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ditchcrawler

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11 minutes ago, agg221 said:

I found it an interesting video. I would like to see more of the financial breakdown of where the budget is coming from to address the stated maintenance - is it already built in (like politicians re-announcing the same money) or is it by reallocation, and if so from what.

 

One figure I would like to see a breakdown for is the contribution from boaters as it struck me as surprisingly low. The video includes a statement that the government contribution of £52M is 25% and that the owners of the 35,000 boats contribute 20%. That works out to £41.6M. I had presumed an average of approximately £1,000/boat, totalling £35M but the higher fees for hire boats, trading boats and most significantly letting of moorings does not add up to as much as I had thought it would. I will await the annual report with interest.


Alec

 

All you need do is to look at the annual accounts, which have been published for some time - there is all of the information you request presented in various different ways.

You may find it of interest thaT C&RTs income from water licences (fees for extraction and discharge) and utilities is not much less than all of the boating activities added together.

C&RTs 'boating income' was previously much higher, but they sold off all their marinas a couple of years ago so that affected both their income and bottom line.

 

 

Screenshot (703).png

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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32 minutes ago, agg221 said:

 

One figure I would like to see a breakdown for is the contribution from boaters as it struck me as surprisingly low. The video includes a statement that the government contribution of £52M is 25% and that the owners of the 35,000 boats contribute 20%. That works out to £41.6M. I had presumed an average of approximately £1,000/boat, totalling £35M but the higher fees for hire boats, trading boats and most significantly letting of moorings does not add up to as much as I had thought it would. I will await the annual report with interest.

Boat licence income was £21.3m. I couldn't immediately see the number of licenced boats in the report.Screenshot_20211114-144018_Word.jpg.1c205641e9e48efc57a66907f0310e06.jpg

Everyone with a licence at the beginning of the pandemic was given a month's free licence, so that will have depressed the licence income.

Edited by David Mack
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"over the next few years the scale of our infra-structure works will increase steadily to unprecedented levels" said as pictures of the Rishton collapse show contractors working merrily away on repairs.

 

Since then at least seven notices cancelling winter stoppages due to costs arising from emergency repairs - like Rishton?

 

Fine words - didn't last long though.

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What else can they do,?

They need to roll out workload, set targets, be positive, then fix the emergency works within  total budget. 

 

However, I think they need to get a grasp of commercial working practices, just watched them faff about till lunch time then set off half a mile to cut a few trees,, finish about 4.00 pm, three people, one truck, one workboat, unfortunately for them I was tied up right behind them, and asked the guy on board what was happening, at 08.15, no movement till 12.45, apparently they were charging the batteries?

I asked them to drop me off some logs instead of taking them home like they did on Sunday! I thought it was standard practice, obviously not round here. 

 

 

Edited by LadyG
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30 minutes ago, LadyG said:

What else can they do,?

They need to roll out workload, set targets, be positive, then fix the emergency works within  total budget. 

 

However, I think they need to get a grasp of commercial working practices, just watched them faff about till lunch time then set off half a mile to cut a few trees,, finish about 4.00 pm, three people, one truck, one workboat, unfortunately for them I was tied up right behind them, and asked the guy on board what was happening, at 08.15, no movement till 12.45, apparently they were charging the batteries?

I asked them to drop me off some logs instead of taking them home like they did on Sunday! I thought it was standard practice, obviously not round here. 

 

 

They were probably volunteers doing the work in their own time, did you make them a pot of tea?

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11 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

They were probably volunteers doing the work in their own time, did you make them a pot of tea?

Lol, no they weren't volunteers, I doubt vols are allowed to cut logs, drive boats and vans.

I did think about offering to drive the boat, but my licence has expired, ditto driving licence. There is a tea room for staff at the office nearby. 

Not seen any vlockies since BST. 

Edited by LadyG
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5 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Lol, no they weren't volunteers, I doubt vols are allowed to cut logs, drive boats and vans.

