The Rev Briant Smith's visit to the Norfolk Broads when he was 13 inspired a long-lasting love affair with the area. Now, more than 50 years later, the former biologist, who has retired from the Methodist circuit, is putting his unique stamp on the magical waterways that have become his 'parish'....

  • Injured marines to crew Olympics canal waterbuses bbc.co.uk

    Royal Marines injured in Afghanistan are to crew [canal] boats that will ferry visitors to and from the Olympic Park in east London next year. The servicemen will take command of 26 waterbuses during the 2012 Games and be offered businesses opportunities using the boats once the event is over....

  • Cam boaters' anger over 'ridiculous' new licence charges cambridge-news.co.uk

    Boaters on the Cam say proposed new charges are “ridiculous”. Camboaters, which champions the rights of residential boat owners in Cambridge, says a financial survey being run by the Conservators of the River Cam is the latest in a line of consultations that has ignored their input. They also say the Cam Conservancy Licence is the most expensive in the country in terms of cost per mile of waterway, at £77 per mile....

  • Daventry Town Council refuses offer to join Daventry Canal Trust daventrycanal.org.uk

    Daventry Town Counci has turned down an invitation from the Daventry Canal Association to become members and trustees of the proposed Daventry Canal Trust, which DCA was hoping to set up in partnership with the local councils, British Waterways, landowners and other interested local organisations to help ensure that the proposed canal is developed in the best interests of the local community....


Sunday 18 September

Today's news from the web

  • Spall and his barge Matilda banned from Thames Festival thisislondon.co.uk

    Actor Timothy Spall is locked in a dispute with the organisers of the annual Thames Festival. The star, 54, and his wife Shane wanted to take their 52ft Dutch barge Princess Matilda to the event this weekend. But Mrs Spall accidentally registered the vessel online as a battleship....

  • Twenty six-tonne boat pulled down Regent's Canal bbc.co.uk

    A group of volunteers has tugged a 26-tonne canal boat from Bow to Islington in London to raise funds for charity. Sixteen people tugged the vessel for three miles down the Regent's Canal as part of the Victims Support Great Narrowboat Challenge. The volunteers, who all work for a gym company, took about two hours to complete the challenge....

  • Hotel Cipriani offers kayak trips of Venice canals ft.com

    Kayaking around the city [Venice] isn’t revolutionary – small groups have taken part in kayaking trips here for the past three years – but a new excursion launched this summer by the Cipriani Hotel, haunt of A-listers, oligarchs and modern-day grand tourists, gives the adventure a five-star polish....


Saturday 17 September

Today's news from the web

  • Greenwich tall ships spectacular planned for Dutch invasion greenwich.co.uk

    A spectacular flotilla of tall ships will arrive in Greenwich next year as part of Sail Royal Greenwich. The Dutch organisers unveiled their plans to paint the town orange yesterday at a press launch on board De Wylde Swan – the world’s largest two mast topsail schooner. As the tall ship set off from North Greenwich Pier, the team behind Sail Royal Greenwich – who were also involved in the staging of SAIL Amsterdam – put forward their vision for next summer, describing it as a chance to “get in touch with the Dutch.”...

  • Woman dies after falling from Chester City Walls chesterchronicle.co.uk

    A woman has plunged 60ft to her death from Chester City Walls on to the canal towpath. Emergency services were called to Northgate Street shortly after 11am on Friday after members of the public saw her fall from the walls close to the antiquarian bookshop. The woman, who is from Chester and believed to be in her 40s, was pronounced dead at the scene....

  • Bumpy start for speed humps as Regent's Canal towpath cyclists give them a miss islingtontribune.com

    Measures to slow down speeding cyclists on narrow towpaths along the Regent’s Canal in Islington were branded “virtually useless” by campaigners for safe walking this week. The speed humps installed by British Waterways do, however, have one unintended consequence: they present major obstacles for disabled people in wheelchairs or on mobility scooters....

