Sally Ash to Retire

[junior]

Apparently this was announced yesterday and most took it to be an April fools joke, but it seems it is true.

 

http://kanda.boatingcommunity.org.uk/sally-ash-to-go-not-an-april-fool/

 

Apologies if it is elsewhere on the forum, I haven't seen it. If so, feel free to delete this or merge.

[Guest]

What a thoroughly unpleasant, snide and badly written piece....

[Dave_P]

It does seem to go a bit far! Having said that, the fact that this article reflects the views of a small but significant group of boaters indicates that a new approach might be what's needed. I have a feeling that Richard Parry and CaRT would like to move away from the old 'them and us' situation which was created under BW.

[Leo No2]

Maybe I am just very old fashioned in my views but I always thought that a decision to retire/resign/leave was a personal matter between an employer and an employee and remains so until such time as the employee chooses to make it public - assuming there may be a need to. It strikes me that the article linked to in the OP is nothing more than speculation, at best, and does their website a disservice.

[costalot]

A good example of how not to win friends and influence people at CRT

[cotswoldsman]

Maybe I am just very old fashioned in my views but I always thought that a decision to retire/resign/leave was a personal matter between an employer and an employee and remains so until such time as the employee chooses to make it public - assuming there may be a need to. It strikes me that the article linked to in the OP is nothing more than speculation, at best, and does their website a disservice.

Firstly I would just like to say (and not defending KANDA) Sally did make it fairly public yesterday by sending an email to a number of people. In my own case I did not feel it was my place to make it public and felt sure someone soon would make it public.

One of the reasons I did not make it public is that I was not sure what to say. I have personally been working with Sally on a number of issues and have always found Sally to be a very good person to work with. On a number of issues we agreed and and certain other issues we strongly disagreed but Sally was always able to keep issues separate in my opinion a very rare quality. I think Sally will leave a legacy of always trying to do what was best when trying to work with so many different groups with so many different views an almost impossible job as whatever she did some group would not like it.

Sally will be a very difficult person to replace. As we all know we all have very strong opinions and ideas and more often than not the buck stopped at Sally's desk. Sally did more than most to improve communication between CRT and Boaters and she was one of the driving forces of the meetings between boaters and CRT that have resulted in the meetings that Richard Parry now has with boaters all over the country.

I wish Sally a very happy retirement and I think she can look back at over 30 years of dedicated service to the waterways, well done Sally and thank you.

Edited April 2, 2014 by cotswoldsman

[Albion]

Firstly I would just like to say (and not defending KANDA) Sally did make it fairly public yesterday by sending an email to a number of people. In my own case I did not feel it was my place to make it public and felt sure someone soon would make it public.

One of the reasons I did not make it public is that I was not sure what to say. I have personally have been working with Sally on a number of issues and have always found Sally to be a very good person to work with. On a number of issues we agreed and and certain other issues we strongly disagreed but Sally was always able to keep issues separate in my opinion a very rare quality. I think Sally will leave a legacy of always trying to do what was best when trying to work with so many different groups with so many different views an almost impossible job as whatever she did some group would not like it.

Sally will be a very difficult person to replace. As we all know we all have very strong opinions and ideas and more often than not the buck stopped at Sally's desk. Sally did more than most to improve communication between CRT and Boaters and she was one of the driving forces of the meetings between boaters and CRT that have resulted in the meetings that Richard Parry now has with boaters all over the country.

I wish Sally a very happy retirement and I think she can look back at over 30 years of dedicated service to the waterways, well done Sally and thank you.

Well said John. I have always found her reasonable and prepared to listen in my dealings with her so I echo your sentiments.

Roger

[Bod]

Who will be her replacement?

 

Bod

[sueb]

Well that's a surprise. She told me, a couple of years ago, that she would never retire as she loved her job.

[Ronniesonic]

Just about sums up the' freeloaders, we do what we want' attitude of Kanda

[mayalld]

What a thoroughly unpleasant, snide and badly written piece....

 

Entirely predictable.

 

Indeed, one could safely assume that it would be, simply because of the site that it is on. A site that serves no purpose other than to make NBW look good.

[alan_fincher]

Apparently this was announced yesterday and most took it to be an April fools joke, but it seems it is true.

 

http://kanda.boatingcommunity.org.uk/sally-ash-to-go-not-an-april-fool/

 

Apologies if it is elsewhere on the forum, I haven't seen it. If so, feel free to delete this or merge.

 

 

What a thoroughly unpleasant, snide and badly written piece....

It looks to me like it is written by someone who also regularly writes on NBW.