I did think about offering to drive the boat, but my licence has expired, ditto driving licence. There is a tea room for staff at the office nearby. 

Not seen any vlockies since BST. 

Most boat moves are done by the volunteer boat moving team and as long as you have done the required assessment you can cut logs and use a chipper.

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10 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

Most boat moves are done by the volunteer boat moving team and as long as you have done the required assessment you can cut logs and use a chipper.

Somehow they just did not look like vlockies, I don't think they had lifejackets, they seemed to have different jackets. I'll ask them tomorrow when I walk up to collect a few logs for myself!

I could ask if I they need more vols, keep my hand in on the boat, and I'm stuck in this area for months, December, Xmas, new year, Jan, Feb, Easter!!!!!! 

Edited by LadyG
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1 hour ago, Midnight said:

"over the next few years the scale of our infra-structure works will increase steadily to unprecedented levels" said as pictures of the Rishton collapse show contractors working merrily away on repairs.

 

Since then at least seven notices cancelling winter stoppages due to costs arising from emergency repairs - like Rishton?

 

Fine words - didn't last long though.

At least he hasnt got Peppa Pig working on the signage team,  or Lenin on the Sustainability focus group.

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1 hour ago, MtB said:

 

They will probably tell you they do it "the usual way"...

 

I'd give you odds on 90% of boaters don't dry logs for a year before burning them. Of course they burn better and less smoky if you do. But by the smoke pouring out of wood burning boat chimbleys, pretending that anyone really bothers is daft. And the ash goes in the canal or the hedge. It's amazing how many people on this forum never do anything untoward, ever...

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2 hours ago, LadyG said:

Lol, no they weren't volunteers, I doubt vols are allowed to cut logs, drive boats and vans.

I did think about offering to drive the boat, but my licence has expired, ditto driving licence. There is a tea room for staff at the office nearby. 

Not seen any vlockies since BST. 

There was a thread on here earlier where one of those chain saw wielding boat handlers saying how they were having to clear the towpath side and not the offside as usual.  Popaloo | Portable Toilets - Unique, Compact & Eco Friendly 

Edited by ditchcrawler
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5 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I'd give you odds on 90% of boaters don't dry logs for a year before burning them. Of course they burn better and less smoky if you do. But by the smoke pouring out of wood burning boat chimbleys, pretending that anyone really bothers is daft. And the ash goes in the canal or the hedge. It's amazing how many people on this forum never do anything untoward, ever...

That's fine as long as the flue is cleaned regularly. If not, the tar build up could be a problem.

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39 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I'd give you odds on 90% of boaters don't dry logs for a year before burning them. Of course they burn better and less smoky if you do. But by the smoke pouring out of wood burning boat chimbleys, pretending that anyone really bothers is daft. And the ash goes in the canal or the hedge. It's amazing how many people on this forum never do anything untoward, ever...

 

 

I agree. I really can't imagine any boater ever keeping a year's supply of wood on the roof, securely tarped and rotating it conscientiously, which is way I pressed LadyG to tell us what she meant when she swerved the question with her comment "in the usual way". 

 

My limited experience with burning wood is you need about ten times the volume of the solid fuel you would otherwise use, which alone rules it out for me. I used to get through two bags a week in cold weather so that would be 20 bags of wood a week. Even if I covered the whole of the roof of my 68ft boat there would not be enough space to dry it for a year before burning.

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5 minutes ago, MtB said:

My limited experience with burning wood is you need about ten times the volume of the solid fuel you would otherwise use, which alone rules it out for me.

 

Irrespective of the much greater volume, the energy per gram is pretty poor compared to other fuels :

 

Wet (freshly cut) wood ~ 2Wh/gram

Properly dried wood ~ 4.2Wh/gram

Dried Cow / Camel dung ~ 4.3Wh/gram

Peat ~4 to 5Wh/gram

Anthracite ~ 8.6Wh/gram

Body fat ~10.6Wh/gram

Propane ~ 13.6 Wh/gram

 

Pretty much says it all (find a fat friend for Winter)

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