Government Decision, but C&RT fight to overturn it

[Alan de Enfield]

I must have missed it, (has an announcement re funding been made ?) 

Damien states .............................

 

As mentioned above, while we will be putting in a monumental effort to fight to change the Government’s decision, we have to continue to meet the year round need to maintain the waterways. Below you’ll find out just some of the things we’ve recently been doing for boaters in the East Midlands.

Edited June 16, 2023 by Alan de Enfield

[dmr]

Me also, I read that Richard Parry was sort of setting the scene for bad news but knowhere have I read that the decision has been made. Maybe CRT have been told or otherwise have inside info but it would be nice to know.

[Alan de Enfield]

3 minutes ago, dmr said:

Me also, I read that Richard Parry was sort of setting the scene for bad news but knowhere have I read that the decision has been made. Maybe CRT have been told or otherwise have inside info but it would be nice to know.

 

Maybe Damien has let the 'cat out of the bag' a few days / weeks early than planned ?

[dmr]

1 minute ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Maybe Damien has let the 'cat out of the bag' a few days / weeks early than planned ?

 

Yeah, Damien does have a habit of getting things not quite right, but with IWA and many others watching I thought we would have heard if thee wa\s an official government decision, so I suspect CRT do have inside info.

[Alan de Enfield]

Just now, dmr said:

 

Yeah, Damien does have a habit of getting things not quite right, but with IWA and many others watching I thought we would have heard if thee wa\s an official government decision, so I suspect CRT do have inside info.

 

The other one we are waiting for is the new licence regime :

 

Maybe C&RT have been told they cannot make a CCer pay a licence 5x that of a home moorer, or a fat boat 3x the price of a same lenth NB

[Jak]

Not looking forward to this. if licence and CRT moorings are to be increased to cover funding gaps, then I for one  won’t be able to afford to keep my boat 😢

Edited June 16, 2023 by Jak

[MtB]

1 minute ago, Jak said:

Not looking forward to this. if licence and CRT moorings are to be increased to cover funding gaps, then I for one  won’t be able to afford to keep my boat 😢

 

I think it will be far worse than that.

 

Reading the runes, the guvvermint have de-funded CRT and the Laffer Curve (which plots incomes first rising, then falling away as taxes/license fees are raised ever higher) will show the shortfall cannot be raised from boaters alone.

 

Consequently, CRT will go bust and a HUGE public campaign will be needed to stop the canals just being filled in and built over, I predict. 

 

 

[Tonka]

2 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

I think it will be far worse than that.

 

Reading the runes, the guvvermint have de-funded CRT and the Laffer Curve (which plots incomes first rising, then falling away as taxes/license fees are raised ever higher) will show the shortfall cannot be raised from boaters alone.

 

Consequently, CRT will go bust and a HUGE public campaign will be needed to stop the canals just being filled in and built over, I predict. 

 

 

That is where all the earth dug out by Hs2 is going

[MtB]

2 minutes ago, Tonka said:

That is where all the earth dug out by Hs2 is going

 

Yeah think of all tht luvverly building land it will produce. CRT will make a fortune! 

 

The whining about cycle paths on here will pale into insignificance over the next five years I reckon. The canals most likely to survive may well be the ones with the race tracks alongside.

 

[Alan de Enfield]

6 minutes ago, MtB said:

Reading the runes, the guvvermint have de-funded CRT

 

 

If that is the case then they have no one but themselves to blame - any one who falsifies company accounts and KPIs to retain grants deserves whatever comes to them.

The sad part is that it will have serious consequences for 30,000 boaters and no effect at all in 'C&RT towers' as they move on to new employment in other sectors.

[Jak]

I may have rose tinted specs, but I just dont see this.  Canal Boating is bigger than its been for years. Holidays and private owners. Then we have the tow path enhancements and the new marinas. Its a p@ss take surely?

 

[MtB]

7 minutes ago, Jak said:

I may have rose tinted specs, but I just dont see this.  Canal Boating is bigger than its been for years. Holidays and private owners. Then we have the tow path enhancements and the new marinas. Its a p@ss take surely?

 

 

Yes, mainly due to government subsidies. Let's hope they continue, but governments subsidising 'rich people with boats' doesn't really play well with the general public who would rather the money is spent on stuff like hospitals and nurses. 

 

 

[dmr]

7 minutes ago, Jak said:

I may have rose tinted specs, but I just dont see this.  Canal Boating is bigger than its been for years. Holidays and private owners. Then we have the tow path enhancements and the new marinas. Its a p@ss take surely?

 

I can't deide, boating and liveabard boating is really growing but a lot are entitled selfish folk, not the hardcore fanatic boaters of a few years ago. Will the new people on their £200,000 widebeams want to get their hands dirty and fix the canals?  and now we have the cyclists who are more interested in the fast tarmac surface and see the water, boats and bridge 'oles as a problem that needs modernising/removing. It could go either way. Proper boaters are dying out 😀

[MtB]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

I must have missed it, (has an announcement re funding been made ?) 

Damien states .............................

