Lifting the ban… and hoping for rain

Mark Tizard, general secretary of the National Association of Boat Owners (NABO), comments on some more topical issues.

I AM writing this, conscious that I have not been to the boat since the week before lockdown started. Like many, I have been reliant on social media such as Facebook and the many Canal & River Trust updates to get my boating news.

As time wore on I became increasingly confused as to why CRT opened navigation on June 1. I can only assume it was jumping the gun in assuming that the Government was going to lift the ban by this date. Alternatively my cynical friend suggested that CRT was desperate to avoid the cost of giving boaters a free licence for another month!

Five organisations representing recreational powered craft users on the non-tidal Thames have recently agreed to join forces to encourage greater engagement and co-operation with the Environment Agency, which is responsible for managing the waterway. These are: the Association of Thames Yacht Clubs (ATYC), DBA – The Barge Association (DBA), the National Association of Boat Owners (NABO), the Residential Boat Owners’ Association (RBOA) and the Thames MotorBoaters

Association (TMBA), who are all members of the Thames Navigation User Forum and specifically represent recreational powered craft owners. There are more than 8000 recreational powered craft registered with EA on this river.

The new group wrote to the EA regarding the lifting of restrictions to recreational powered craft boating on the Thames, noting their belief that it is important not to delay freedom of navigation across the whole waterway because of localised issues affecting particular locks or reaches. If you have an interest in boating on the Thames please join NABO or one of these organisations and help them get your voice heard.

Over the past few weeks there have been several instances of uncollected rubbish, leading to overflowing bins and disgruntled boaters and public. Action is quickly taken by CRT when this is flagged up to them but now that the navigation is open to all, this problem could well increase. If you see bins that are full please contact CRT and if possible keep your rubbish until they are emptied or until you reach the next facilities. It is hoped that boaters will see some improvements when the new services contract is announced, hopefully later this year.

NABO was invited as an observer to the video-conference meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Waterways on May 14. This ‘well attended’ meeting was chaired by the APPWG's chairman Michael Fabricant and focused on the need for dedicated financial support for waterways businesses.

It was pointed out that these businesses are highly seasonal and thus are being hit hard by the lockdown and, unless urgent funding is provided by the Government, many will fail. The meeting called for the Government to provide targeted support for the inland waterways sector.

Subsequently there was a debate on the restoration of the Montgomery Canal in parliament; much was made of the well-being effect of being by and on the canal and that canals are incredibly important to tourism, benefiting this sector to the tune of £1 billion in England and supporting 30,000 jobs. Through this crisis, a lot of businesses are of course suffering, as well as a lot of charities, and hopefully these discussions will result in some positive action.

Of course words are all very well but deeds are more important. In the last boaters’ update before the navigation was opened on June 1 boaters were told: “We have done all our safety checks but with more active use we expect there will be some niggles and issues.” I then saw pictures of a broken lock beam that had rotted right through, followed later that day with a notice announcing the closure of the Rochdale Canal due to a ‘damaged’ gate.

Why was this ‘damage’ not picked up in any current or previous safety or maintenance checks?

Hopefully by the time you read this we will have had both clearance from the Government for everybody to freely cruise and sufficient rain to enable this to happen.