CaRT: Corrupt Management Fiasco

[one of the hidden]

Over the last 12 months or so, this is what Canal & Rivers Trust have mis-managed, within 100 metres of where I now live:

 

POINT 1: For some reason, only known to CaRT Management, since last November, they have been allowing some of their ground workers, to use commercial fleet vehicles for commuting, to and from home, to their local yard at Etruria Locks, which I might add, is only a quarter of a mile away (quicker to walk!). I complained to CaRT about this, initially, as a complaint about inconsiderate parking. The blocks of apartments where I now live are leasehold, and oversized commercial vehicles are not allowed to be parked here. The next I heard from CaRT, was an early evening telephone call, from the driver of the vehicle, who was drunk, threatening to destroy my livelyhood! I contacted CaRT again, to complain about this, and a local Ground Works Manager telephoned me, to say that they could not take any diseplinary action, because the driver was not at work when he made his threat! I didn't contact the Police about this incident, as it may have only enflamed matters!

 

 

POINT 2: Below is a photo of a boat that was reported to CaRT, last December (2020), by myself and countless others, as it had overstayed its 2 week allowance, & was also moored to a Lock Landing. It sank just before Christmas 2021 and remains in-situ...

 

 

To Conclude:

During my 5 years as a live-a-board boater, the only dealings I had with CaRT, was when I occasionally overstayed, "at a place" by a week, due to bad winter weather (harassment) and when I sold my boat, they took a £30 admin charge (fraud), to refund the remainder of my licence. Funny how CaRT only ever seem to take any action, when it is from the comfort of their centrally heated offices, and when any real problems arise, especially with their own employees, they turn a blind eye. CaRT: Corrupt As Ever, Just Like The Government, They Were Spawned From!!

[David Mack]

Corruption is a serious allegation, and on the basis of what you have said here you don't appear to be able to substantiate it.

On the first point, the parking of the van in apparent breach of lease conditions is not a matter for CRT, neither is the verbal assault by a CRT employee in his own time. The former you should take up with whoever manages the roads and parking round your apartment, and the latter is a police matter.

On your second point you have no idea what action CRT may (or may not) be taking against the owner of the now sunken boat. It may have been abandoned, in which case CRT could be having difficulty tracing the owner. In any event they have procedures to follow, and if the owner does not reclaim it, CRT will eventually remove it from the water.

An admin charge to refund the balance of your licence is normal, and no way fraudulent. CRT incur admin costs in refunding which they wouldn't have incurred if your licence had run its term, and it is reasonable for them to recover these. If you had bought a shorter duration licence in the first place, knowing you were going to sell the boat, you would have paid a higher unit cost anyway.

 

[Athy]

As the van appears to belong to CART, charitable trust, In what way is it "oversized"? is it actually a "commercial" vehicle?

[LadyG]

The only comment I would have is that the driver should not have your number, block it, if he is using work phone to contact you then CRT are involved. 

I am under the impression that you should contact CRT if overstaying, bad weather is a good reason, I'm not sure about 'place', that is open to interpretation, best to stay under the radar. 

Edited January 25, 2022 by LadyG

[frangar]

Did you not realise the canal was there when you moved in?.....Have you been on the sauce yourself when you typed that?

[matty40s]

11 minutes ago, Athy said:

As the van appears to belong to CART, charitable trust, In what way is it "oversized"? is it actually a "commercial" vehicle?

Of course, it has the company name on the side, and it is oversized for the CAR parking space. Something that can only be dealt with by the flat rental company IF they own the car park, and ONLY if there is something in the rental agreement regarding vehicle size and/or use.

[cuthound]

17 minutes ago, matty40s said:

Of course, it has the company name on the side, and it is oversized for the CAR parking space. Something that can only be dealt with by the flat rental company IF they own the car park, and ONLY if there is something in the rental agreement regarding vehicle size and/or use.

 

Indeed, large goods vehicles over 3,500kg are subject to a commercial vehicle operators licence, for which designated off road parking must be made available.

 

This used to apply to all liveried commercial vehicles but the higher weight limit was introduced during the 80's to reduce operating costs.

 

The van in question is below this weight threshold and thus allowed to park anywhere that a car legally can.

[frangar]

I feel sorry for the poor sod just trying to do his job while getting abuse from people. Had the same when I worked for a council & had a sign written van. Good for him for fighting back and good on CRT for not siding with a moaning resident. 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, one of the hidden said:

Over the last 12 months or so, this is what Canal & Rivers Trust have mis-managed, within 100 metres of where I now live:

 

POINT 1: For some reason, only known to CaRT Management, since last November, they have been allowing some of their ground workers, to use commercial fleet vehicles for commuting, to and from home, to their local yard at Etruria Locks, which I might add, is only a quarter of a mile away (quicker to walk!). I complained to CaRT about this, initially, as a complaint about inconsiderate parking. The blocks of apartments where I now live are leasehold, and oversized commercial vehicles are not allowed to be parked here. The next I heard from CaRT, was an early evening telephone call, from the driver of the vehicle, who was drunk, threatening to destroy my livelyhood! I contacted CaRT again, to complain about this, and a local Ground Works Manager telephoned me, to say that they could not take any diseplinary action, because the driver was not at work when he made his threat! I didn't contact the Police about this incident, as it may have only enflamed matters!

