British Waterways Board (Transfer of Functions) Order 2012

I have extracted the section from Hansard that deals specifically with the BW Transfer Order - a total of 16 pages which I will read later but I have made available for download as a pdf HERE

The contribution from Lord Smith - The EA Chairman, fits conveniently on to a single page so, as its content is so important to the THames I will quote it in full here:
Lord Smith of Finsbury: My Lords, I begin by declaring my interest as chairman of the Environment Agency. I very much welcome the transformation of the British Waterways Board into the new Canal and River Trust and I am grateful to the Minister for the helpful way in which he introduced our discussion. I particularly welcome two things about what is happening. First, I welcome the encouragement and facilitation of increased public and community participation in decision-making about what happens to our waterways. I very 


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much hope that the Government's intentions in this respect will come to fruition in the way in which the new CRT operates. Secondly, I very much welcome the funding package which the Government have put in place to enable the transfer. In the spirit of the times, it is a somewhat generous package but it will enable a really good start to be made on the work of the new trust.
It is, of course, the Government's ambition to go a bit further in two to three years' time and to include the Environment Agency's navigation responsibilities in the new Canal and River Trust. I welcome that ambition and we in the Environment Agency will do everything that we can to assist the process. At the moment, we have responsibility for something like 1,000 kilometres of statutory navigation. This includes, crucially, the River Thames and the River Medway, Rye Harbour, the Great Ouse, the River Nene, the Stour in Suffolk, the Wye and the Dee conservancy in Wales-substantial navigable rivers of iconic importance. Our responsibilities for those waterways include a duty to maintain them in a condition in which people can safely enjoy the statutory public right of navigation that exists on them. We will continue to endeavour to fulfil those responsibilities to the very best of our ability in the run-up to any transfer to the new trust.
We should remember how popular our waterways are. In 2009-10, the last year for which we have accurate figures, there were approximately 70 million visits to our waterways. There are 32,000 registration holders-boat owners and operators-on our navigations alone, let alone on the canals and waterways that will come under the new body. In the current financial year we will be investing around £10 million of grant in aid and £7.5 million of income, a considerable amount of that coming from boaters, in managing and operating the navigation structures on these waterways.
As we prepare for the further handover, and as we bear in mind the responsibilities that the new trust will have, a few points need to be borne in mind, and I very much hope that the Government will do so. First, on rivers in particular-this differs to a certain extent from canals-there are different traditions for different rivers; they do not all operate in exactly the same way with the same expectations for boat operators and users. Including an appreciation of the subtle differences between different waterways in any assessment of how things move forward is going to be important.
Secondly, and with the events of the past weekend weighing heavily on my mind, we need to bear in mind the need always to manage rivers for flood risk management. The importance of marrying navigation responsibilities with the continuing flood risk responsibilities that the Environment Agency will continue to have in waterways that transfer will eventually be an important part of what happens. Thirdly, it will be important that the money is there for any enhanced responsibilities that the new trust has when transfer occurs in a few years' time.
Fourthly, in looking at how the new trust operates, both in its initial phase and in the second phase after the transfer of EA responsibilities, it is important that the new trust all the time bears in mind the interests of 


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boat owners and users and the people who want to use our rivers for recreation, for quiet enjoyment and for the solace that very often our rivers can bring. It is being accorded an important responsibility. I have every confidence that the team and the arrangements that are being put in place will enable that to happen, but I hope that the Government will keep a wary eye on making sure that it does.
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Note that throughout this statement any mention of transferring the Thames into C&RT (note my emboldment) is a question of WHEN and not IF.
 
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"I have extracted the section from Hansard that deals specifically with the BW Transfer Order -"

Cheers for that B1.Very interesting..................

"for quiet enjoyment"

No loud music from whatever source especially MP3 owners with tinny amps and Fairline Bravo flybridge speakers ..no noisy raves or parties,no chugging generators,no yobbos having BBQs and strewing their rubbish everywhere.......!
 
oldgit said:
"I have extracted the section from Hansard that deals specifically with the BW Transfer Order -"

Cheers for that B1.Very interesting..................

"for quiet enjoyment"

No loud music from whatever source especially MP3 owners with tinny amps and Fairline Bravo flybridge speakers ..no noisy raves or parties,no chugging generators,no yobbos having BBQs and strewing their rubbish everywhere.......!
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No tossers cycling down the towpath shouting through megaphones.
 
The quiet enjoyment of Henley.OK Ya........

apollo said:
No tossers cycling down the towpath shouting through megaphones.
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No rowers,"chillaxing" after a v.hard day doing something connected with derivatives at the bank, bashing into the back of "ones" parked boat and then blaming you for mooring there in the first place.
 
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The importance of marrying navigation responsibilities with the continuing flood risk responsibilities that the Environment Agency will continue to have in waterways that transfer will eventually be an important part of what happens. Thirdly, it will be important that the money is there for any enhanced responsibilities that the new trust has when transfer occurs in a few years' time.
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So here we are, with the EA charged with keeping things going for another couple of years with ill defined funding, and an inevitable increase in licence fees in 2013 and 2114 of around CPI + 2%.
 
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