On 20 November 2001, the National Association of Boat Owners(NABO) reported a press release confirming that the Government had decided that the Environment Agency (EA) should retain responsibility for navigation on the rivers under its control and not transfer them to British Waterways.

Some 16 years later, NABO again wrote to MPs that sit on the All Party Parliamentary Group for Waterways, expressing concern and opposition to the Canal and River Trust’s (CRT) proposal to take over responsibility for EA navigations.

NABO is pleased to learn that in January 2018 the Government has again decided not to proceed with this transfer.  Hopefully, both the CRT and EA management teams will now be exclusively focussed on improving the navigations under their control to benefit all users, as recommended by NABO.