Chair Anne Husar writes

And there went summer. Although it might have felt unremittingly cool and wet, according to the Met Office, neither temperature nor rainfall were anything other than average compared to previous years.

There are numerous reports from boaters that the canals were quieter this summer than usual, with many noticing hire bases still full of boats. The team who notify boaters of the unplanned stoppages have certainly not had a quiet time. Trees continue to come down, locks continue to break, water levels continue to be, shall we say, random. It all prompted one of NABO’s ex council members to look out an old Towpath Talk column that he wrote from four years ago to check for changes.

In his first paragraph, he asked whether it was time for CRT to stop the PR spin and admit that they are losing the maintenance battle. Four years on and CRT continue to spend millions on PR with upbeat posts on social media and on their website with accompanying pictures of well maintained waterways. No changes there then but there does seem to be a hint of a recognition in their responses to the many boater photos of less well maintained waterways that they can’t be on top of all that they’d like. A subtle plea for more funding as well as a more realistic response?

His article proceeds with an account of the many unplanned stoppages, a ‘barrage’ of them. He calls for year round pro-active inspection and maintenance but recognises the financial impact to CRT of the unplanned outlay on reservoirs. Four years on and there appears to be no change in CRT’s ‘wait till it breaks’ approach, leading, as it has, to major and expensive to repair canal breaches.

Continuing, his column writes of those heady days four years ago when the Boater Satisfaction survey showed 60% of boaters happy! The list of why 40% weren’t remains the same as now and could have been written yesterday. Perceptions that there was an emphasis on ‘well being’ and other towpath users, rather than maintaining the waterways; no pro-active maintenance; no improvements with dredging or vegetation management; CRT not valuing the views of boaters. Four years on and the recent survey resulted in just 46% of satisfied boaters.

He ends by pointing out that NABO and its members have been saying the same for years. Even in the face of apparent intransigence, we will continue to do so.

Thanks to Mark Tizard for sharing the article from Towpath Talk.