 

As mentioned above, while we will be putting in a monumental effort to fight to change the Government’s decision, we have to continue to meet the year round need to maintain the waterways. Below you’ll find out just some of the things we’ve recently been doing for boaters in the East Midlands.

 

 

This is an odd and perhaps revealing phrase for Damien to have used.

 

I wonder if the government has instructed CRT to close the network to boating except during peak boating season, to save on maintenance. Or something along those lines. 

 

 

 

 

[Ianws]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

I must have missed it, (has an announcement re funding been made ?) 

Damien states .............................

 

As mentioned above, while we will be putting in a monumental effort to fight to change the Government’s decision, we have to continue to meet the year round need to maintain the waterways. Below you’ll find out just some of the things we’ve recently been doing for boaters in the East Midlands.

It's only in the East Midlands section and there are no details of  what government decision they are fighting. Speculation without more details is reasonable, it's completely unclear exactly what he is referring to. A clear explanation would be very useful to allay or confirm concerns, and to confirm what action they are taking and about what. 

[Jak]

8 minutes ago, dmr said:

I can't deide, boating and liveabard boating is really growing but a lot are entitled selfish folk, not the hardcore fanatic boaters of a few years ago. Will the new people on their £200,000 widebeams want to get their hands dirty and fix the canals?  and now we have the cyclists who are more interested in the fast tarmac surface and see the water, boats and bridge 'oles as a problem that needs modernising/removing. It could go either way. Proper boaters are dying out 😀

Hit the nail on the head I think. But then does it matter?  I’m a hooby boater with a cheap project boat. But those guys at Crick with the 200k widebeam might be our saviours. What will they do if there is no where to float their mansion?

[Ianws]

It could just be a very badly written piece by a comms department that don't get what they are writing about or their audience, or could be more in it. 

[dmr]

1 minute ago, Jak said:

Hit the nail on the head I think. But then does it matter?  I’m a hooby boater with a cheap project boat. But those guys at Crick with the 200k widebeam might be our saviours. What will they do if there is no where to float their mansion?

Yes, every time we go past a marina full of new posh boats I do think "these good folk are subsidising my lifestyle". A lot of people hire boats, and there are a lot of gongoozlers, the narrowboat is even more iconic than the London Bus (Routemaster), I think we will be ok, though the routemaster has gone 😀i

[Alan de Enfield]

1 minute ago, Jak said:

But those guys at Crick with the 200k widebeam might be our saviours. What will they do if there is no where to float their mansion?

 

There are plenty of non-C&RT waters, and even coastal marinas they could move into.

Then they don't even need a BSS or Licence  and coastal marina berths are not surcharged for 'fatties' like inland marinas. 12 foot beam is quite usual.

 

Win-Win

[Ianws]

But are fatties (or narrowboats) in coastal marina berths cheap enough for what might be average boaters (not even attempting to define that). I don't know, just asking.

[Jak]

6 minutes ago, dmr said:

Yes, every time we go past a marina full of new posh boats I do think "these good folk are subsidising my lifestyle". A lot of people hire boats, and there are a lot of gongoozlers, the narrowboat is even more iconic than the London Bus (Routemaster), I think we will be ok, though the routemaster has gone 😀i

I also think this. The holiday business is huge, and those posh boaters arent short of a couple of quid.  Not at all convinced this is the end. 

[dmr]

3 minutes ago, Jak said:

I also think this. The holiday business is huge, and those posh boaters arent short of a couple of quid.  Not at all convinced this is the end. 

Im not an economist but I think the finance could work. £1000 pa is actually a bargain for a liveaboar boat. Licence goes up by 100% or more with reductions for certain groups of boaters. CRT gets rid of all its "public engagement" stuff and really concentrates on navigation. Boaters take on a lot more routine maintanance. Ideally the canals become a national asset and anybody who builds housing within 100m or otherwise sucks the life out of the canals has to pay a lot (thats a fantasy 😀)

[Arthur Marshall]

It's the "as mentioned above" which is weird, because it isn't. Looks like someone has edited a chunk out but left the reference. Sloppy as always.

[MtB]

6 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

It's the "as mentioned above" which is weird, because it isn't. Looks like someone has edited a chunk out but left the reference. Sloppy as always.

 

I took it to have been Alan who edited it out. 

 

As usual, Alan posts a copy and paste without a link to where he got it from.

 

 

[Alan de Enfield]

10 hours ago, Ianws said:

But are fatties (or narrowboats) in coastal marina berths cheap enough for what might be average boaters (not even attempting to define that). I don't know, just asking.

 

My costal marina is about the same price as my Inland marina cost, with the benefit of savings by not needing a BSS or Licence

9 hours ago, MtB said:

 

I took it to have been Alan who edited it out. 

 

As usual, Alan posts a copy and paste without a link to where he got it from.

 

 

 

Use a little initiative and look in your email in box.

Or do you want everyone to do the work for you ?

 

The source was quoted as 'Damien' who you are well aware issues the monthly boaters updates,

Edited June 17, 2023 by Alan de Enfield