2009/8/3 Mack, David [email protected] > > I think it more likely we will see more deferred maintenance and a slow > general decline. When something significant fails there will be an extended > stoppage until more funds can be found, just as was the case in the 1980s > with Blisworth and Netherton Tunnels, Anderton Lift etc. The next Mon & Brec > or Stourbridge breach might not be fixed so quickly. > And is this such a bad thing? Perhaps a tighter budget may lead to BW cutting obviously nonsense expenditure like signage and extra mooring points. Perhaps it might lead them to review non-necessary expenditure like the veg pledge. Towpath walkers should expect what they find in the countryside and boaters should carry sickles for mooring, the same as they once did. The towpaths have never been so good; maybe a year or two of decline would discourage some of the more unsavoury elements that are using them. And as for general maintenance, maybe a period of decline would restore some of the old values of boating when boaters had to use ingenuity if they came across a lock that was out of action, or a stretch that appeared unpassably shallow. Perhaps it would be no bad thing if the new breed of floating cottage boater were made to realise it isn't all easy going....
Discuss Steve [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
