The Floater January 2018

Liverpool dock scene to change again

January 2018 - Following on the loss of the iconic Lightship, Planet, from Liverpool's Canning dock after Canal & River Trust towed it to Sharpness and sold it for a fraction of its value it seems more, much-photographed, vessels are about to depart Salthouse Dock, as Peter Underwood reports.

Three colourful and eccentric apartment boats, popular with tourists visiting Liverpool are about to be moved from C&RT pontoons in Salthouse Dock, alongside the tourist honeypot of the Albert Dock.

January 2018 - Canal & River Trust is about to raise £150m in 2018 by issuing bonds. This follows a disappointing financial year where the value of its assets has fallen due to a rise in pension fund deficit. Allan Richards provides the details.

Although no announcement has been made, C&RT told a Defra Grant Review Meeting in December that it intends to raise £100m this month (January 2018) and a further £50m in June via the private placement of long dated (i.e. 25, 30 and 35 year) fixed rate bonds.

January 2018 - Canal & River Trust has been less than open about it's bid to Defra to take over the Environment Agency navigations and even the news today that it had failed only crept out by way of a Facebook post from boaters. Peter Underwood reports.

It was a post of a River Nene Facebook page today saying that Irven Forbes, Waterway Manager for the Environment Agency was telling boating organisations on the Nene that C&RT will not be taking over the EA waterways ' at this time', was the first most knew.

January 2018 - Canal & River Trust is looking for yet more volunteers – this time it's lock keepers for the Grand Union, Regents and River Lee in London, as Alec Wood reports.

The Trust describes the task as the 'most iconic waterway role' and – despite the fact that British Waterways scrapped the job in most places many years ago – insists the volunteers will be keeping an historic tradition alive.

January 2018 - Here at The Floater we like to keep boaters in touch with the output of Canal & River Trust's spin doctors. However, despite all the big issues out there, like licence and mooring consultations and major changes in C&RT's structure it is difficult to find anything about them from C&RT, as Peter Underwood observes.

January 2018 - At the start of the year The Floater's predicted: “Few Waterway Partnership members or chairs will survive the reduction in the number of Waterway Regions from 10 to 6. However, Waterway Partnerships will be retained, even though they have failed almost competely in meeting their original objectives.” As Allan Richards reports it looks like the name will be changed – but what else?

January 2018 - A tiny laminated notice posted near a key heritage building in one of the less frequented parts of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, just as the Christmas break began could easily have passed without notice and boaters and canal enthusiasts would subsequently have been left wondering why Canal & River Trust no longer owned Blowers Green Pumphouse, as Peter Underwood reports.

January 2018 - As the planning consultation on bulldozing the Flapper music pub on Birmingham's Cambrian Wharf and replacing it with high rise flats was closing the Canal & River Trust put in a powerful, formal objection to the city council, saying it should not go ahead, Peter Underwood reports.

January 2018 - Senior Canal & River Trust managers are now briefing groups across the business, telling them that Waterways Partnerships will be reconstituted following the transition from ten Waterway Regions to six Waterway Super-Regions and suggesting that the 'new' partnerships will have greater clarity of purpose which will include income generation. Which has led Allan Richards to ask: “Have we heard all this before and whatever happened to Waterway Partnerships Action Plans?”

January 2018 - What will 2018 bring for boaters on the UK's waterways? We have been taking a look at the trends developing in Milton Keynes Towers and elsewhere and here is what we think you need to be looking out for this year.

The most blatant and obvious trend is Canal & River Trust's efforts to distance itself from running a navigation and dealing with the needs of boaters in order to portray itself as some sort of 'wellbeing' charity devoted to improving the lives of all other sections of the population.

The Floater January 2018

Liverpool dock scene to change again

C&RT to borrow £150m via bonds

Defra turns down C&RT's bid for EA waters

Do London boaters want to be Volunteer Lockies?

Nothing to see here …..?

Regional Advisory Boards replace Waterway Partnerships

Bid to sell canal pumphouse hits protests

Trust comes out against plans to flatten The Flapper

C&RT is busy recycling old promises

The Floater is back - with predictions for 2018

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The Floater January 2018