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Wednesday 6 May

Today's news from the web

  • Sustainable Transport Manager appointed in London waterscape.com

    British Waterways and Transport for London are pleased to announce the appointment of Kim Milnes, who has taken up the jointly funded role of Sustainable Transport Manager at the waterways authority. ...

  • Canal chapel celebrates its 100th anniversary chesterchronicle.co.uk

    The only tin chapel in Chester marks its 100th anniversary this weekend. ...

  • Kew looks at restoring its riverside splendour - Times Online timesonline.co.uk

    The Times has learnt of plans now being, as it were, floated, for a new river approach — a more elegant dock adjacent to the gardens, and the relandscaping of Kew’s river border. ...

  • Volunteers lead the way in canal heritage project waterscape.com

    British Waterways and Macclesfield Canal Society are applying the finishing touches to a Cheshire waterway heritage project aimed at upgrading the local canalside environment. ...

  • Apollo is ready to return to canal thetelegraphandargus.co.uk

    A waterbus service which used to run between Bingley’s Three Rise Locks and Shipley Wharf is to be reinstated as part of a £300,000 project. ...

  • No Earls Court show this year boatingbusiness.com

    Managing director James Brooke says the Sail Power & Watersports Show won’t run this year. ...

  • Timetable set for Loch canal link dumbartonreporter.co.uk

    A TIMETABLE has been set for the creation of an “iconic” waterway network that will see a canal built allowing boats to sail from the River Clyde right into the heart of Loch Lomond. ...


Friday 1 May

Today's news from the web


Thursday 30 April

Manchester fence - have your say

WW contributor Martin Clark highlights on his Pennine Waterways website that Manchester City Council is considering putting a safety fence in alongside the Rochdale Canal.

The move follows the death of a man who climbed into the canal - but could have worrying implications for all canals in urban areas.

You can submit comments to the City Council website. Pennine Waterways has more details of the proposals.

Richard Fairhurst  | 1.05pm | add a comment

Today's news from the web

  • Leamington towpaths cleaned up leamingtoncourier.co.uk

    Volunteers scrubbed away graffiti and filled 20 bags with rubbish as part of a clean-up before Leamington Canal Festival this weekend. ...

  • Half price tickets for Crick Boat Show waterscape.com

    British Waterways is offering families the chance to cruise their way through the credit crunch with the opportunity to purchase a 1 day family ticket for half price....

  • Canal could bring more business to Droitwich droitwichadvertiser.co.uk

    Town businesses, entrepreneurs and residents were all welcomed to an event promoting how to make the most of the Spa’s multi-million pound canal redevelopment project. ...

  • Safety fence for city centre Rochdale Canal manchestereveningnews.co.uk

    A £200,000 safety fence is to be built at a city centre canal side where a man drowned. ...

  • Canal fall man's death an accident burtonmail.co.uk

    The death of a retired builder who fell into the canal at Willington Marina while trying to change the gas cylinder on his narrowboat was accidental, a coroner has ruled. ...


Wednesday 29 April

BW's new strategy - first details

BW is proposing to become a "third sector organisation" by 2020 - in other words, much more like the National Trust. In BW's words:

"British Waterways, the last remaining part of the British Transport Commission still in public ownership, is proposing that its 200 year old waterway network is moved out of direct state control and into a new 'third sector' or trust organisation within the next 10 years."

But before then, the existing waterway units will be reshaped into smaller ones, which BW says will be "closer to the customers". A layer of management will be removed, resulting in 100 redundancies. The main changes are:
  • "New" Central Shires unit: T&M from Sawley to Stoke, Coventry, Ashby, Soar, GU Leicester-Harborough. Not clear where the office will be.
  • New South Wales & Severn unit: Mon & Brec, Severn, Worc & Birmingham..
  • New Peak & Pennine unit (based in Northwich): Cheshire Ring, Rochdale and Huddersfield Narrow.
  • New Kennet & Avon unit (based in Devizes).
  • North Wales & Borders moves to Chester.
The new strategy will be debated at public meetings throughout 2009. You can read the BW summary on their website.

