Ward Forum Meeting

The Inverness Ward Forum meeting to discuss the findings of the British Waterways/Highland Council Swing Bridge Restrictions Review will be taking place at Kinmylies Primary School on Thursday 4th December at 7.30 pm (doors open at 7.00 pm).

We will be there to represent boaters interests but try and come along as well if you can.

BW Public Meeting

BW held its public meeting at The Lovat Arms on Saturday 22nd November.

It was good to see quite a good turn out from all sections and interests of the canal.

The BW bigwigs, as well as a representative from the transport committee of the Scottish parliament gave a presentation of their views for the future and asked our input as to what direction we would like to see BW take.

Suggestions were numerous and written notes were taken which will be fed back to us and we will publish here on the blog.

Just to sum up the overall flavour of the event, BW are quite rightly concerned about their funding in the future, in order to at least keep the status quo, although unlike the English canals the Scottish ones have not had their budget cut, in recognition of the contribution they make to the Scottih economy. However there was some concern that their focus on property portfolios and investments to overcome government funding shortfalls might compromise their stewardship of the heritage that the canal represents, and the 'bread and butter' operations of the canal, i.e. puting boats through locks.

And here are the draft minutes of the meeting courtesy of BW

Welcome

Jon Hargreaves, one of the Scottish representatives on the British Waterways Board and chair of the British Waterways Scotland Group introduced himself to the meeting, welcomed everyone who had come along to hear the presentations and introduced the speakers. There was a new format for the meeting to improve two way communication and invite input to a planned refresh of the Scottish Government policy document, Scotland’s Canals: an asset for the future. Feedback was invited as to whether the new format was helpful.

BW Strategic Overview

It was acknowledged that these were challenging times for BW. A recent external review had identified a £30m funding gap in England & Wales which had confirmed the need for British Waterways to look at costs and consider new sources of funding to secure a better long-term financial position for the canal network in England & Wales. A wide ranging strategy review was underway and a public consultation across Great Britain would be undertaken next year in which all our customers would be encouraged to take part.

Scottish Government support for British Waterways Scotland was acknowledged and much appreciated. Specifically the £20m investment over 10 years to maintain and develop the Caledonian Canal as a significant contributor to the Highland’s leisure market. This continuing support ensured the canal network delivered a range of benefits for the people of Scotland in support of the Government’s broad ranging strategic objectives including health, education and the environment.

Steve Dunlop, British Waterways, Director Scotland

Steve Dunlop confirmed that despite difficult economic circumstances, BWS was in a growth cycle. British Waterways Scotland had a grant fixed for the next two years and would continue to deliver in accordance with it’s core business objectives – to maintain Scotland’s canal network; create canalside destinations and continue with regeneration projects to maximise their assets at Edinburgh, Glasgow, Falkirk, Bowling, Inverness and Fort Augustus.

Margaret Horn, Scottish Government

Margaret Horn reminded the group that inland waterways in Scotland were a devolved matter under the Scotland Act although BW also operated cross-border. In 2002 ‘An Asset for the Future’ was developed as a policy document outlining the long term vision for Scotland’s waterways, detailing how public benefit from the canals can be maximised. The canals fit with the Government Strategic Objectives ; Greener, Healthier, Wealthier & Fairer, Smarter and Safer & Stronger

Since 2002 there have been some significant changes, such as new Access laws, climate change, a proposed Marine Bill and a change in government. These changes necessitate a review of the 2002 policy document. The group was invited to inform the review through discussion at the meeting.

The group broke in several smaller groups for the discussion. Notes from each sub-group follow :

Group 1

§ Speed limits – boats are being driven away from Lake District / Loch Lomond. Need to balance speedboats with the natural environment
§ Lack of information about slipways
§ Lack of places to tie up & moor outside ‘official’ facilities – this impacts on local businesses
§ Need more electricity and facilities within canal network, along with more ‘eateries’
§ Concerns re: freight v tourism
§ Great Glen Ways should start in Corpach not Fort William
§ Develop at extreme west end of Canal, outside canal system (Marina at Corpach)
§ Encourage folks to stay rather than going straight through.
§ Not all investment should be on Loch Ness
§ Information on events
§ Better communication about BW works

