Chair Anne writes in NABO News.

As I type this, the ice that has held the canal here and everywhere else going by your pictures, is finally thawing, damaging storms are hopefully behind us. The fuel boats will have an easier time getting to us and cruising plans for the year become a more optimistic exercise.

It’s been a dramatic start to the new year with the major breach on the Bridgewater Canal and the lesser but in its own way just as worrying storm and flood damage on the Huddersfield Narrow. Both events shine a light on the many threats to our waterways with maintenance neglect being a common denominator. And then there’s the Boat Licence Review to throw in to the mix, all of which have rather eclipsed CRT’s Better Boating plans. I note the ‘meat on the bones’ of these plans have now slipped from January to March, I’m hoping that these will be in place before our meeting with the CRT trustees that month.

The link between the two major stories in this boating new year, the Bridgewater breach and the CRT Boat Licence Review is the vast scope for pre-empting their outcomes. From catastrophising the worst to predicting the best, there have been plenty of posts and comments on the as yet, completely unknown. Nonetheless, in the best tradition of sensationalist journalism, they are being peddled all over the media with the worst scenarios gaining the most traction.

Is there any benefit in doing this, after all, many decisions we make and views that we hold are based on looking at past experience and what we know has happened before. For example, we have all seen how consultations held by navigation authorities, ostensibly to take in to account boater’s views, are then seemingly ignored with changes made of a pre determined, fait accompli nature, in the face of the results.

Nevertheless, pre-warned is prearmed. Well maybe, with so much doom and gloom in the current time coupled with the knowledge of historical poor outcomes and continuing lack of UK wide waterway maintenance, I am personally aware how easy it is to pre-empt the worst scenarios. I am also aware how much easier it is then made for those with decision making powers to simply fulfil the worst that has been predicted, after all, that’s what we all expected them to do.

Far better surely to put forward a more rounded picture, not pre-empting and forecasting decisions but exploring all the possible implications as more facts are revealed. At present, The Bridgewater

Canal Company Limited, (part of Peel L&P, in conjunction with the Bridgewater Canal Trust), operate the Bridgewater Canal, has confirmed that the breach will be repaired. However, as yet there’s no mention of re-instatement as a through route, but it’s very early days. As I type in mid January, CRT’s Boat Licence Review commission have not yet ratified its terms of reference although this is supposed to happen this month. Its proclaimed independence is also questionable given that the chair of this commission has been both appointed and paid for by CRT.

NABO council will be ready to engage on all these issues on behalf