Navigation Magazine 2011/2

Edition 2011/2

Navigation

Junction Canal Droitwich

West Midlands Region

is the quarterly publication of the West Midlands Region of The Inland Waterways Association.

The IWA is a national organisation and campaigns for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and development of the Inland Waterways.

‘Navigation’ has been in continuous publication for over 50 years.

We aim to bring readers a variety of items of local interest, news of forthcoming events and provide a contact with IWA. Primarily for the benefit of our members, Navigation is also distributed in a limited way for non-members to pick up and gain an insight into the news in the Region and the aims and activities of the Association.

I

The IWA West Midlands Region

IWA Website

One of just eight Regions, this region covers the geographic ‘Heart of England’. centred on Birmingham, it stretches to include Stoke on Trent in the north, to Warwick in the east and Worcester in the south.

This is where the great network of 18th century canals, from London in the south east, Bristol in the south west, Merseyside in the north west and Humberside in the north east; all come together.

Navigation magazine is available in PDF format on the IWA website: www.waterways.org.uk W h e r e v e r p o ssi b l e , o n t h e internet, pictures and graphics a r e f u l l co l o u r a n d o t h e r enhance ments, such as live links to website locations and email addresses, are active.

So even if you have a paper copy, it is still worth having a look on-line if you have access to the internet.

The IWA may not agree with opinions expressed in this magazine but encourages publication as a matter of interest.

Nothing printed may be construed as policy, or as an official pronouncement, unless specifically identified as such.

The Association accepts no liability for any matter published in this magazine, including adverts. No reproduction is permitted without acknowledgement.

Unless otherwise acknow ledged, most photographs were taken by the Editor.

The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) is a registered charity No. 212342.

IWA Registered Office: Island House, Moor Road, Chesham HP5 1WA. Tel 01494 783453

EDITORIAL DROUGHT

WATER

British Waterways has announced that it hopes to avoid overnight lock closures during the forthcoming main boating season as part of its plans to manage water levels over the course of the Chasewater Reservoir works.

SHORTAGE STOPPAGES

These are the words we do not want to here. Rivers are at their driest ever for this time of the year, according to rainfall figures, with many areas of the country already officially in drought. Many rivers are lower or at a similar level than 1976. The areaâ€&#x;s most likely to be affected will be the BCN and the Leeds and Liverpool.

Overnight closures were implemented during the 2010 season as part of a package of measures to help manage water resources on the Birmingham Canal Navigations while the reservoir, one of the main water supplies for 198-miles of canal, was drained for essential repair works.

Chasewater Reservoir is still drained down for work on the dam.

However BW and their advisors have allowed the ground water springs to let some water into the reservoir and allow a small feed into the canal.

The consequences of little feed water from this reservoir may not be apparent but it is a major feeder to the BCN which is a summit canal.

The BCN is the hub of the West Midlands Region canal network and water shortages at this level reduces any overflow feed to other canals. The feed water to this level is supplemented from the Bradley Mines. The Environment Agency has allowed BW to increase the water flow from Bradley Pumps and help resolve the problem. This proved successful in 2010.

Although there were some minor fluctuations in water levels last year, the canal network remained open and largely unaffected throughout the summer months.

This year it is anticipated that overnight closures will not be necessary as some of the other measures that have been implemented over the course of the last 12 months have increased water feeds from elsewhere on the network such as Bradley and Earlswood. In addition the water stored in Chasewater itself is greater than previously anticipated, potentially giving a partial feed into the canal system.

One of the main threats to maintaining sufficient water levels 1

on the canal network is vandalism in which locks are tampered with and sections of canal drained. BW is warning that if these incidents continue this summer it will resort to the overnight closures to avoid any unnecessary loss of water.

boat movements to and from the event.

Lichfield District Council, which owns and maintains the reservoir, is carrying out essential dam repair works which have reduced water resources available for the area‟s canal network. The works are planned to be completed by early summer when the water levels in the reservoir will be allowed to rise.

Waterway Manager, Dean Davies, said; “Last year was a challenging year and we reluctantly took the decision to close lock flights overnight as a precautionary measure.

There are a number of major events on the BCN; these include the Marathon Challenge and the Pellsall Rally (BW have agreed 150 boats can attend this event).

“However, thanks to the action we took last year, and the cooperation we received from the boating community, we are now in a much stronger position and, barring any major incidents or vandalism, should be able to avoid closing any locks.

