Not looking good for us

[IanD]

14 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I'm not sure how widebeam owners are intrinsically selfish, and even their rulebreaking appears an inconvenience rather than a serious irritation. Perhaps I just don't haunt the areas where they cause trouble.

CMers have, as someone pointed out above, been around since BW days, when there were so few they didn't matter, and have rather proliferated since for a number of reasons, uncontrolled by CRT, who probably can't afford to chase them all.

It's a bit like the government penalising people in two bed houses for their spare rooms when there aren't any one bedroom ones. The solution to both problems is obvious - in one case build more small houses and in the other provide affordable moorings. Both take a bit of investment (not much, for moorings) and action. Increasing mooring fees both unilaterally and via auctions isn't going to sort the problem, more likely to increase it. Increasing the number of residential moorings massively might.

I didn't say that all widebeam owners are selfish, but a minority of them have been causing significant inconvenience by mooring or moving in places not suitable for them -- as can be seen by the number of complaints about them on CWDF and elsewhere.

 

The same with CCers, many are blameless but a fair number are causing problems by ignoring CC rules, blocking visitor moorings and so on, especially in "honeypot" areas.

 

In both cases the problem is a selfish minority causing problems, and the blameless majority will suffer as a consequence... 😞

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

15 minutes ago, IanD said:

I didn't say that all widebeam owners are selfish, but a minority of them have been causing significant inconvenience by mooring or moving in places not suitable for them -- as can be seen by the number of complaints about them on CWDF and elsewhere.

 

The same with CCers, many are blameless but a fair number are causing problems by ignoring CC rules, blocking visitor moorings and so on, especially in "honeypot" areas.

 

In both cases the problem is a selfish minority causing problems, and the blameless majority will suffer as a consequence... 😞

when was the last time you left the armchair to go boating?

 

..are you really just getting your info from here?

FI

 

[MtB]

2 hours ago, Orwellian said:

What an ironic typo!

 

???

 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

he (Higgs) later corrected his error from except to accept. 
 

Edited February 19, 2023 by Goliath

[matty40s]

3 hours ago, IanD said:

...

 

I clearly said that the real reason for the cash shortage is lack of government funding...

No you didnt, you said this..

In both these cases the boaters who have been selfishly abusing the system are largely to blame, and ire should be directed at them not CART

 

 

We've had the argument about blue signs and director bonuses before....

 

So that means having the argument ends the subject and we should just ignore the waste of our money and blame boaters for the mismanagement of CRT funds.

 

I just hope you take your new shiny boat to an lovely waterway somewhere and enjoy it, and learn from every day experiences, you might mellow out a bit. Otherwise, you are going to be severely disappointed in today's canals.

[peterboat]

9 minutes ago, matty40s said:

I just hope you take your new shiny boat to an lovely waterway somewhere and enjoy it, and learn from every day experiences, you might mellow out a bit. Otherwise, you are going to be severely disappointed in today's canals.

Because of covid we had very little cruising during that period, often the electric locks were turned off for self use, when allowed we went out but found things had deteriorated in a very short period. Now last year going up to Sheffield on a boat was downright dangerous, as the trees had grown together due to lack of maintenance. The bottom was to close to the top in a few places when I went up to Castleford, I spent hours stuck on something 15 foot from the bank! I don't think its going to get better in fact it will get worse with a very small chance of it getting the money and love that it desperately needs, raising licence fees won't touch the sides I am sorry to say

 

[matty40s]

I'm out all the time, on our own or moving other boats, and even on this Grand Union expressway, it is shameful to see the holes appearing and still there 12 months later.

 

Pothole 2 years old...

 

Walkway started 18 months ago and abandoned...

 

That's just up from the apparent breach which cut short our Christmas cruise 2020 when they dropped the canal level by a foot of a 13 mile pound overnight to allow 3 volunteers to do this.

 

No joined up thinking, no control over what is being done, no vision, ,just meet your KPI, take your bonus and let IanD blame a few poor boaters for the state it's in.

[peterboat]

3 minutes ago, matty40s said:

I'm out all the time, on our own or moving other boats, and even on this Grand Union expressway, it is shameful to see the holes appearing and still there 12 months later.

 

Pothole 2 years old...

 

Walkway started 18 months ago and abandoned...

 

That's just up from the apparent breach which cut short our Christmas cruise 2020 when they dropped the canal level by a foot of a 13 mile pound overnight to allow 3 volunteers to do this.

 

No joined up thinking, no control over what is being done, no vision, ,just meet your KPI, take your bonus and let IanD blame a few poor boaters for the state it's in.

I saw lots of piling sagging or collapsed into the waterways, in one place the towpath had gone, it had the appropriate faded shredded tape on sticks

[matty40s]

Still enjoyed it, only one moving boat passed in 7 hours.

[peterboat]

11 minutes ago, matty40s said:

Still enjoyed it, only one moving boat passed in 7 hours.

I went shopping the other day in the boat, dropped 2 young ladies off at the railway station and did my shopping at Lidls at the same time. If I go the other way its Asda  sometimes it's the best way to shop

[IanD]

Deleted. Don't rise to the bait...