 

 

POINT 2: Below is a photo of a boat that was reported to CaRT, last December (2020), by myself and countless others, as it had overstayed its 2 week allowance, & was also moored to a Lock Landing. It sank just before Christmas 2021 and remains in-situ...

 

 

To Conclude:

During my 5 years as a live-a-board boater, the only dealings I had with CaRT, was when I occasionally overstayed, "at a place" by a week, due to bad winter weather (harassment) and when I sold my boat, they took a £30 admin charge (fraud), to refund the remainder of my licence. Funny how CaRT only ever seem to take any action, when it is from the comfort of their centrally heated offices, and when any real problems arise, especially with their own employees, they turn a blind eye. CaRT: Corrupt As Ever, Just Like The Government, They Were Spawned From!!

 

Forgive me but can you expain what in the above constitutes corruption and or fraud.

 

 

I predict this is going to end in a dummy splat...

[Mike on the Wey]

I suggest you check certain words on Google before using them on a public forum. 

 

Corruption: dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery.
Fraud: wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain.

Contacting you about an overstay is not “corruption”, and neither is withholding a reasonable administration fee “fraud”. I look forward to your responses to all these posts. 

[Momac]

5 hours ago, one of the hidden said:

.....they took a £30 admin charge (fraud), to refund the remainder of my licence. 

Not fraud. Read  the terms and conditions  before entering into any contract 

[frangar]

I’m not sure this thread is going quite the way the OP expected….

[Feeby100]

How he get your number 

they could be done for data protection ? 

[tree monkey]

3 minutes ago, Feeby100 said:

How he get your number 

they could be done for data protection ? 

I suspect they are neighbours and this is a dispute between them, the CRT thing is just a tool in the dispute 

[peterboat]

3 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

Indeed, large goods vehicles over 3,500kg are subject to a commercial vehicle operators licence, for which designated off road parking must be made available.

 

This used to apply to all liveried commercial vehicles but the higher weight limit was introduced during the 80's to reduce operating costs.

 

The van in question is below this weight threshold and thus allowed to park anywhere that a car legally can.

Very true, but looking at the van its too big for the space and more than likely is taking spaces that people are paying for?

[frangar]

2 minutes ago, peterboat said:

Very true, but looking at the van its too big for the space and more than likely is taking spaces that people are paying for?

If you can’t move round that I suggest you hand in your driving licence! 

[peterboat]

16 minutes ago, frangar said:

If you can’t move round that I suggest you hand in your driving licence! 

Missing the point it's in 2 parking spaces which are numbered so it's likely blocking somebody's space which they have paid for, I have been in this situation myself and it's bloody annoying 

[MtB]

Re the sunk boat, it's none of the OP's business, particularly now he no longer holds a CRT license. 

 

I think Munk is on the money, its an inter-neighbour dispute and the driver of the van already had the OP's phone number and just guessed it was him made the complaint. 

 

Being "one of the hidden" doesn't seem a very appropriate username given the fuss he or she is kicking up. 

[frangar]

12 minutes ago, peterboat said:

Missing the point it's in 2 parking spaces which are numbered so it's likely blocking somebody's space which they have paid for, I have been in this situation myself and it's bloody annoying 

The size of the vehicle doesn’t matter if you can’t park it…maybe it’s being done on purpose. I can see the op might wind people up….

[Chris Lowe]

I wonder if this thread should be hidden as it contains unsubstantiated allegations of fraud and corruption.

[MtB]

4 minutes ago, buccaneer66 said:

I wonder if this thread should be hidden as it contains unsubstantiated allegations of fraud and corruption.

 

I don't think that matters as no-one specific has been named, so there is no-one to take any exception. 

 

And of course CRT as an organisation won't take any action as that would be a horrendous own goal from a PR point of view. 

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, buccaneer66 said:

I wonder if this thread should be hidden as it contains unsubstantiated allegations of fraud and corruption.

 

Well that is your call.

 

However if CRT did complain about it (unlikely tbh) then AFAIK if you didnt the forum would bear responsibility for it rather than just the OP.

[Iain_S]

1 hour ago, peterboat said:

Missing the point it's in 2 parking spaces which are numbered so it's likely blocking somebody's space which they have paid for, I have been in this situation myself and it's bloody annoying 

Looking at the photo, that looks more like driver incompetence than excess width.. Vehicle's a trifle long for the spaces, but what does that matter?

[MtB]

8 minutes ago, Iain_S said:

Looking at the photo, that looks more like driver incompetence than excess width.. Vehicle's a trifle long for the spaces, but what does that matter?

 

I'd say it matters a LOT to the owner of Flat 57....

[Chagall]

There are some massive assumptions being made here about the OP.  Despite his accusatory attitude he does have a point, regarding the van in particular it is parked in a numbered bay so it either belongs to the driver of the van or is parked illegally and taking up two spaces. Judging by the state of the van side would anybody really like to try and squeeze their car in alongside it and risk being clobbered.   The point was made earlier how did the C&RT employee get the op's telephone number and it was assumed by posters that he was neighbour and that somehow the op deserved it! 

 

The comment regarding the sunken boat is also valid, would it really take a year to find the owner?