Following these have the opening of the Droitwich Canal and the National!

The big event (in canal restoration terms) will be the reopening of the Droitwich Barge Canal and the Droitwich Junction Canal. This will restore the link between the River Severn and the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. The Official Opening will be in June but boats may be allowed passage from May Bank Holiday.

“The situation is still very delicate and we‟ll be monitoring things closely. Wherever possible we would still encourage boaters to follow the broad principle of keeping their evening boat movements to a minimum and, by doing so, make a significant contribution to keeping the locks open.”

The Droitwich Canal (often referred to as the Droitwich Barge Canal) was built with nine board locks to take river barges (maybe Severn Trows) from the River Severn to Droitwich to service the salt trade and other goods. These barges carried upwards of 50 tons.

The Droitwich Canal was an artificial tributary of a natural river

With a few exceptions, the majority of canal events went ahead without incident or impact on the water resources and the advice to organisers of 2011 events is to seek British Waterways‟ permission as soon as possible, manage numbers, and consider 2

(The Salwarpe) and was authorised in 1768. The River Salwarpe is naturally saline and has different varieties of reeds than normally seen on inland waterways.

The successors to the Gloucester and Berkeley Company were the Sharpness Docks and Gloucester & Birmingham Navigation Company and the Droitwich Canals were abandoned in 1939, through the Droitwich Canals Abandonment Act.

The Droitwich Barge Canal was one of Britainâ€&#x;s earliest canals. It was built by James Brindley, one of our most famous canal engineers. Opened in 1771, it served the Droitwich salt trade by linking the centre of Droitwich with the navigable River Severn six miles away. Competition from salt production at nearby Stoke Works and from railways led to the construction of the Droitwich Junction Canal. Built in 1854 this was one of the last canals to be built in England, and linked the Barge Canal with the Worcester & Birmingham Canal 1.5 miles away at Hanbury Wharf. The western end of the Junction Canal utilised a 150m length of the River Salwarpe which was canalised to enable navigation.

The Droitwich Canals Trust was formed in 1976 with the primary purpose of bringing the Droitwich Canals back into navigable use.

Extensive volunteer effort was put in stop their decline and start the process of bring back the 7.5 miles of canal back into use. The Waterways Recovery Group has been actively involved in restoring the Droitwich Canals.

The final canal restoration work, along the River Salwarpe between Swan Drive and Vines Park in Droitwich, will connect the Droitwich Barge Canal and Droitwich Junction Canal. The work involves deepening the existing river channel to create a navigable stretch of water together with installing a new towpath along the southern side of the river.

The Worcester and Birmingham Canal passed into the hands of the receiver in 1868 and in 1874 the Gloucester and Berkley Company leased it together with the Droitwich and Droitwich Junction Canal. This together with the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal gave them a through water route to Birmingham via the River Severn, one that could take broad boats and narrow boats.

The overflow water from the Junction Canal will be transferred via a pipe to the Barge Canal, so that this section of the River Salwarpe does not receive water from the Worcester Birmingham.

The reason for this being that the Salwarpe is saline.

John Taplin 3

reopened Droitwich Canals may well be the last extension to the present BW system we shall see for some considerable time.

With a number of significant restoration projects within our Region this beg the serious question as to how will these waterways be funded once they are reopened; and who will manage the navigations once they are restored? But it goes much deeper than this in that once a section is restored it has to be maintained and the need to do this increases as the linear length of restored assets, whether linked by water or not, are expanded. There are presently several isolated sections of restored canal across the country that are hardly likely to bring in any significant revenue until they are connected into the system and that assumes, unless some other significant revenue stream have already been established, that boaters will be willing to pay tolls to use it.

River Salwarpe between Junction and Vines Park

West Midlands Region Region Chairman’s Notes As many of you will know I have chaired the Association‟s Restoration Committee for many years taking over from Tony Harrison during the „good times‟ when cash for expanding the system seemed to have no limit as long as the project was at the right stage to receive funding.

So what is the future of waterway restoration? Well if the projects are to succeed and become sustainable in the longer term they will need to maximise all possible income streams at the earliest possible stage if it is to maximise opportunities to build up a maintenance dowry as the restoration proceeds.

