--- In [email protected], Will Chapman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Martin Clark wrote: > > Andrew Dyke wrote... > >> From: "Neil Arlidge" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >>> British Waterways to withdraw from Cotswold Canals Partnership > >> snip > >> Hi Neil and All, > >> > >> Very sad news indeed for the Cotswold Canal Trust but I am pleased the other > >> partnerships are not effected, particularly the Droitwich canal. > >> > > More about this on Save Our Waterways website. > > http://www.saveourwaterways.org.uk/news/ > > > > I must say that I think IWA's response has completely missed > the point. This is a decision that must have been very difficult > to take but I can't see that BW had other option. Would you > spend your available capital to build an extension on your house > if the very fabric of the main building was in need of major repairs?
I agree with Will, things seem to be very very tight and there is evidence everywhere of maintenance required on the existing structure as a priority over extending the system. > > Of course, it is a great disappointment to those who have put so > much work into the Cotswold project, but whatever BW put into > that project would just be taking money away from maintaining > the major part of the network. Sure, I know it is being spent > on repairing the Mon & Brec which is also not part of the main > system but that will save jobs & businesses that are already > established. It would be interesting how much lobbying has been going on from Welsh MP's, the Welsh assembly etc. but to be fair is has left a lot of businesses totally high and dry and the economic climate isn't exactly good at the moment either. > > In short is a direct rebound caused by the Defra cuts. That > coupled with the fact that BW have not been re-imbursed (by Defra > or EA) for the £8-10 million spent on floods last year obviously > has left BW in an extraordinarily tight financial position. Hear hear! > > Our campaign for the past 18 months has been emphasising that > there was a risk that cuts like this would be forced upon BW; > why is the IWA now criticising BW for doing what was inevitable. > > IMO, the IWA should be criticising Government not BW. Definitely, get the inland waterways out of DEFRA and somewhere sensible! > > The great danger is that we now have had 18 months of below > standard maintenance; how many more breaches/collapses are > waiting to happen? Will Government expect BW to close more > restoration projects or will they listen and realise that > they have to find a solution to BW's funding crisis? We can only hope and all keep working together to that end. BW isn't the enemy, just one part of a big problem which is how to fund and maintain our waterways properly. > > > > Feel free to leave comments on the Blog there > > http://www.saveourwaterways.org.uk/wp/ > > > Will Chapman > Save Our Waterways > www.SaveOurWaterways.org.uk > Debbi nb TIAMI
