Government CRT funding statement

[Guest]

Just now, matty40s said:

I think the world is going to stop anyway soon with the worldwide temperatures , sea temperatures and disappearing sea ice/glaciers. 

By 2037, we will all be in the shite anyway.

 

Well yes there is that...

 

 

[magnetman]

2034 isn't it ??

[matty40s]

Just now, magnetman said:

2034 isn't it ??

3rd May

[magpie patrick]

10 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

And does that matter, will the world stop if people don't visit Foxton, OK the carpark may not make so much money, same with the others mentioned

 

Local economies would be hard hit - the loss of jobs would be not insignificant. Canals play a fairly significant part in UK tourism, both domestic and international (unusually our canals have more domestic tourism than international in most countries the reverse is true - this suggests our canals keep British tourists in Britain)

[magnetman]

So I will just get to my 60th birthday and have 5 days to celebrate !

 

Yaay!

3 minutes ago, matty40s said:

3rd May

 

[Lily Rose]

23 minutes ago, matty40s said:

I think the world is going to stop anyway soon with the worldwide temperatures , sea temperatures and disappearing sea ice/glaciers. 

By 2037, we will all be in the shite anyway.

 

Apparently it's all a hoax.

 

Or it isn't but it's nothing to do with the little bit of CO2 produced by human activity.

 

Or even if it is it doesn't really matter because the planet has always had temperature fluctuations and has survived (we can conveniently ignore the fact that the planet didn't need to support 8 billion humans when this has happened in the past).

 

Anyway, it's summer innit. Many of us are old enough to remember 1976 so what are people worried about?

It was great then and now we can have lovely warm/dry summers every year.

 

[David Mack]

43 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

 I think they knew it was coming and weren't happy about it - the tone is less "off guard" and more "cheesed off"

Yes. They knew it was coming at some point. But clearly, from what Parry has said, they didn't know it was coming today, and I suspect they didn't know beforehand exactly have much (little) money was being offered.

 

[StephenA]

3 hours ago, system 4-50 said:

So which canal is this forum going to buy up first?   And how long before they are on sale at £1 each?  I'm prepared to put £50 into the kitty despite not owning my boat anymore.

 

The Wardle obviously - and then put a toll on using the lock

[David Mack]

49 minutes ago, magnetman said:

I do think it was slightly dodgy for Richard (the CRT guy) to include politics in his statement which was posted earlier. This is not very professional and could come across to 'some people' as "Vote Labour and the canals will survive'. 

 

This is a political issue. You can't keep politics out of it. But you can keep party politics out of it. Which is exactly what Parry has done.

"With the prospect of a general election next year, and a new government (of whatever party) in place, with a fresh five-year term, we believe the case for providing sufficient funding for the nation’s canals, and all the benefits they deliver, will be overwhelming."

[robtheplod]

Mr Parry should just promise to house new arrivals on canal boats and he'll have an unlimited budget!

[magnetman]

12 minutes ago, David Mack said:

 

This is a political issue. You can't keep politics out of it. But you can keep party politics out of it. Which is exactly what Parry has done.

"With the prospect of a general election next year, and a new government (of whatever party) in place, with a fresh five-year term, we believe the case for providing sufficient funding for the nation’s canals, and all the benefits they deliver, will be overwhelming."

 

I misread it as saying "a new government". My mistake. 

 

[robtheplod]

 

[Tonka]

Richard Parry now wants boaters support to keep his wages after ignoring them. Priceless

[Jen-in-Wellies]

28 minutes ago, StephenA said:

 

The Wardle obviously - and then put a toll on using the lock

The toll is easily justified. At 33 locks per mile, the Wardle is the most heavily locked canal in the country and thus its maintenance costs are very high.

[magnetman]

I like the way they scared the bird which flew past just as he was talking about the wildlife. Clever work!

 

Not convinced myself and I think the punchline about canals lasting for 250 yars smacked of dumbing down in a number of different ways. 

 

25 would have been ok !

 

 

Edited July 10, 2023 by magnetman
Edited just now by magnetman

[Alan de Enfield]

28 minutes ago, David Mack said:

es. They knew it was coming at some point. But clearly, from what Parry has said, they didn't know it was coming today, and I suspect they didn't know beforehand exactly have much (little) money was being offered.

 

But Damien obviously knew what it contained, hence his comments (some weeks ago) about ........."despite the Govenrments announcement , we intend to launch an appeal to overturn the decision.........."

 

And after todays announcement C&RT says :

 

We know that this isn’t the outcome that millions of people would want and so today we are launching a campaign to change this decision.

[Midnight]

45 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

But Damien obviously knew what it contained, hence his comments (some weeks ago) about ........."despite the Govenrments announcement , we intend to launch an appeal to overturn the decision.........."