It is becoming increasingly clear that until now many schemes have just looking at restoring their waterway

How times have changed not only has this money to all intents and purposes dried up, but there is now a distinct possibility that there will be insufficient funding available to maintain the existing system to the standards that we have become accustomed to let yet alone enable BW and its successor take on any additional waterways, the shortly to be 4

in the hope that BW would take it over once its been completed yet, given the perceived future funding of the waterway network, this is unlikely to happen unless there are very sufficient financial resources accumulated to hand over with the waterway to secure its long term future maintenance.

Finally; to finish on a more positive note. Whilst the work is expected to be finished around Spring Bank Holiday, and the canals will then be informally open to general navigation, the Droitwich Canals are expected to be formally reopened during the afternoon Friday 1st July.

This will be followed by a major boat rally on the canals in Droitwich town centre that will celebrate the conclusion of the project and to recognise all the years of work done by the volunteers to achieve this. Ideally placed for boaters from out of the area visiting the National Festival at the end of July details can be obtained from David Wheeler, 13 Harvington Road, Broom Park, Bromsgrove, B60 2BA. Tel: 01527-833359 email:drewheeler@aol.com. Having achieved its objective the Droitwich Canals Trust, part created by IWA in the „70‟s, will wind itself up once these celebrations have been concluded, so that‟s one success story for us all to celebrate.

Moving to the third sector, as many will know, British Waterways is now seriously looking to augment its staff by the use of volunteers in all sectors of its operations in the same way that both the National Trust and RSPB currently do.

Unless, like the funding issues already mentioned, these restoration schemes don‟t give serious thought to how they will be able to recruit more volunteers to restore and then operate their waterways this BW initiative, however laudable it might be, may well have a serious effect on each restoration trust‟s long term potential volunteer base.

So if you are in any way involved in waterway restoration now is the time to take a serious look at your long term resources, both in terms of finance and people, and see how you can build these up before others dry them up. Competition exists in all walks of life, even in the volunteering sector, and your project needs to be seen as the most attractive to the volunteer in order to beat this competition.

Vines Park

5

case of Lock Duties a good way of getting involved might simply be to help one of the existing volunteers.

Diane Morgan on 01981-250443 is the Lock Duty Co-ordinator so why not give her a ring and find out more.

The William James is scheduled to be moored in Bancroft Basin from early April so again why not pay a visit and find out more about what is involved?

Porters Mill

You may have read in the Leamington Courier that the branch recently organised a highly successful clean-up in cooperation with British Waterways.

A large number of supermarket trolleys, bikes and similar were grappled from the canal and other litter cleared from the towpath.

Sadly such work parties are an ongoing need, so if you are able to help please get in touch with a member of the Warwickshire Branch Committee. Arising from the last work party we have been asked by BW if we can help with lock painting on the Southern Stratford Canal.

Also the first weekend in July sees this year‟s Stratford River Festival where any help is always welcome.

K V Welch

Warwick Branch News

There is a lot happening in the coming months and I hope those members of Warwickshire Branch able to volunteer to help will come forward. Starting with the Avon, the Avon Navigation Trust are looking for help with Sunday Lock Keeper duties.

Roger Clay, a branch member and also Trustee of ANT addressed our last Ryton lecture meeting on this and opportunities to help staff the William James information centre barge to be moored in Bancroft Basin, Stratford-on-Avon.

Both volunteer activities are a great opportunity to raise public awareness of IWA and contribute to the Association‟s well-being.

Perhaps Roger did not make it entirely clear that help need be for as little as one day per year or more regular attendances. In the

A special event this year is the Saul to Lechlade Centennial Cruise to commemorate the passage in May 1911 of nb “Gem” the last recorded fully laden working boat to have travelled from Saul to Lechlade through the Cotswold Canals.

Details are subject to final confirmation but 6

five or more boats will enter the Avon at Tewkesbury on 13th August arriving at Stratford on Avon on 18th Aug. And be at Hatton Locks on 22nd August. The Cotswolds Canal Trust are organising the event but have asked Warwickshire Branch of IWA for help with Lock working and publicity events. Again we need help from IWA members across the region to make this a success for both IWA and the CCT bearing in mind both the major Heritage Lottery funded restoration now underway in the Stroud area AND the national IA appeal for donations to restore Inglesham Lock and the canal near the Lock to full navigable order to once again receive boats from the river Thames.

