Canal & River Trust 2022 boat licence fees to rise by 4%
PRIVATE and business boat licence fees will rise by 4% from April 1, 2022, the Canal & River Trust has announced.
It aims to keep licence price increases broadly in line with inflation forecasts to shield boaters from a more substantial contribution to the full costs of looking after the network. On the day Towpath Talk went to press, the Office for National Statistics announced that the cost of living had risen by 4.2% in October.
Income from private boat licences accounted for around 10% of the charity’s annual income last year and helps ensure that the vast amount of work necessary for keeping the waterways available to boaters can be carried out.
As the trust’s navigations and their associated historic infrastructure become older, and the changing climate brings more extreme weather, more money must be spent to care for them and keep them in working order.
Boaters who regularly use both CRT and Environment Agency waterways can apply for a Gold Licence. Holders will be advised of any changes to their licence fees following the results of the EA’s consultation on boat registration charges, expected before the end of the year. From April 1, Gold Licence holders who want to visit the Middle Levels will need to buy an Anglian Pass from EA.
A STATUE commemorating Blackburn MP Barbara Castle has been unveiled in the Lancashire town’s Jubilee Square. She is portrayed holding a representation of a copy of the Equal Pay Act from 1970.
Barbara Castle was the Labour MP for Blackburn from 1945 to 1979 and from December 1965 until April 1968 was Minister for Transport in the Harold Wilson government.
During this time she introduced the wide-ranging 1968 Transport Act that included wearing of seat belts, and lorry driver hours regulation. It also included the requirement of the British Waterways Board to maintain the nation’s canals as either the larger commercial waterways or the narrow canals as cruising waterways. The BWB went on to become the Canal & River Trust.
Prior to this bill the treasury was hoping to abandon the government’s financial commitment to maintain the inland waterways of the country.
Mrs Castle went on to champion the rights of women for equal pay, supporting workers at the Ford car plant in Dagenham in their fight for equal pay. The bronze statue was sculpted by Sam Holland and unveiled by MP Angela Rainer, deputy leader of the Labour Party, and former Blackburn MP Jack Straw.