Between a rock and a hard place - a sad state of affairs.

[boatone]

In July 2012 the Canal and Rivers Trust took over the responsibilities for the inland waterways previously managed by British Waterways,
Government endowed the new trust with some £500million in assets and property and also agreed an ongoing grant totalling approximately £800million over the ensuing 15 years to 2027. From that time the C&RT also became free of government shackles and able to identify and grow new sources of income.

The EA waterways - the Thames, Anglian. Little Ouse/Great Ouse and Medway were originally intended to be included in the new trust but, due to a number of issues, not least the complexity and extent of additional funding required, government decided to leave the transfer of these inland waterways until another day.

So, EA waterways remain firmly under the control of Defra and the Environment Agency and, whereas the canal system now enjoys security of income and is largely the master of its own future, we on the Thames are witnessing at first hand the devastating effects of the government austerity programme and the impact on maintenance and services to river users.

Thames boaters may like to compare the £50million plus in protected annual grants enjoyed by the C&RT to the little more than £5million p.a. (and reducing) reaching the EA Thames budget. We, as private powered craft owners contribute some £3million in registration fees - sad to say, after overheads, little more than half of that actually reaches the coalface.

I think thats enough to explain why we are experiencing problems with maintenance and lock manning - the question is what can we do about it?

 

[Outinthedinghy]

Sack all the lock keepers convert all the locks to hand wind and convert all ea owned land into residential moorings with short term visitor moorings patrolled by residents. Lock cottages to be demolished and replaced by individual visitor centres with heritage information and a place to buy tea and expensive cakes. And chargeable parking.

And advise all boaters to buy a decent quality cordless drill and socket attachment to stick on the centre of the hand winding wheel if they can't be arsed to do it manually

 

[Outinthedinghy]

Boatone - what do you mean by "... we on the Thames are witnessing at first hand the devastating effects of the government austerity..." ?

I've been boating on the Thames for over 20 years and apart from the obvious things like too many scruffy boats about and moorings being charged for or closed what is so devastating?

OK so the lock keepers are being thinned out perhaps but it all seems to basically work ok doesn't it?

 

[Outinthedinghy]

Edit to remove accidental double post

 

[oldgit]

B1 was warning about this absolutely ages ago,when it became obvious to some that if there was not enough public money to keep open a day care centre or provide respite to parents of disabled children,that some less vital areas of public largess were going to feel the pinch.
It looks as though the purse tightening has finally starting to affect some services once thought to be untouchable,simply and purely because they had always been available..
Seem to remember that many fought against the idea of the Thames being taken over by CART as those other manky old canals and lesser rivers would nick all "The Jewel in the Crown" Thames money .

The chap holding the purse strings has just has 4 billion removed from his pot.
He will be looking around to recoup it.....right of navigation or no.

 

[Flynnbarr]

I wonder how much austerity the EA management structure has had to deal with?

As to what to do,we are Brits,we'll muddle through whilst moaning....or move to the Medway where it's always ticketyboo

 

[bumperdump]

Don't give quite so much in aid abroad. All sorted

 

[oldgit]

....or move to the Medway where it's always ticketyboo

Shh,
We dont want long lines of geriactic old pensioners round here wondering what the hell is going on after entering a lock and wondering after 3 hours and four cups of tea why nobody has wished them a cheery "Good morning" taken their lines and shut the lock gate

 

[boatone]

As to what to do,we are Brits,we'll muddle through whilst moaning....or move to the Medway where it's always ticketyboo

Seems to me there is a need for users of EA waterways to decide what they want, both for themselves and the future of the river as a recreational navigation.
User organisations are trying hard to prevent deterioration of services - particularly lockside service, dredging, tree clearance, moorings etc. but it is clear that lack of funding is leading to difficult choices.
There is currently a freeze on registration fees pending an EA wide charges review but I have no doubt that increased fees will be back on the agenda once the review is complete. We will then have to decide whether to resist and accept continuing reductions in maintenance and service but, at the end of the day, it will be for the EA to decide whether they impose increased registration fees regardless of our concerns.

 

[Bru]

I cannot help but feel that the chickens are coming home to roost somewhat

For as long as I can remember (and indeed since it's inception in the late 1940s), the Inland Waterways Association had been campaigning for a single National Waterways Conservancy to manage all of the UK's navigable canals and rivers

The concept was always that this body would be independent of government albeit partially funded by it (there is a base line cost to the government of maintaining vital drainage, flood relief, public safety and so on functions of canals and rivers irrespective of whether they remain navigable or not)

During my time on the Council of the IWA, it was clear, indeed abundantly clear, that the overwhelming majority of Thames boaters were opposed to the inclusion of the Thames in the waterways to be managed by any such body. EA and its predecessors were opposed to (a combination of loss of income from government, much of which was diverted to other departments to the detriment of navigation, and a definite element of empire building)

The Thames, to be blunt, long enjoyed a rather privileged existence being much better maintained and staffed than other EA rivers or for that matter the British Waterways canals. That never looked sustainable in the modern economic climate

In the Canal & River Trust, the IWA's vision has been at long last largely realised. It is a pity that in the decade or so prior to its inception the Treasury forced the sell off of a significant part of the former BW's property portfolio which has left C&RT under-financed but never the less the Trust is free of the threat of arbitrary changes in its income stream (it's not so long ago that BW was informed half way through the financial year that it's budget for that year was being slashed with immediate effect)

It seems inevitable that the day will come when the navigation responsibilities of EA are transferred to C&RT, the logic and practical benefits are all but inescapable, especially for government. Whereas in the past EA were opposed to the move (see above), their stance has changed to one of trying to get the best deal for the department out of it (inevitably, in any such reorganisation, all the parties want to gain from it!)

The OP's post suggests that some, at least, Thames boaters are coming around too!

For the record, I have no axe to grind and I'm no longer personally involved or anything more than mildly interested. I'm just posting some background knowledge gained from 20 odd years of involvement in waterways politics. Don't shoot the messenger!

 

[Outinthedinghy]

Good post with interesting information - thanks