Please note that following a very successful Branch organised walk visit to the Stroudwater Canal at Christmas we are currently aiming to have another visit around Easter to the Lechlade end of the Thames and Severn with private access to see WRG work at Inglesham and Eisey. If the visit goes ahead it will be posted on our Website.

inventory of the contents of the various boxes, albeit that some boxes have the designation for the moment of “miscellaneous” and a few appear to be nothing to do with canals. We are most grateful for the guidance and oversight of this project by Malcolm Boyns, official Archivist at WCRO and for the support of the Coventry Canal Society.

“Local MP checks out Stratford‟s Waterways” Stratford‟s MP, Nadhim Zaharwi and Tony Hales CBE, Chairman of British Waterways, were recently invited by Directors of the Avon Navigation for a trip to look at the work done to conserve and maintain Stratford‟s River. While travelling from Stratford to Luddington and back, the group, which also included SDC Councillor Mike Brain, held an indepth discussion on the feasibility of extending the navigation to Warwick and the social and economic benefits to be gained.

The Rhodes Thomas slide collection donated by his family to IWA and on long term loan to the Warwick County Record Office for safe storage has been actively worked on by 6 Warwickshire Branch members and initial trawl has identified some 20,000 slides and has generated a basic 7

Cllr Mike Brain and Nadhim Zaharwi MP on-board Bancroft Cruisers flagship, cruise past the re-opened Royal Shakespeare Theatre

Arm from the Grand Union Canal to Daventry town centre.

Daventry MP, Chris Heaton-Harris (who chaired the meeting) was appointed as Honorary President, and Dean Hawkey was appointed as Chairman of the Association.

The setting up of this organisation is a timely one as detailed planning permission for the two mile canal corridor is about to be sought by Daventry District Council, and should be obtained by the final quarter of this year.

We believe that the canal and town centre WaterSpace will be a great asset to Daventry, which will encourage boaters and visitors to the town, and will create the brilliant (and nationally unrivalled) prospect of a two mile long park area containing a canal and canalside walk/cycle way, with a direct link to the Grand Union Canal, running alongside, and extending, the established Country Park, all easily accessible from the town centre.

We look forward to communicating our activities to you, and should be grateful for any encouragement and support you may be able to give to our fledgling organisation

Roger Clay, Avon Navigation Trust Director; Cllr Mike Brain, SDC Portfolio Holder; Nadhim Zaharwi MP; Tony Hales CBE, Chairman of British Waterways and John Filgate, Chairman of Stratford and Warwick Waterways Trust, return up-river to the town quays aboard Bancroft Cruisers flagship Rita Ellen.

Daventry Canal Association I am pleased to announce that at the inaugural meeting held on Friday, 11 March, Daventry Canal Association was formally established as a not-for-profit membership organisation whose principal purpose is to promote, assist and encourage support for the development and maintenance of the proposed Daventry Canal

Ian Jackson

8

Stoke-on-Trent Branch News

which will be put up on the towpath at all 3 boundary points of the city within the next couple of months.

These welcome signs are to be of the metal obelisk type already established alongside the T&M at key points.

The Branch has been kept busy on all its projects since the last edition of “Navigation”.

Burslem Port A new legal entity for the Project is now established entitled the Burslem Port Trust. A group of influential local people have formed a Steering Group.

The Trust has been registered as a Company Limited by Guarantee.

As from January 28th, the project is no longer a sub-group of the Trent & Mersey Canal Society. The aims and objectives of the Trust were clarified in a workshop held in February, led by an Officer of the Burslem Regeneration Company.

Another workshop took place in March to establish a business plan and decide on immediate targets.

As its final act, Renew is funding an engineering study costing £45000 which will be completed in April. We have just seen the plans for the redevelopment of the Slater Street site, which overlooks the wharf and warehouse. We have looked at these and commented in some detail in order to help RENEW and the developer maximise the potential waterside situation of this site.

Stoke-on-Trent Canal Partnership The branch has been represented on this new Stoke Waterways Partnership, initiated by the Lord Mayor, Denver Tolley, who is a member of Stoke-on-Trent Boat Club. The first achievement of the partnership is new “marker posts”

Cheshire Locks The series of monthly working parties which were planned to, start during Towpath Tidy week have been postponed, largely because the key members of the campaign have been overwhelmed by business connected with other Branch projects. We are hopeful that a new working party group based at Birkenhead YMCA but attached to the Trent and Mersey CS will be able to play a major part in the scheme. The towpath side lock is closed at present. An accurate laser survey has been carried out and has proven that the lock is only wide enough for boats with a maximum beam of 6‟ 10”.

