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.

House of Lords to debate BW transfer on 25th June

Monday, June 18th, 2012

The House of Lords will debate the Draft British Waterways Board (Transfer of Functions) Order 2012 in the Grand Committee on Monday 25th June. Please write to as many Lords as you can before Monday asking them to vote against the Order. We have included an example letter below.

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Canal and River Trust registered but still time to lobby MPs about BW Transfer Order

Tuesday, May 1st, 2012

On 27th March, the House of Lords Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee decided to trigger the “super affirmative” procedure for the BW Transfer Order. This means that the time for consideration by Parliamentary Committees is 60 days (normally it is 40) and it must be approved by both Houses of Parliament following a debate in each. The 60 days ends on 24 May 2012 and the debates will take place sometime after 30 May. Seven days notice of the debates will be given and this will be posted on www.parliament.uk. This means that there is still some more time to lobby MPs and Lords about the Transfer Order, up to the start of June. Please write to your MP.

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Lords cross-examine BW directors

Tuesday, May 1st, 2012

Five liveaboard boaters attended the House of Lords Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee on 24 April, to observe Robin Evans, the BW Chief Executive; Nigel Johnson, BW’s Legal Director, and Waterways Minister Richard Benyon MP being cross-examined by the Committee about the Draft British Waterways (Transfer of Functions) Order 2012. The boaters observing included Frank Kelly, who stood for election to the Canal and River Trust Council, and Nick Brown, Legal Officer of the National Bargee Travellers Association (NBTA), who sent this report:

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Temporary facilities to be installed at Dundas

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012

According to a Freedom of Information response from BW, we understand that temporary sanitary facilities will be installed at Dundas this month, April 2012.

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Write to your MP now about BW Transfer Order!

Friday, March 16th, 2012

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!

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Dundas sanitary inconvenience update

Friday, March 9th, 2012

Mark Stephens, the Kennet and Avon Canal Manager, has responded to a complaint from a boater with the following news about the closure of the sanitary facilities at Dundas.

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New job for Damian Kemp

Monday, January 30th, 2012

Damian Kemp, BW’s Project Officer who chaired the Local Mooring Strategy Steering Group and did the legwork for the 2009 consultations on National Mooring Policy, Local Mooring Strategies and the now discredited Lee and Stort Moorings Managament Plan, has a new job.

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Now’s the time to object to registration of BW charity!

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011

Trustees of the Canal and River Trust plan to register the new charity in November or December 2011. If you will be directly affected by this you have the right to object to the registration of the charity. Objections should be sent to the Charity Commission. The Bill that will allow BW to be transferred to a charity has passed through the Committee stage in Parliament without much change. Now is the time to object to it being registered with the Charity Commission.

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What to do if you get enforcement letters from BW such as a CC1 or Pre-CC1

Monday, November 21st, 2011

A number of boaters have been served with enforcement letters in the last few months. This has mainly been on stretches of the canal above Devizes. Here is some advice about how to respond to them that we hope will be helpful. You can also download this briefing below as a 4-page leaflet.

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Legal challenge to revised mooring guidance expected

Tuesday, October 18th, 2011

A legal challenge to BW’s revised Mooring Guidance for Continuous Cruisers is expected after BW rejected a “letter before claim” from boater Nick Brown. It is likely that Mr Brown will issue Judicial Review proceedings on the grounds that the revised guidance is ultra vires, in other words BW does not have the legal power to enforce it, and that it does not reflect the meaning intended by Parliament of Section 17 3 c ii of the 1995 British Waterways Act.

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