Edited February 20, 2023 by IanD

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, IanD said:

Jeez are you really as stupid as you make out?

 

The minority of boaters who take the p*ss are not to blame for the cash shortfall, but for who will end up paying for it.

 

The majority who don't aren't but will suffer the consequences.

 

Can I make it any more simple for you?

 

Im not quite sure you understand the point Matty was making but as you have me on ignore for the umpteenth time (rinse and repeat) I wont wont bother explaining.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

21 minutes ago, M_JG said:

 

Im not quite sure you understand the point Matty was making but as you have me on ignore for the umpteenth time (rinse and repeat) I wont wont bother explaining.

no point the bloke’s a narcissist aubergine 

[Jon57]

9 hours ago, peterboat said:

I saw lots of piling sagging or collapsed into the waterways, in one place the towpath had gone, it had the appropriate faded shredded tape on sticks

That's luxury for up North. It's not only the canal Bank sides that need attention. Crt are getting stick from the local council. 

[IanD]

10 hours ago, peterboat said:

I saw lots of piling sagging or collapsed into the waterways, in one place the towpath had gone, it had the appropriate faded shredded tape on sticks

I doubt that anyone thinks that CART are.doing a good job of maintaining the canals, the evidence is everywhere, and the situation has been getting worse for years.

 

I also doubt that anyone would put CART forwards as a shining example of a well-run and well-managed organisation, but they're hardly alone here. Many others have also fallen into similar traps like outsourcing and selling off assets, usually driven by the desire to save money because spending exceeds income.

 

But blaming these problems on things like blue signs is entirely missing the point. These may well be annoying  to boaters but there is some kind of logic to them, the signs are an attempt by CART to meet the box-ticking mentality of a government which wants to see the grant to the canals being justified by making them attractive to non-boaters.

 

The fundamental problem for CART is lack of funds, combined by rising costs since "the good old days", not just due to price rises but also little-used and expensive to maintain additions to the system like the HNC and Rochdale. Combine this with a fall in the real value of the government grant, and you end up with a funding black hole.

 

Other than going bust and throwing the whole lot back at the government, CART have no easy way to fix this, but increasing license fees is one option to help close the funding gap. Protesting that "this isn't fair" is simply ignoring reality... 😞

 

If this is going to happen, to avoid driving less well-off boaters off the canals it would be better to try and change the way the fee is charged instead of applying a flat rate increase.

 

That's what the consultation is about, whether people like it or not.

[Midnight]

11 minutes ago, IanD said:

..............

But blaming these problems on things like blue signs is entirely missing the point. These may well be annoying  to boaters but there is some kind of logic to them, the signs are an attempt by CART to meet the box-ticking mentality of a government which wants to see the grant to the canals being justified by making them attractive to non-boaters.

 I think it's you who misses the point.  Blue signs annoy boaters because the sheer number of them in places where they are not really going to do what they are intended to do. As an example Millbank Lock on the C&H (which you will pass through if your plans remain unchanged) is in a remote area but has 4 blue signs - one would do the job and the cost of the other three better used to fix the broken paddles along there. I wonder if your thoughts will change when you actually get a boat.

[Higgs]

Never have liked the new logo. It's too corporate looking, by half. 

 

 

 

[Machpoint005]

If CRT had more funding, more of what needs doing would get done. We can bicker about blue signs all we like, but it won't alter that fundamental fact.

 

[Higgs]

4 minutes ago, Machpoint005 said:

If CRT had more funding, more of what needs doing would get done. 

 

 

 

 

[Jon57]

2 minutes ago, Higgs said:

 

 

 

 

Parry’s looking a bit rough under the strain.🤪🤪

[peterboat]

28 minutes ago, Machpoint005 said:

If CRT had more funding, more of what needs doing would get done. We can bicker about blue signs all we like, but it won't alter that fundamental fact.

 

Or would they just waste it on more rebranding?

[Momac]

50 minutes ago, Midnight said:

  Blue signs annoy boaters because the sheer number of them 

Its the signs that have no function that people consider to be a waste of money . Especially so when they are in locations only seen by boaters 

[MtB]

3 minutes ago, MartynG said:

Its the signs that have no function that people consider to be a waste of money . Especially so when they are in locations only seen by boaters 

 

Or more particularly, only seen by people who already know life is better by water.

 

 

[MtB]

The blue signs are displacement activity. CRT management know perfectly well they are presiding over a declining system and the relative pittance being wasted on blue signs would make no discernible difference if switched to the maintenance budget, but there would be no blue signs and it would look as though management was doing nothing. At least the blue signs make it look as though there is some form of life present in head office. This is their real function. 

 

In the world of commerce it is often said that when a company which has been posting poor results and short of money suddenly re-paints the lines in the car park and redecorates reception and the gents toilets, the directors know the point of no return has been passed and the organisation is going bust. Very perceptive and true, and I read the forest of CRT blue signs in the same way. 

[matty40s]

21 minutes ago, MartynG said:

Its the signs that have no function that people consider to be a waste of money . Especially so when they are in locations only seen by boaters 

There are at least 2 of these on stakes on the towpath by every single bridge with an access path on the Grand Union. How is that a sensible use of funds.