The elephant in the room– but not many MPs

NABO council member and West Midlands representative Peter Braybrook comments on some more topical issues.

IT IS now definitely the ‘elephant in the room’. At every meeting we attend or whenever boaters are together we are talking about the Defra grant to the Canal & River Trust and the possibility that it will be cut or even removed completely following the current review.

The sum of £52 million is a lot of money in anybody's budget and with austerity just around the corner it is very likely that the grant to CRT will be an easy one to pick off and reduce or cut by any minister looking tomake savings in public expenditure.

With 35,000 boats on its waters distributed nationally, even looking at the possibility of losing the votes of the boating community would not frighten determined politicians. That navigable waterways might be closed or abandoned because of lack of money is now a real possibility.

At the All Party Parliamentary Group for Waterways meeting in early November about 100 people gathered to hear Richard Parry say to parliament what we all have known for sometime. Some of the attendees were surprised to find that therewere very few MPs in the room.

The IWA floated Waterways for Today, its latest report that details the 12 main benefits of the waterways as a national asset. These are economic, environmental, community and life improving. They have costings showing that that £52 million is good value as the waterways well-being and mental health benefit saves the NHS many tens of millions a year.

Eighty-four of the 150 or so districts that are most in need of ‘levelling up’ are on inland waterways. Investment here would make a huge difference. “For every £1 invested in the canal towpath network there is a return of £7 in health benefits,” it states.

Anyone who has been boating, whether as an owner or a hirer, will have noticed the decay in the fabric of the 200-year-old system. I have seen bridges that are so cracked that one would think that they are in danger of imminent collapse into the canal.

Lock beams have failed. Paddle gear has failed and cuttings are seen to be slipping. The reservoirs are known to be in need of major repairs and upgrading and there are worries that some will become unusable for feeding the canal because of lack of care and efficient operation. The system is creaking and in need of maintenance.

Stoppage backlog

However we have noticed that rather than there being more stoppages this winter to take care of the backlog of projects that could not be completed last winter in fact this winter stoppage programme has been reduced between the first and the continually updated final version that is published in the stoppage notices.

The extremes of weather that we are experiencing at present do not help. From the driest summer that many of us can remember we have entered a period of very wet weather. Many of the rivers that had no flow in the hot summer months are now full and overflowing. So it looks like climate change is here tostay, whether we like it or not.

It’s good news for those who want to navigate throughout the winter as lock restrictions are now being eased as the reservoirs start to recover. But in themain it is actually bad news. We cannot afford overtopping reservoirs or canals. Washing away the banks is disastrous and leads to huge engineering problems to reinstate them. Breaches suck up money that is in very short supply. And we want that maintenance programme to be completed and not curtailed by inclement weather.

At NABO we are always looking for positives. We love boating and want to be very positive about the benefits that we know it brings. I am never more relaxed than when I have my hand on the tiller and the gentle sound of the prop wash in my ears.

The throb of a canal boat engine is music to many of us; 2mph is a beautiful speed and watching the world go by at that pace is the most enjoyable thing in the world. We hear birdsong at all times of the year and can watch birds gathering and feeding in the hedgerows as we pass. It is a great way to get away from it all.

Some will be escaping the bustle and push of the coming Christmas season by taking to the water. We are not selfish and don’t want to keep it to ourselves but how to get the message out there that this is all in jeopardy? We have written to our MPs. Many of us will write again. Perhaps we can write to the national papers.

Unfortunately I feel that our case for fully funded waterways will fall on deaf ears in the midst of news of recession, war and climate emergency. But that does not mean we should not try.