 

My apologies if I am maligning him, but the style looks so similar to me that it is hard not to think that.

 

What I don't like about that K&A site is it is always anonymous - if you are going to express strong and sometimes unpopular views, you should have the guts to put your name against them.

[jenlyn]

What a thoroughly unpleasant, snide and badly written piece....

Greenie for that!

What galled me was the the way the info was given, and by whom. Very bad form.

[patty-ann]

As said above a very one sided written piece which I found somewhat disturbing and thank you John for putting forward a opinion based upon your knowledge through working with Sally.

[stickleback]

What an unpleasant, nasty little article. I wish Sally a happy and long retirement - and may her replacement give the writer of the article the grief he / she deserves.

[MtB]

A good example of how not to win friends and influence people at CRT

 

 

Indeed.

 

It staggers me that CRT engage with boaters at all when this sort of spiteful and destructive attitude seems to exist in some who claim to represent boaters.

 

MtB

[alan_fincher]

It does seem to go a bit far! Having said that, the fact that this article reflects the views of a small but significant group of boaters indicates that a new approach might be what's needed. I have a feeling that Richard Parry and CaRT would like to move away from the old 'them and us' situation which was created under BW.

Although I certainly didn't alwaysagree with Sally, she has clearly been more willing than many to try and listen to a wide variety of views from people with often very different interests. She doesn't reject new ideas simply because she didn't think of them.

 

She may not always get it right, (in my view!), but if you were going to start naming people still in CRT that can't get away from the "us and them" thing, then she certainly would not be near the top of my list.

[Athy]

As Sally is a member of CWF (she joined a year or so ago and made several posts) perhaps she will tell us her news first-hand.

[Tuscan]

It became clear in my view that Sally was in some areas increasingly out of step with the thinking of other senior personnel within CRT as well as the boating associations. This was evidenced at the recent meeting between the associations and CRT on 31 March. I wish her well in her retirement.

[Dave_P]

Sadly, my (limited) experience of Sally Ash was in stark contrast to other posters on here. I don't really want to say any more but, at the time, I was horrified! I have never been made to feel more of a 'them and us' situation than with that situation.

 

It seems that different people have different experiences...

[David Schweizer]

 

 

Indeed.

 

It staggers me that CRT engage with boaters at all when this sort of spiteful and destructive attitude seems to exist in some who claim to represent boaters.

 

MtB

 

They represent a very small group of people who are determined to use whatever loophole in the law they can find to keep their boat in the same location for years, Their constant presence has made the western end of the K &A a thoroughly unpleasant place to visit.

 

Their untidy boats and the mess they leave strewn around the towpath has generated a very negative view of boaters in general amongst many local people. You only have to observe their facial expression if you mention that you have a narrowboat, which changes when you indicate that you keep it in the Midlands and not on the K & A.

Edited April 2, 2014 by David Schweizer

[luctor et emergo]

Predictable indeed. Unfortunately there is a small, but tenatious bunch of boaters on the K&A who think that the rules should not apply to them, and its them that spoil things for the vast majority of boaters that get quietly on with living within the rules along that stretch.

[Ray T]

In the very limited dealings I have had with Sally I always found her willing to listen and put her point of view over in a constructive manner.

 

Mrs. T and my self would like to wish her a long and happy retirement.

 

ETA to correct Freudian slip.

Edited April 2, 2014 by Ray T

[Bee]

At the risk of starting yet another CC wrangle it has to be said that if you live on a boat without a residential mooring you know full well that your situation could become untenable at any time depending on policy or the personal views Sally Ash or whoever follows her.

If you have a particular licence you also know full well that you cannot really fulfil the requirements of it. Sally Ash was never going to be popular and her successor probably won`t be either. Tackling the problem of the sheer numbers of people who live on their boats is a hell of a job. There is no middle ground for either `side`, I lived on for many years and the insecurity is stressful but the fact is and always has been that there is no way to do it legally. The problem is not that people live on boats, that's neither here nor there, the problem is that there are too many boats now after decades of building them. The solution? dunno, perhaps if marinas were cheaper than CC or towpath moorings that could free up a bit of space, 100 yard gaps with double yellow lines along the solid lines of moored boats? There probably isn`t a solution but if Sally Ash has gone be careful what you wish for.

[nicknorman]

In my very limited experience of Sally I thought she was courteous and, despite having been in the job for many years, still surprisingly enthusiastic. Yes also fairly single-minded but that surely has to go with the territory. I always felt she did what she thought was best for the canal system as a whole and not for any "personal agenda" reasons, the latter of which is so often the primary motivator these days. It will be funny if her successor causes KandA to rue the day!