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Category: NN Chairman's Column
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Mark Tizard and Mike Rodd prepared a review of 2019.

Thank you for coming. Stella Ridgway, our Chair, unfortunately can’t be with us as she continues to recover from her kidney transplant. Stella is standing down from our Council and, on behalf of NABO, we would like to thank her for her service. She will be missed both by her NABO colleagues and also as a boater’s representative on CRT’s Council. During the year, our Vice-Chair Paul Howland passed away unexpectedly; his wise words are greatly missed.

Last year has been a challenging one for NABO: your Council has been spread thinly, seeking to establish contact and relationships with the new CRT Regional Directors, and the first meetings have taken place. On top of this, the latest major reorganisation has seen many experienced managers leave the Trust. During the last couple of years, with constant management changes, it is perhaps not surprising that communications with CRT have been sporadic. They certainly have not been proactive in wanting to engage with us. Your Council has recently taken steps to set up regular quarterly meetings with the Head of Customer Services and Head of Boating. In addition, we continue to be represented on the Navigation Advisory Group and the Boat Safety Scheme committees. The new CRT organisational management structure continues to bed in and we have concerns that in some areas core engineering and management experience have been lost.

Read more: Council Report for the AGM

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Category: NABO Regional Reports
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From Ken Hylins

I attended the Regional Forum on November 19th, where the Regional Manager put forward his aims and projections for the coming year. He has been heavily involved in the Toddbrook  Reservoir issue, using up much of his time, and he reiterated that the repair would not come out of CRT’s budget. The concern will be the loss of its water to the respective canals if we have low rainfall next year. Then there followed a presentation of all the sub-area managers’ aims and responsibilities, stating with vigour their staff numbers and the skills at their disposal. However, my concerns are that there is a small number of staff per area of responsibility; staff are complaining that they are run ragged and any compound issue that I see would be a problem. The one thing that was apparent was that the manager wanted issues to be related to customer services so that, once raised, they could be dealt with.

There was mention of canalside vegetation regarding offside and towpath maintenance. This was a tricky subject as there were many points raised by the canal societies. There was also a presentation of future areas of work, which can be obtained from the CRT website. The recurring theme was that to get things done in the North West, report it, and if it does not get any attention, follow it up until the matter is attended to or acknowledged. I feel we have the necessary channels to raise our membership concerns within the North West region.

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Category: Canal and River Trust
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The Council is responsible for the appointment of trustees, helping to shape policies and providing guidance and perspective to trustees. Election of 28 new Council members is now underway. Candidates and their manifestos were published on 25th November and licence holders will receive an email link to enable them to vote from 20th January to 14th February. Posts will run for four years from March.

In reality, private boaters have a chance to elect just four representatives, so only have a small voice on the Council and little real influence. But, it is a chance to interact with CRT directors and trustees and seek to get boaters’ views heard, as well as hearing about CRT’s latest strategic thinking. This, in NABO’s view, is the most important aspect and why we would urge you to vote. NABO is very disappointed to learn that the Association of Waterway Cruising Clubs (AWCC), essentially a mooring provider, was nominated to CRT Council as a ‘boaters’ representative’, which is simply not the case. The IWA and the AWCC each have a nominated seat, yet their members also get a vote. This year, roving traders have been told that, for the purpose of the election, they are now to be treated as private boaters, which is also blatantly not the case. They are no longer businesses and must vote for, and be represented by, private boaters. NABO’s view is that private boaters’ representation has been diluted by this and that the roving traders have been marginalised for no reason. It appears that all this was not consulted upon and it is regarded by boaters as a big step backwards. It has since been confirmed that these decisions were made by the Trustees and not proposed by CRT.

Read more: CRT Council Elections

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Category: NABO Regional Reports
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From Mike Rodd

I met Jon Horsfall, the interim CRT Director in Wales & South West, on 2nd October in Gloucester. Jon was appointed to take over from Richard Thomas, who left suddenly in July. The meeting proved to be a most useful, frank exchange of views and resulted in an agreement to continue to meet on a regular basis. This is especially important as Jon develops suggestions on how best to bring the various boater organisations back closer to CRT. It was also agreed that I would take Jon on my boat on the Mon & Brec and also on the K&A Canal Trust’s trip boat, The Rose of Hungerford.  

Sadly, though, the Mon & Brec’s Boaters Liaison meeting scheduled for 6th November was cancelled, largely due to the retirement of Kevin Phillips, CRT’s most valued Customer Operations Supervisor for Wales & South West. This was deeply regretted by those involved on the Mon & Brec, as it was felt that these meetings were the best working example ever of how CRT can work with its users.

Mark Evans has been appointed as Director for Wales & South West, taking up the role in January 2020. Mark is currently head of Waterside Moorings, CRT’s directly managed moorings business and interim head of museums at Gloucester and Ellesmere Port. He joined CRT over four years ago as waterway manager for the K&A.