 

And after todays announcement C&RT says :

 

We know that this isn’t the outcome that millions of people would want and so today we are launching a campaign to change this decision.

.....and Parry amazingly put that video together this morning !

 

 

This bit is interesting 
"The Trust is responsible for maintaining navigability and safety of its waterways including reservoirs, embankments and other infrastructure."
Could it be that Parry's dismal record of maintenance, particularly in the North has reached the ears of some MPs? Certainly Toddbrook was a high profile, total disaster. How he kept his job after that is just amazing.

 
It seems apparent from the statement that the government were hoping by now C&RT were bringing in a lot more additional funding. Again another dissappointment for the government .... "which countless charities across the country do very effectively" The 'Friends' scheme is a flop and unlike the National Trust, memberships were never on offer - interesting annual meeting if they were. 

 

" I can confirm that, subject to certain conditions being met, government will offer a new long term funding package of over £400 million to the Trust. "

 

Time for a fundamental change at the top?
Let's be honest the government were expecting the waterways to be self-funding by now and the fact they are still offering a (reducing) grant is a positive. It's unlikely any campaign is going to change things. It looks to me like all the marketing, blue signs and Facebook adverts have failed to impress and as for that NHS saving a £billion (cuckoo land). Perhaps in hindsight focusing on the economic benefits the canal and waterway bring may have been a better tactic.

 

As I said some time ago "My dog could do a better job and he's been dead for two years".

 

 

Edited July 10, 2023 by Midnight

[Iain_S]

"Since it was first created in 2012, as a private charity independent of government, we have been very clear that the Trust would have to increasingly move towards alternative sources of funding. We have been discussing this with the charity for some time and have been offering support on how it can increase income from other sources, alongside continued government funding, which countless charities across the country do very effectively."

 

Not sure a Tory government is best placed to offer this support. Unless they've learned from their mistakes: railways, water companies, PFI, etc.

[IanD]

39 minutes ago, Iain_S said:

"Since it was first created in 2012, as a private charity independent of government, we have been very clear that the Trust would have to increasingly move towards alternative sources of funding. We have been discussing this with the charity for some time and have been offering support on how it can increase income from other sources, alongside continued government funding, which countless charities across the country do very effectively."

 

Not sure a Tory government is best placed to offer this support. Unless they've learned from their mistakes: railways, water companies, PFI, etc.

They haven't -- the drum is broken but they keep on bashing it... 😞

Edited July 10, 2023 by IanD

[Arthur Marshall]

It's fairly obvious that if the system is to be akin to a public park, available as a general recreational resource, then it should be largely funded from taxation, with boaters only financially responsible for the bits essential to navigation.

So, as long as we all work together and none of us vote for a party that specifically promotes low tax as its policy as opposed to the public benefit, as I'm sure none if us will, we'll be OK.

 

[Grassman]

CRT could make a start by clamping down on all the licence non payers. We all know it's much more than the 5% CRT claim it is.

 

Start enforcing it properly and make sure all those boats with no ID either tow the line or remove them from their waters.

[Midnight]

21 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

It's fairly obvious that if the system is to be akin to a public park, available as a general recreational resource, then it should be largely funded from taxation, with boaters only financially responsible for the bits essential to navigation.

So, as long as we all work together and none of us vote for a party that specifically promotes low tax as its policy as opposed to the public benefit, as I'm sure none if us will, we'll be OK.

 

 Is it? There was no mention in the statement of well-being, cycling tracks, fishermen, dog walkers, joggers, etc. Just "......for maintaining navigability and safety of its waterways"

 

Maybe if Parry focused on that there would be more money for maintaining navigability.

 

 

Edited July 10, 2023 by Midnight

[enigmatic]

3 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

The toll is easily justified. At 33 locks per mile, the Wardle is the most heavily locked canal in the country and thus its maintenance costs are very high.

It's also unable to raise funds by charging for moorings!

[magnetman]

I'm pretty sure that the aim is for canals to be linear parks. 

For this reason it seems to me that local authorities should get involved with the management. They could take on some of the responsibilities like vegetation management and dealing with towpath moorings, waterway access points for locals and wildlife management. 

 

Paddle board based duck shoots could become quite popular. 

[Tim Lewis]

Iwa response:

 

https://waterways.org.uk/about-us/news/governments-waterways-funding-cuts-will-hit-uk-economy-ecology-and-health?fbclid=IwAR2GzdOMeDaLDXLsiEoilfvzdnPmGhaiCpzNYqy0lLtm2PoRltJidyChnqA_aem_AQ2OxEYEse_VPecBK1GDx58LdwqEZkRJR_NYWQ1Z0rFS61GRkMPm7uiWPvrOS4r3Jjw