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Back cruising again this summer
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- Category: NN Editorials
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Editor, Peter Fellows, reflects on the effects of the lockdown.
As this issue of NABO News was being prepared, CRT and the EA announced the resumption of boating on July 4th in England and July 6th in Wales. No-one believes that everything will go back to ‘normal’, but it is too early to tell what lasting damage has been done to waterways businesses and the services that they offer boaters. David Fletcher has recorded the timeline of events as the pandemic developed from February to June and some of the effects it has had on the waterways. Despite the end of the lockdown, it is clear that coronavirus hasn’t gone away and there are currently around 1,000 new infections every day. I’ve not seen any figures on the number of boat owners who have been infected, but a sensible assumption is that some infected but asymptomatic boaters will take to the water again in July. Although boating is relatively safe, everyone needs to be careful to wash their hands and disinfect surfaces after using service facilities, locks etc. This is likely to continue until an effective vaccine becomes available.
APPGW meeting
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- Category: Other Live Issues
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A meeting of the APPWG was held on 14th May using the Zoom videoconferencing facility. NABO attended as observers – the norm for such meetings. This well-attended meeting was chaired by the APPWG’s Chairman, Michael Fabricant, and very appropriately focused on the need for dedicated financial support for waterways businesses.
The lead speaker was Paul Rodgers, the National Chairman of the IWA, who emphasised that most waterways businesses are highly seasonal and thus are being hit hard by the lockdown, and, unless urgent funding is provided by Government, many will fail. To this end, the IWA, British Marine, CRT and the Broads Authority are calling for the Government to provide targeted support for the inland waterways sector. They are asking for a specific financial aid package, similar to that recently announced for the fishing industry, to allow the navigation authorities to underwrite licence and mooring fees for waterways businesses this year. NABO totally supports this view and has independently approached the Government, essentially supporting this view.
Hard times ahead?
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- Category: NN Chairman's Column
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Chair, Mike Rodd is concerned by what he sees in his crystal ball.
In these strange times that we’re living in, our thoughts and prayers are with those tragically affected by Covid-19 and we feel for those who have lost a family member, friend or colleague, or whose livelihood or mental health has been seriously affected.
Nevertheless, even on a smaller scale, I am sure that you are all, like me, totally frustrated by the unfortunate delays in being able to get back on our boats – made worse for those of us who boat in Wales, where the Assembly seems to be continually slightly out of phase with the situation in England. I am looking forward to be able to go and check that our boat is still floating!
In praise of the coal boats
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- Category: Issues
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Mark Tizard celebrates their essential service to boaters.
As a boater with some 35 years’ experience, I have never known a situation where coal boats have been so essential. Whilst all around them movements ground to a halt and marinas closed as the pandemic tightened its grip, it’s the coal boats that kept the system going. These boats have always been the eyes and ears of the waterways, reporting infrastructure faults and dredging issues to CRT. In the pandemic, with the absence of CRT’s furloughed spotters, they were also able to identify vulnerable boaters.
Several of them continued to supply fuel, even though some of their customers suddenly found themselves unable to pay. Boaters remained a community and it’s pleasing to see that several customers contacted their local coal boat and prepaid for a bag of coal or a bottle of gas to be delivered to a boater in need.