Email sent to BW Gloucester 24 October 2009
Dear Mark,
firstly I would like to welcome you to your new position as waterway manager for the Kennet & Avon Canal.
Read more…
Letters to BW and others
You are not alone. We intend to publish any letters that you write to BW, to give you examples of what other people write, and to gauge the feelings abroad.
Please send us any letters you write to BW so that we can publish them. We will remove any personal details before publication.
Letter to Mark Stephens (new waterway manager) regarding maintenance of adequate water levels on the canal
Saturday, October 24th, 2009Letter to Bathampton Parish Council
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009One of our correpondents has sent this letter to the Clerk of Bathampton Parish Council following publication of these allegations by Keith Rossiter on this site.
We eagerly await their reply.
Dear Mr Brimstone,
It has recently reached my attention that Keith Rossiter, of Bathampton Parish Council, has in a formal way made the following allegation against un-named boaters on the Kennet and Avon canal within Bathampton Parish.
These allegations, made in the minutes of a meeting between representatives of your council and British Waterways, attended on your behalf by Mr Rossiter who also prepared and signed the minutes, are that ‘liveaboard’ boaters;
“freely dispose of human waste and every other manner of trash in whatever location they choose”,
and that they;
“threaten anyone who chooses to call attention to the situation”.
These are two amongst other allegations made in the same minutes and in protracted correspondence between Mr Rossiter and British Waterways by email.
You will appreciate that these are very serious allegations involving breaches of the criminal law.
Can you please confirm that these allegations are the true position of Bathampton Parish Council as made by your representative to the body with the responsibility of managing the canals and that the intention is for British Waterways to take action over these offences.
Can you also confirm that Mr Rossiter is authorised to speak on behalf of Bathampton Parish Council to British Waterways and that the correspondence he has had with them is on behalf of, and the true voice of, the Parish Council.
Thank you for you prompt attention to this matter.
Example Responses to Patrol Notices
Friday, October 16th, 2009
Summer evening near Horton Bridge
Here’s a couple of well researched and meticulously written responses to the two levels of patrol notice and letter affectionately known as CC1 and CC2. These should give you some ideas and the resources to write your own letters of reponse and complaint.
Remember, if you get a letter requiring you to respond in 28 days you must respond to deny BW automatic right to take your license away. We don’t believe that this constitutes legal notice as required by Section 17 (4) of the 1995 British Waterways Act but British Waterways (bless) do. So responding to these notices is vital to prevent them taking this step as they have taken with Ian.
Letter 1 – an example response to a BW Patrol Notice
Letter 2 – a more lengthy response, including some legal points, with suggestions of people and bodies to copy in.
and an attendent complaint;
Complaint – A suggestion for an accompanying complaint to John Ward, acting manager of the SouthWest region, which includes the Kennet and Avon. This would invoke stage 1 of the British Waterways complaint process.
Letter to Martin Skinner
Thursday, October 8th, 2009Dear Martin,
As a customer who pays BW in excess of a thousand pounds a year, some of which, I dare say finds its way into your wage packet, I found the tone of your initial letter totally unacceptable. Very poor customer relations, in my opinion.
Best wishes,
Letters to BW
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009We will keep this post updated with copies of any letters or complaints to BW, both as a reflection of boater’s feelings and a resource from which you can gather ways of expressing yourself should you want to write too.
To kick off, a couple of letters, one to BW and one to a local doctor, regarding the proposed ‘Outer Zone’ – the name we hear BW want to call their intended policy of severely restricting mooring in the Bath- Dundas area.
Letter 1 to Doctor Smith
Letter 2 – questions to Simon ‘Satan’ Salem, thought by many to be the instigator of this attempted purge