How can boaters become CRT's priority customer?

[cuthound]

But if things are as bad as you describe on the southern GU, I'd say it will be the hire boat companies who have the clout to apply pressure to CRT to get things fixed, rather than the disparate band of squabbling private boaters we all are.

Perhaps the southern end of the GU has been worn out by the large amount of would be London liveaboards leaving Whilton for London?

 

I first boated from Braunston to London in the early 90's and beyond Tring was progressively grimmer even then.

 

Edited to change "Brainstorm" back to what I wrote - Braunston

Edited February 2, 2016 by cuthound

[Tuscan]

The debate to me was about whether things are improving, worsening, or remaining largely the same.

For the waterway I know best, (because I live there, and our boats both have home moorings there), I think I'm being fairly objective when I say that things are getting worse.

As I said that is not just a personal view - the HNBC has recently raised it as an important issue.

Whether any part of the GU is better or worse than some part of the Oxford or the K&A was not what I was trying to discuss, (nor necessarily feel qualified to discuss). It's an interesting debate, particularly if you extend it to canals like the L&L, (where I would assume expectations about maintenance standards just have to be less!), but the fact one canal is better maintained than another right now, doesn't in isolation actually tell us anything about upward or downward trends on any of them.

I have been a regular traveller of the Southern GU since the 80's , the section between Linslade and Marsworth for example has got steadily worse with the bottom getting to near the top. I had to get snatched off one lock landing last year for the first time. Conversely the spot dredging on the Leicester section between Crick and Foxton has had the reverse effect and made it much easier to travel.

 

My hope is that the maintenance and dredging budget will not get slashed in response to the financial demands of repairing the recent flood damage but I doubt this will be the case unfortunately.

Edited February 2, 2016 by Tuscan

[fanshaft]

I have been a regular traveller of the Southern GU since the 80's , the section between Linslade and Marsworth for example has got steadily worse with the bottom getting to near the top. I had to get snatched off one lock landing last year for the first time. Conversely the spot dredging on the Leicester section between Crick and Foxton has had the reverse effect and made it much easier to travel.

 

My hope is that the maintenance and dredging budget will not get slashed in response to the financial demands of repairing the recent flood damage but I doubt this will be the case unfortunately.

 

It's likely that some of the national dredging budget (maybe £1 million) will be diverted to dredging the silt deposited by the floods and a proportion of the rest (may 25%) will be go to general repairs etc but that still leaves a very healthy £5-6 million or so for dredging which is rather more than had been spent in the recent past. The exact amounts will depend on what other funding can be obtained from government, local authorities, appeals etc. and hopefully following years will be back up to planned spend.

Regards

David L