The Commonwealth Games are coming to Birmingham this summer and there are many events taking place. As part of the Birmingham 2022 Festival, celebrating the people, history and stories of our canals, CRT, the Birmingham Canal Navigations Society (BCNS ) and the IWA are organising a parade of boats on the weekend of 24th – 26th June in the City Centre to celebrate boating and the canal heritage of the city. On Friday 24th, boats will gather at a rally organised by BCNS at Smethwick Locks in Galton Valley, where moorings will be available. The following day, boaters will travel into the city and the boat parade will form between Birmingham Roundhouse and Icknield Port. It will then pass through the heart of the city to the Mailbox, returning to moor for the night between the Roundhouse and Icknield Port. The parade will be repeated on the Sunday morning. Entry is free of charge for boaters taking part and each boat will receive a commemorative plaque. Boaters are being asked to showcase and celebrate their crafts and the waterways ‘in the most fun way possible’. Entry forms are available from https://bcnsociety.com/event/commonwealthgamescruise.
A not a very well-attended meeting with only some 24 folk present (including numerous CRT people) but still a useful and well-structured session. The Regional Director, Mark Evans, gave a slick summary of the past year and of course highlighted the difficulties caused by the storms etc. He also emphasised the significant amount of non-boater outreach activities which have been taking place.
Read more: CRT South West Annual Public Meeting – Thursday 7th April
Boat Safety Scheme consultation
In March, the BSS began consulting boaters on proposals contained in its Examination Checking Procedures. The revisions apply to checks used in examinations of privately owned boats, managed boats in private use, and boats subject to the 2017 Hire Boat Requirements. The consultation concerns the introduction of two mandatory BSS requirements by amendments to existing BSS checks. The two increased requirements are:
1. On boats with petrol propulsion engines, requiring evidence of recent servicing for any Wilderness Boats conversion of an Electrolux RM 212 refrigerator, BSS Check 8.2.2R
2. Clarification that ferrous or cast iron fittings, joints and components used in LPG pipework, are not compliant with BSS Check 7.8.3R.
It is also proposed to introduce 20 relaxations by reducing some requirements or allowing additional compliance options. Details of these are provided in the consultation. The BSS considers that the improvements are necessary and proportionate means of risk control that will improve the consistency of applying BSS checks by examiners. Send comments on the amendments to the BSS by Tuesday 31st May 2022. The consultation is available at www.boatsafetyscheme.org/ECPconsultation and a summary of the views expressed and the BSS response will be published in the summer.
Crunch-time soon?
Mike Rodd peers into a very uncertain future for the waterways.
The coming months are going to be absolutely critical for all of us who boat on our inland waterways, as it is clear that reports into the futures of both CRT and the EA – as I have mentioned in my previous columns – will soon come under consideration by the relevant government ministers. These reviews will ultimately determine not only how CRT and EA are going to operate, but what (if any) government funding they will receive. So you will have to forgive me if I concentrate in this Chairman’s column on these critical issues, as each and every one of us will need to understand the situation and do whatever we can to influence our local MPs, and also shout loudly across social networks, or wherever we have a voice.
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