Private Eye is a magazine that exposes corruption and satirises the rich and powerful. CRT has been featured in the Eye a number of times in recent years, as has BW. In its 20th February issue, the magazine exposed the links between CRT’s cross country canoe trail and property development.
On 30th January, CRT announced changes to the boat licence terms and conditions which it claims are not “a significant change of policy by the Trust”. However, many of these changes seek to unlawfully remove the rights of boaters contrary to the British Waterways Act 1995. To the extent that the changes are unlawful, they also fall foul of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, and some of the proposed changes breach the Data Protection Act 1998.
A petition against CRT’s new policy of refusing to renew licences of boaters without a home mooring has reached almost 12,000 signatures in just 10 days.