AROUND THE REGIONS: Mark Evans
Last year we talked to the regional directors of the Canal & River Trust’s six regions. There has since been a change at the Wales & South West, with former waterway manager Mark Evans stepping up to a new role.
WALES & South West regional director Mark Evans had barely got his feet under the table in his new role when coronavirus turned everyone’s world upside down.
When he started on January 6, he came with lots of local knowledge as he already worked for the Canal & River Trust and had previously been waterway manager for the Kennet & Avon and Bridgwater & Taunton Canals.
“Coronavirus then kicked in and I haven’t even got round to meeting all my staff yet,” he told me. “They thought I knew the region already but this is a very big job compared with waterway manager.”
Mark has strategic responsibility for the whole of Wales, liaising with the Welsh Government and local authorities and the management of the Monmouthshire & Brecon and Swansea Canals as well as the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. The team in the West Midlands looks after the day-today running of the Montgomery and Llangollen Canals in North Wales.
The South West canals in his remit are the Kennet & Avon, Gloucester & Sharpness and Bridgwater & Taunton as well as the River Severn Navigation and the stretch of the River Avon between Hanham Lock, Bath and Bristol.
Mark is currently based at the trust’s Gloucester Docks office but will be moving to the Llanthony Warehouse and joining the museums team on the third floor. The region also has offices in Devizes and Newbury on the K&A, Govilon on the Mon & Brec and Bathpool on the B&T.
He currently has a staff of 105 with access to other colleagues and there are a couple of posts on hold due to the coronavirus situation. Out of the six regions, Wales & South West does not have the most canals and structures but is the biggest geographically so there is quite a large area to get around.
Opportunity
Mark has been with the trust for five years, having started as waterway manager in the South West in April 2015. “When we had the restructure nearly two years ago I moved across to a national role in chief investment officer Stuart Mills’ department as head of waterside moorings. I did that for about six months and also became interim head of museums; this role stopped at Christmas.
“I am very pleased that Richard Parry (chief executive) and Stuart Mills have given me that opportunity. When Richard Thomas moved on I was given the chance of this role so I took it; I have also been reunited with a lot of my staff.”
“I think this is where my skills lie, also covering Wales because I come from Swansea and being in and around Wales is home for me.” He had previously worked for an environmental charity in the Welsh valleys.
In our interview with Richard Thomas last year, we outlined the key regional objectives aimed at linking communities, raising awareness and promoting water-based activities.
Mark explained: “Progress is good and we are still working to the same objectives but everything is on hold at the moment. We are working towards our business plan which is still very much focused around the health and well-being agenda.”
Challenges
The coronavirus pandemic has thrown up all sorts of challenges such as social distancing and trying to keep people away from boaters who don’t want others near them. “Every five minutes there is something new to deal with at the moment and I am really trying to keep my staff safe,” Mark said.
On the weekend prior to the national lockdown, there were ‘chaotic’ scenes on the Caen Hill Flight and the national press likened some stretches of the Kennet & Avon Canal to being in the middle of Tesco.
A decision was taken to close the flight to boats because it needs two people to operate the locks. “We didn’t want to put those colleagues and others at risk by staffing the flight,” explained Mark.
However the towpath remains open. “The trust is urging people to be considerate, follow Government guidelines and our advice, by not congregating on the towpaths, is to keep moving and strictly observe social distancing. We rely on our volunteers to support us in managing the network. However most of them are older and we don’t want to put anyone at risk so we find ourselves with a smaller team. But we will help boaters to move if essential,” Mark added.