Key quotes include:

"We propose the start of a gradual migration from the public sector to the voluntary sector"
"It will take up to 10 years to implement"
"Privatisation is not a viable or desirable option for the waterways now, or in the long-term"
"Our property endowment is important to our future success. We will need to retain what we have and, where sensible, extend it... we will need to continue to receive government funding"
"In April last [?] year we began a programme of savings including a restructure... to not only achieve economies of scale but also more responsiveness to local authorities and individual communities" 


The full BW press release is:

British Waterways (BW) is today announcing to staff, customers and stakeholders the results of a major strategic review which it believes will form the basis for the continued renaissance and long-term sustainability of the 2,200 miles of canals and rivers in its care.  The key proposals are to: increase efficiencies; open up new funding and partnership opportunities; create closer links with local communities and; start a gradual move over the next decade towards the waterways achieving a ‘third sector’ trust or charitable status.

As a first step, BW is proposing an internal restructure of its operations in England and Wales with the creation of 11 smaller, ‘hands-on’ waterway units, the removal of a layer of management and, subject to consultation with staff and trade unions, approximately 100 redundancies from office staff.  Together with other planned changes these proposals would enable approximately £10m per annum to be redirected to waterways maintenance.

The newly established 11 waterway units in England and Wales will focus solely on delivering BW’s core maintenance programme to ensure high levels of efficiency and customer service.    Whilst the units will be more evenly balanced in terms of waterway length, number of waterway structures and customer base, the exact boundaries between each will be the subject of a customer consultation.  Certain functions currently carried out in existing waterways units, such as managing moorings, developing partnerships and carrying out major engineering projects, will be undertaken by specialist teams.

In the revised structure, additional focus will be put on working with volunteers and local communities, whilst the creation of a new regeneration directorate will build on the ability of the waterways to kickstart regeneration and contribute to social inclusion.  The directorate’s aim will be to develop new relationships with community stakeholders and funding bodies at both a local and national level.

Robin Evans, BW chief executive, comments: “In the last decade we and our partners have successfully eliminated a massive backlog of safety repairs on our canals and rivers, we have generated record levels of third party and commercial investment, and the network is bigger, busier and in a better shape than for generations.  The waterways are visited by millions of people each year and offer a huge range of public benefits, including leisure, health and wellbeing, flood mitigation, wildlife havens and investment opportunities.  This is an extraordinary change from the 1950s and 1960s when, with the exception of a few enthusiasts, the waterways were largely looked upon as derelict ditches and a public health risk.

“Despite this turnaround the waterways today still face serious challenges.  The global downturn has reduced our ability to earn additional funds for the network, public funding will come under considerable pressure for the foreseeable future and we are already short of the money required to maintain the network properly. 

“With this in mind, our absolute priority must be to maintain investment in the waterways and this means reducing spending elsewhere.  Our proposed new structure will both redirect important funding to essential maintenance work but also make us much more responsive to customers and partners.”  

In the longer term, British Waterways believes the time is right for some fresh thinking about what the waterways mean to Britain and how their sustainable future might be secured.  Next month it will be launching a public debate on the role of Britain’s former industrial canals and rivers, highlighting their considerable modern-day contribution to society and seeking views on its proposals for how they should be used, run and funded in the future.  Central to the debate will be BW’s view that the time is now right to consider the option of changing its structure to turn it, by 2020, into a third sector ‘public interest company’ or trust.  Such a change could: stimulate far greater participation in the waterways by volunteers and other individuals; enhance openness and accountability for communities and waterway users; create opportunities for new sources of income such as grants and donations and; ensure the historic network is held in trust for the nation.  

The waterways are still likely to require public funding some time into the future, however BW believes that in the long term this could evolve from annual deficit funding into a contract with Government.  This would allow BW greater certainty in planning future expenditure and give Government a clearer understanding of the public benefits, such as flood control and public open space, which the waterways deliver. 

Robin continues: “Over the last year, at our Annual Meeting and elsewhere, waterway stakeholders have told us that we should get closer to local authorities and communities and adapt ourselves to be more responsive to volunteers.  Many organisations have shown how this approach can add to their stability, both financially and practically.  I believe that the best way to embrace this is to start the gradual process which could see the ownership structure bring a greater sense of belonging and responsibility to communities and individuals, and eventually move into the third sector.”

Richard Fairhurst  | 2.54pm | 1 comment

Today's news from the web


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