The House of Commons First Delegated Legislation Committee will consider the Draft British Waterways Board (Transfer of Functions) Order 2012 on Tuesday 26th June. Please write to your MP now asking him or her to vote against the Order when it is returned to the floor of the House of Commons for a vote a few days after the Committee has considered it. An example letter is below.
The draft Order to transfer British Waterways to the Canal and River Trust has been published and is currently being scrutinised by two Parliamentary Committees. It will also be debated in both the House of Commons and House of Lords. Despite many boaters lobbying and submitting evidence when the Public Bodies Bill (now an Act of Parliament) was being drafted, the issue of British Waterways was not discussed at all in the House of Commons committee on the Bill. The subject of the transfer order is BW alone, so it is vital that we take the opportunity to raise all the issues about the risks of homelessness to boat dwellers (both with and without permanent moorings) that arise from the transfer of BW to charity status. The deadline for submissions to the Committees is this Monday 19th March so write to them now!
The Public Bodies Bill, which will transfer BW to charity status, will be considered by the Public Bill Committee in the House of Commons between 8 September and 13 October. The Committee will consider the Bill in detail and probably make more amendments. The Committee Chair is David Amess, the Conservative MP for Southend West.
Please write to your own MP as a matter of urgency asking him/ her to make sure that the British Waterways amendment (99A) is deleted from the Bill.
Please write to your MP NOW!! and ask him or her to vote against the British Waterways amendment to the Public Bodies Bill (amendment 99A). The Bill will be debated in the House of Commons on 12th July. Please ask your family and friends to write to their MPs as well.
You can find out who your MP is from
http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/ or http://www.writetothem.com/
When he refused to ‘have a view’.
Because he’s not Bathampton’s MP, that job falls to Dan Norris, Labour member of parliament for North Wansdyke.
Though if you stray over the border at Candy’s Bridge then it is our Don you want – who can smarm the loose change off a Big Issue seller without saying one thing that counts – I ask you – culture, media and sport – who threw that lot into one bag as if to say, “ we don’t care give it to Don“
Dan Norris MP, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
You can email email dan@dannorris.org.uk
You can telephone (01761) 320023
You can text 07930 55 66 97
31 James Street West Bath, BA1 2BT
tel: 01225 338 973
fax: 01225 463 630
don@donfoster.co.uk
Clerk to Bathampton Parish Council
Dr DP Smith
215 Bloomfield Road, Bath BA2 2AY
Telephone: 01225 332497
email:don.brimstone@freenet.co.uk
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.
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.
Ever thought you were represented by an MP?
Think again.
We received this recent exchange;
Letter to Don Foster – Member of Parliament for Bath (though not, i believe Bathampton)
Hello Don something odd is going on in Bathampton.
Apart from a boat being torched and boat people’s tyres slashed it seems the parish council don’t feel the boaters children worthy of attending Bathampton Primary school .
here are the minutes of one Bathampton parish council meeting obtained under the FOI act. The question was asked by one of the members.
and this is the ‘reply’ he received
haven’t had anyone from a non-continuously cruising boat contact me about this issue. If you know anyone with a problem, please ask them to contact me directly and I will certainly take up the issue. ;
So the so-called representative of the people has decided he knows what a ‘continuously cruising boat’ is, and by implication that they don’t get representation.
If you are one of the boaters that, by implication, Don Foster has spoken to and decided he cannot help we would be interested to hear your experiences.