We did have a couple of boats jam in this lock last year, we believe one had a piece of floating timber trapped between the gunnels and the wall, because of this we have taken the view that better signage is required to warn skippers of the width restriction. We plan to have this signage in place soon so we can re-open the lock to craft of 6‟ 10” and narrower.

9

National Waterways Festival 2011.

The Branch‟s idea for a “Staffordshire Waterways” marquee has been welcomed by numerous Staffordshire waterway organisations, and together with Jerry Sanders, Commercial Director for the Festival, we have been successful in getting sponsorship from Staffordshire County Council for the funding of the marquee itself. We have the active support of the High Sheriff, Ian Dudson, whose canal challenge where he walked all 154 miles of Staffordshire towpaths will be featured in one of the displays.

Etruria Industrial Museum. As part of the cuts due to reduction in local government funding, it has been proposed to close the Etruria Industrial Museum, site of the popular annual Canal Festival. The branch has written to the city council in support of the museum remaining open and expressing the view that, if the solution is to transfer the Museum to a Trust, this should be with a suitable undertaking for the council to maintain the buildings.

Branch Raffle. The raffle organised by the Branch in 2010 raised a total of £4880 once expenses have been deducted. Donations of £500 to the Burslem Port Trust and £100 to the Lichfield and Hatherton have been made. A major donation is planned to the Caldon & Uttoxeter restoration: we are awaiting further information from them before deciding how much to allocate.

The Annual Branch Dinner was held at the George Hotel, Burslem in January, a great evening excellently organised by Barbara Wells. There were 37 members and guests. Our two MBEs, Harry Arnold and Alison Smedley, were congratulated on joining the Order by the Guest of Honour, the High Sheriff of Staffordshire, Ian Dudson CBE. The auction and raffle raised £275.

Navigation Issues. The canal and towpath have reopened between Planet Lock and Bedford St but the towpath repair is only temporary.

Lock 63 Cheshire Locks at Malkins Bank, the towpath side chamber is still closed; we think this is because a hire boat got stuck there last season and there are suspicions that the lock, which was already narrow, may have closed in further. Emergency grouting works were carried out last spring to the offside lock. This was due to the amount of voiding behind the lock walls caused by the loss of fines through the leakage back into the lock. The lock was then monitored over the summer period, and subsequently again over the winter. The grouting has arrested the deterioration of the lock so BW engineering managers have decided not to carry out any further works at this lock at present.

Towpath improvements delayed. £100,000 set aside by Staffordshire County Council for remedial towpath work between Meaford and Barlaston has been 10

April – Tim Lewis from London talking about the work of London WRG. Membership Secretary. We are still without a branch membership secretary. After a few months without a boat club rep on the committee, we were very pleased to welcome a new Stoke Boat Club Rep on to the committee, Phil Green.

Looking forward. The branch will be featured at a number of events this year and would welcome help from anyone who can spare an hour or two. The dates are:- Etruria Canal Festival – 4th & 5th June; Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival – 18th & 19th June; National Waterways Festival, Burton on Trent – 29th to 31st July; Stone Food and Drinks Festival – Saturday 1st October

withdrawn. Stafford Borough are looking at other options. The section around Bridge 101 is virtually impassable due to mud.

Darren Green has asked his engineers to see if anything can be done to improve this bit, but of course there are no funds available for this type of work at present.

IWA National Seminar Stoke-onTrent was the venue for a national IWA seminar run by Promotions Committee in February this year.

The branch was well represented and operated a ferry service from the station for participants travelling by train.

CUCT News.

The branch continues to offer support to the Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust, particularly with the current Churnet Valley Living Landscape project. If you want to hear about the several canal projects included in this why not go to the CUCT website- www.cuct.org.uk. Branch members joined in a recent work party organised by the Trust at Froghall and another one is planned for Cheddleton on Saturday 26th March.

Social meetings Social meetings continue to get good turnouts.

Topics this winter have included the RNLI, as well as talks from local canal restoration schemes and projects such as the Macclesfield Canal, the Lichfield & Hatherton Restoration and the Riverway Link in Stafford. There is one more social this year, Fri 8 th

Roger Savage

Where is this?

