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The waterways minister, Barry Gardiner, visited the London
Boat Show on Thursday (11th January) and agreed to meet a delegation of
waterway user representatives to hear their concerns. John Fletcher, IWA
national chairman, pressed the minister to resolve the current funding
shortfalls for British Waterways and the Environment Agency and to address the
long-term situation with certainty of funding for the navigation authorities.
However the minister tried to wave aside concerns and to pretend there was not
an issue to be addressed. Arrangements had also been made for the minister to
visit IWA’s stand at the Boat Show – the only permanent presence of
the inland waterways community there protesting about the cuts – to meet a
delegation of IWA members; but the minister failed to show up. At a later press
briefing at the Show that evening, the minister is reported to have given
waterway journalists terse replies that indicated less sympathy or
understanding for the waterways than earlier in the day. The minister’s
meetings were arranged and hosted by British Marine Industry, the show’s
organisers.
Undeterred, inland waterways campaigners are to take their
concerns directly to Parliament on Tuesday 16th January 2007. A Palace of
Westminster Campaign Cruise on the Thames is planned to draw attention to the
protests against government funding cuts. Boats have been gathering in London
since late December, some having cruised to the London Boat Show alongside
Royal Victoria Dock. The Campaign Cruise has been arranged by St Pancras
Cruising Club; special clearances have been obtained from the Port of London
Authority and the Metropolitan Police. The Club will lead the convoy of vessels
representing the eleven waterways organisations and action groups that have
come together in an alliance to campaign against the cuts in funding to British
Waterways and the Environment Agency.
The convoy – including river cruisers and historic
narrow boats – is due to cruise past the Houses of Parliament at 11.10am
accompanied and watched by MPs, many of whom have already pledged their support
in the fight against the funding cuts that threaten the well-being and
development of inland waterways and the communities through which they flow.
IWA has arranged for MPs and members of the press and media to join the
Campaign Cruise, from a prime vantage point aboard a Thames trip boat M.V.
Kingwood, which has kindly been provided by King Cruisers, arranged by British
Marine Federation. A large number of MPs have already accepted invitations to
be aboard the vessel, and IWA has also made arrangements for representatives of
all the campaigning inland waterway organisations to travel on the boat too.
Just prior to the cruise, Monday 15th January is the closing
date for written submissions to the House of Commons Select Committee that is
reviewing the work of British Waterways. The current funding issues are likely
to form a substantial part of the committee’s work. Full details are
available from the link below. IWA has prepared a hard-hitting submission to
leave the committee in no doubt of the crisis currently being faced, and
presenting MPs with a challenge that needs to be met.
The waterway funding protests achieved 7 minutes of coverage
in a report on BBC Radio 4’s Today in Parliament, broadcast on Friday 12th
January. The programme features comments from Roger Squires, chairman of
IWA’s Navigation Committee, and David Stevenson, former IWA national
chairman, who has been organising protest events for IWA in Leicestershire,
both explaining what the problem is, as well as the waterways minister, Barry
Gardiner, trying to pretend the cuts in BW’s grant allocation are much
less than they really are, and that boaters are the only people who use the
waterways! The programme can be listened to here - the relevant part starts about 16 minutes into the programme
– the web site allows you to fast-forward to this point. |
