Voting opened on 13th December in the CRT Council elections. We recommend voting for Rosie Strickland and Nick Corrigan in the Private Boating constituency. Both are members of the NBTA and intend to promote the interests of liveaboard boaters without a home mooring if they are elected. Please vote for both of them as your first and second choices. Below are their manifestos from the CRT web site – see
https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/about-us/how-we-are-run/the-council/council-elections-2023-24/private-boating-candidates You may also be interested in voting for Penelope Barber and Fiona Burt in your third and lower choices.
Rosie Strickland
I’m a live-aboard boater, in my seventh year afloat and an active National Bargee Travellers Association community member. I live on board a 63 foot narrowboat built in 1977 and I’ve been lovingly restoring it myself. I love life on the water as I feel connected to nature and community. I am passionate about architecture and engineering, and the waterways are a never ending source of inspiration.
Originally from the Welsh borders, I now live in London. I run a small design and fabrication studio, working in the arts and architecture. I am a carpenter and welder, knowledgeable about structural design, engineering and mechanics. I’m a design-thinker, problem-solver, and solutions-creator. I see the challenges we face as a community as an opportunity for design-led solutions (lighting, mooring rings, waste facilities) as a constructive way to respond to the community’s needs.
I’ve worked for ten years in the media, managing press and communications for environmental charities. I have campaigned at an international NGO level for Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, where I designed policy campaigns to protect nature. I would be absolutely committed to advocating for the needs of the liveaboard boating community as an active, dedicated Canal & River Trust council member.
Nick Corrigan
I am a live-aboard, itinerant boater, on the London & South East waterways since 2016.
I am committed to this way of life and grateful for the community around me. I believe that those of us without a home mooring should act within the legal framework, balancing our responsibility to move regularly with our right to moor anywhere we are not impeding navigation. In the last few years I have witnessed a deterioration in the relationship between boaters and Canal & River Trust. Canal & River Trust have removed moorings, created divisions between stakeholders and implemented punitive price changes.
Some boaters are angry, some scared and some resigned to being forced off the water. Some boaters are refusing to pay licence fees or refusing to move.
Recently I have become an active member of NBTAL, drafting position papers and speaking to radio/press about “safety” zones and representing our community on Canal & River Trust forums.
If we are seen as partners and stakeholder, boaters can be a huge asset to Canal & River Trust. We are local guardians of the waterways, fundraisers, litter pickers and volunteers. We can help ensure the waterways are open to all. If elected I will argue for the rights of boaters as well as trying to rebuild the fractured relationship.
More about the election
The election is being run on the Single Transferable vote system which means you can vote for more than one candidate in order of preference. There are other candidates that are sympathetic to the issues affecting liveaboard boaters without a home mooring, please do vote for those candidates as your third, fourth and lower choices. There are four places on the CRT Council in the Private Boating constituency.
You should receive an email or letter from CRT with a link to your online ballot paper. Voting opened on Wednesday 13th December 2023 and closes on Wednesday 10th January 2024 at midnight. CRT has published all the candidates’ manifestos on the link above.
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