11

Birmingham, Black Country and Worcestershire News

marinas but until we receive the official planning notice we can‟t comment officially. If you hear talk of anything proposed it would be helpful if you could let me know.

To learn a little more of how the IWA deals with restoration matters I attended a meeting of the Restoration Committee at Oldbury so if Bradley locks restoration is a starter I now know who to talk to.

Potentially there is much activity planned for our branch area. One of the biggest developments is named “Heartlands” & covers most of the area that adjoins the Grand Union Canal between Salford Jnct & Garrison (Saltley) locks up to Bordesley Village. By representing the IWA on the steering group hopefully we will be able to influence a sympathetic development of the Canal side.

Certainly the amount of money envisaged being spend an odd few million on the canal environs would not stretch the budget. The initial funded part of the project (£338000) is earmarked for the towpath & environs. Another big development is the Bilston area rejuvenation project. BCNS have submitted comments that we agree with also suggesting that the area be slightly extended to include the site of Bradley locks. Separately we put in a comment to the same effect. If the authorities would do this it would be a simple quick job re-joining two parts of the system & greatly improving the local area.

On the Staffs & Worcs by the time you read this work should have started on the new marina at Swindon. Another new marina is proposed at Hindlip on the Bham & Worcs & here we have submitted comments jointly with the BD&W society. Rumours abound of more application pending for new

Several members have helped on the BCNS clean up of the Titford flight of locks on the Saturdays when this has been taking place.

Over the weeks the difference is very noticeable; it‟s unusual for BW employees to watch us work in the bed of the canal!!!

The rally a Pelsall is approaching – there are still a few places for boats if you are quick.

This little used part of the network needs our use & support & the branch has been helping with some of the planning.

After delays due to the bad weather & ice I represented the branch at the official opening of the Aerial Aqueduct at Selly Oak on the B&W. A very nice piece of civil engineering; the traditional railings were a nice touch.

Several members helped on the IWA stand at the NEC Boat & Leisure show. The attendance seemed to be down & the stand was tucked away so not as busy as usual. However new members 12

Lichfield Branch Events:

were recruited & new contacts made.

All Lichfield events are published on the Branch Website accessed via watwerways.org.uk and then West Midlands Region.

Due to the snow & ice we cancelled our December meeting.

The New Year started with an informative talk by Roger Clay on the Warwickshire River Avon Stratford to Warwick Link. & our Feb meeting was an entertaining account of the Tom Rolt Cressy Re- enactment cruise presented by Ron & Mary Heritage, both meeting s being well supported

Wednesday 15th June 2011 Evening Walk from Wolseley Bridge.

Meet at 6.30 for 6.45 pm start at The Wolseley Arms, Wolseley Bridge, Stafford, ST17 0XS (junction of A513 and A51 between Rugeley and Stafford). A circular walk on the edge of Cannock Chase returning along the Trent & Mersey Canal. About 4 miles.

Optional pub meal afterwards.

Further details from Tim Burgin, Tel: 01889 579039 or Email: timburgin@btinternet.com

On Sept 24th we are hosting the National AGM at the new Cookley Village Hall, Kidderminster. On the day we will need 6/8 volunteer stewards/helpers. If you can volunteer please let me know.

Offers from those who are willing to provide a bed for the Sat night for those from a distance would be helpful.

Note: College Hall is in the Cathedral Close on the south side of the Cathedral. Parking is in Bird Street car park (free after 6.30pm) near Minster Pool. The entrance is where Bird Street and Swan Lane meet at 90 degrees. College Hall is a short walk from the far end of the car park up Dam Street and onto The Close. There is limited disabled parking in front of the Cathedral. Vehicles can enter The Close and drive round the Cathedral in a clockwise direction to College Hall for dropping off and collection only.

Dave Pearson

Rubbish from BCN near Garrison Locks 13

DEFRA Consultation:

them to be managed by a third sector body, and is pleased that the detailed proposals on how Government intends to change British Waterways into a new civil society body have now been revealed.

At a Glance Summary: 1.

IWA broadly welcomes the proposals in the Defra consultation, but has some key concerns 2.

Comments and views on the consultation are welcome from all IWA members, by end of May 3.

Region chairmen will be coordinating views and comments from members in their region 4.

A first draft response will be available in early May; please get your comments in early 5.

Members are encouraged to respond to the consultation in a personal capacity 6.