  • Pocklington Canal restoration bid wins local backing yorkpress.co.uk

    Work to clear miles of overgrown canal near Pocklington and link it with the region’s historic waterways could begin next year. A study into restoring the abandoned section of Pocklington Canal, between Canal Head and Melbourne, has been given overwhelming support by local people. Heritage expert Marion Blockley has been asked to complete the report by British Waterways and the Leader Waterways Partnership....


Friday 16 September

IWA briefing for politicians highlights ‘£40m funding gap’

The Inland Waterways Association has issued a briefing paper for MPs and local politicians, identifying a massive £40 million ‘gap’ in funding the waterways.  The paper is a result of the public consultation on the Government’s plans to move the waterways to a new waterways charity (NWC), and comes as a six-week further consultation on way in which the move takes place.

IWA says that to make the move to a charity a success, it is critical that the NWC is properly funded from the start, and makes several practical suggestions on how to fill the gap.

The briefing paper calls Defra’s plans ‘a fragile entity’, and identifies five key issues it believes the government should fund, namely:

• Taking on the past service pension liabilities of British Waterways.

• Provide a ‘transition fund’ to cover the costs for a successful  launch of the Charity and the costs of promoting local involvement.

• Index-linking the funding.

• Provide certainty of funding beyond the ten years initially proposed.

• Funding the cost of bridge repairs, which has risen exponentially.  This is because much of BW’s existing property comprises bridges and tunnels over 200 years old, most of them at least Grade II listed, so BW is compelled to maintain them to heritage standards.

Clive Henderson, IWA National Chairman, said: “The All-Party Parliamentary Waterways Group has supported the IWA’s concerns over insufficient funding, the consensus being that we are at least £40 million a year short. We are pleased that there now seems to be an acknowledgement from Government that this is still open for negotiation with the new trustees.”

Andrew Denny  | 5.43pm

Rimmer gets 2 1/2 years

Ed Rimmer of Challenger Syndicateships was sentenced to 2 1/2 years (30 months) at Worcester Crown Court Friday 9th September, for 18 counts of fraud, amounting to £536,000. The judge described the crimes as “a planned and sophisticated form of fraud over a considerable time”.

The offences took place between 2003 and 2008, and were carried out by Challenger Syndicateships, and Challenger Syndicateships Ltd, both companies owned by Rimmer and his late wife Gill. They included misappropriation of funds from shared ownership syndicates, and multiple selling of sponsored narrowboats to more than one party, with amounts ranging from £20,000 to £95,000.

The judge described the offences as an abuse of the confidence and trust people had placed in Rimmer, a former member of the British Marine Federation's National Boat Shows board, with many of the victims knowing him for many years, and several of them being retired, with the lost funds representing a major portion of their income. As a result of their losses some had had to re-mortgage their houses, and had suffered depression and devastation.

The original claims from over 20 parties after the companies went into administration in 2008 amounted to more than £1.5m, but the Crown Prosecution Service decided to prosecute on the basis of only the proportion of them necessary to achieve a custodial sentence, with another 17 charges brought against Rimmer left to lie on file.

The Crown will also apply for a Confiscation Order under the Proceeds of Crime Act, which will enable them to pursue any assets or funds that Rimmer may acquire or that may be discovered in the future.

The failure of Challenger followed the earlier failure of Rimmer’s previous company, Black Prince Narrowboats, which went into administration in 1987, subsequently being successfully relaunched and renamed under new management.

Andrew Denny  | 1.53pm

Today's news from the web

  • Fresh hopes for a Diglis Basin crossing worcesternews.co.uk

    There are still faint hopes that a new footbridge can be built over Diglis Basin, Worcester, to link homes and businesses. Ever since work started on regenerating the Diglis area there have been plans to install a new bridge over Lock Two near to the point where the Worcester-Birming-ham canal joins the river Severn. Work on the bridge has never really got off the ground, but talks are now being arranged. ...


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