There should only be a single IWA response; branches should not submit corporate responses

IWA has maintained all along that the funding package needs to be viable, the governance needs to be right, and that the new body should also inherit the Environment Agency navigations.

We are therefore, especially pleased that the Government in launching this consultation has now signalled that it shares our views.

Specifically: The commitment in principle to inclusion of the Environment Agency navigations in 2015; the stated aim that this move to a charity must create a sustainable model for the future of the inland waterways; and the emphasis on governance arrangements that involve local stakeholders in decision making for their waterways.

Introduction and Background As you will know by now, Defra has issued a consultation on the proposals for moving British Waterways navigations into a new charity, with the view to adding the Environment Agency navigations in 2015 ( subject to agreement by the trustees of the new charity and there being a funding line created in the EA budget to allow a transfer).

Our Current Thinking

Navigation Committee and the trustees believe that the Agenda for IWA should be to now consider

We have advocated that the right way forward for Britainâ€&#x;s navigable inland waterways is probably for 14

how these aims can best be translated into a successful civil society body (charity) which can flourish in the future.

that sustains existing usage.

and

enhances

The Process going forward

Key aspects of the consultation that the Association will be looking therefore, should be how:

The trustees feel that in view of the significant change that these proposals signal for the management and organisation of the waterways, IWA must ensure that it adopts a strong leadership role and offer a firm and early view of the consultation and our response, to encourage as many other waterway organisations to get involved and make their views known ( and avoid any risk that there is a limited response on a critical issue by the waterways movement on such a widespread and broad consultation). It is intended that our response will be circulated to affiliated canal societies etc. so that a) they know what we think and b) they can use this as a template to formulate their own response if they wish.

• The indicative funding stacks up in delivering a sustainable charity.

• The governance proposals can best achieve community engagement consistent with localism and so that local „ownership‟ of waterways can lead to tangible benefits for the waterways.

• The Government is planning to ensure that the Environment Agency navigations can transfer smoothly in 2015/16.‟

Additionally, whilst there are proposals and options for freight in the document, no mention is made of how remainder navigations might be treated. IWA will therefore also want to explore in further detail how the status of the commercial, cruising and remainder waterways will be dealt with to meet the charitable purposes of the body in a manner

As such we would welcome your comments up to end of May, which we would ask to be directed to your region chairman. We aim however, to get a „first draft‟ out for the beginning of May, and we would particularly welcome any early comments before the end of April, so that these can be taken into account in the first draft. It is our Intention as usual to make one 15

„official IWA responseâ€&#x;, and we ask that branches and individuals do not make any additional responses in the name of IWA or on IWA headed paper.

These events proposed for each region and news of other things in the regions including photographs and other articles.

This facility enables all members to see what is happening in other Branches and Regions. These sites also contain forums to enable us to comment on experiences or concerns over the whole network.

The consultation is formulated around 29 key questions, but please be aware that it is perfectly acceptable to raise points, issues or concerns that arenâ€&#x;t in the consultation. Given the importance of ensuring that the waterways position is clearly heard, we would as always additionally encourage as many individuals to respond directly as possibly under their own name.

The consultation is available for inspection at www.defra.gov.uk/consult/2011/03/ 30/waterways-1103/ It is open for individual responses until 30 June 2011.

Regions and Branches IWA is organised through a network of 8 Regions and 35 local Branches. Branches hold regular meetings with talks, slide shows, open evenings etc., and most produce a local newsletter or magazine Branch Websites All Branches have their own page on the IWA website www.waterways.org.uk 16

Stratford River Festival On the Recreation Ground and Riverfront in Stratford-upon-Avon. on: July 2nd & 3rd 2011.

Details, and boat entry forms, are available from : ww.stratfordriverfestival.co.uk or e-mail: info@stratforward.co.uk Entrants are also entitled to a range of: ‘half price’ licences for the River Avon: Concessionary licenses range from:- ‘Festival Only’, up to ‘30 day’ – the latter of which enables attendance at the Evesham River Festival the following weekend, and / or a leisurely through- passage before or after the event

Navigation –– Contents Page

1

Editorial

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4

Region Chairman’s Report

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6

Warwickshire Branch Chairman’s Report

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9

Stoke-on-Trent Branch Chairman’s Report

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12

Birmingham, Black Country & Worcestershire Chairman’s Report

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13 Lichfield Branch Report

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14 DEFRA consultation