Group 2

§ Praise about condition of canal & levels of customer service
§ Some form of mini youth hostels / bunk houses for walkers & canoeists
§ Not enough shelters for campers
§ No taps at toilet blocks for campers
§ Toilet blocks need towel rails, hooks (raised in past but no progress)
§ Staff praised but unable to do repairs due to lack of expertise
§ Lack of toilet facilities for walkers
§ See Shetland Community Trust’s camping pods
§ See American idea of natural camping sites. Concrete block BBQs
§ BW policy of shipwrights working on boats throughout Scottish canal corridor
§ No water supply for boats at Gairlochy
§ What is happening to delapidated property at Fort Augustus?
§ What’s happening with Loch Ness facilities, especially mooring buoys at Invermoriston, Foyers and Dores?
§ Boat lift at Dochgarroch should be continued annually to same high standard
§ Why do Trinity House not pay for navigation facilities?
§ Why have the inner navigation markers been lit and not outer?

Group 3
§ Focus seems to be shifting from canal itself onto property development
§ Will strategy reflect core purpose of the canal? Eg – generate visitors instead of boating
§ The Caledonian is ‘pulling above its weight’ rather than BW
§ What is BW for? What does it set out to provide? Has it lost or changed its’ focus?
§ In 10 years time, canals should still be affordable for boaters
§ Valuable properties and assets should not be sold
§ Why the emphasis on attracting visitors if towpath users don’t bring money to the business?
§ Canal houses are part of the visitor experience and their character is in the canal’s style of architecture.
§ Focus seems to be moving away from canalside environment
§ Selling family silver?
§ Rental properties have been empty for months and are bringing in no money. Empty properties are advertised fruitlessly.
§ BW behaving commercially but not responsibly. Paying lipservice
§ Will consultations actually be listened to? BW has already made up its’ mind beforehand, eg: decisions on price rises never change. Paying lipservice to consultation. Can be revisited later in the day.
§ SNH (Historic Scotland?) manages this type of asset but doesn’t have a commercial focus – they maintain and enhance things, eg – Urquhart Castle. They haven’t sold another castle to pay for this. BW should be funded to maintain assets at a loss. Cathedrals don’t make money but are never considered for sale.
§ Questioning proposals for Bona Lighthouse
§ If essential maintenance overtakes income it is no longer viable
§ Heritage is vital – it’s what brings the visitors.
§ How do Swedes on Gota Kanal manage? Are there any EU rules about disposing of properties?
§ Should BWS be independent? It is different from England & Wales. Perhaps run by local boating associations?!
§ BWS spends too much on poorly conducted contracts eg: grass cutting and weedkilling in November. No supervision or followup of contractors. Tendering for small projects should be offered to local companies and shouldn’t be purely price based.



Russell Thomson, Highland Canals Manager

Russell Thomson gave a presentation about the Caledonian Canal, including which partner organisations the Caledonian team works with, the canal’s economic impact in the region and what new facilities had been provided in the previous 18 months.

Q&A
1. The question of plans to bring more investment to the southern end of the Caledonian Canal was raised. Russell Thomson referred to customer facility improvements at Banavie as well as more power bollards, however, if there was an opportunity to discuss further opportunities BWS would be happy to engage with the Lochaber Tourism Forum and other local marketing groups.
2. Dr Davies recalled his complaint about Middle District service levels. Russell Thomson acknowledged that he was aware of the issues and recognised service must be better next year. Training has been identified for both customer service & working practices.
3. Charlie Menzies raised a concern about’ Disneyfication’ of the canal. Russell Thomson agreed that it was not desirable and was confident locations would retain their unique identity but economies of scale for procurement mean that some equipment will be duplicated along the canal.
4. ? Queried why Trinity House didn’t pay for inland navigation. Russell Thomson responded that Trinity house is responsible only for offshore waters and Scotlands’s canals aren’t part of these.
5. Mr Cuthbertson raised concerns over Canoe Slide launching facilities on the proposed Great Glen Canoe Trail. Russell Thomson confirmed that similar structures were already in use on Northern Ireland’s Canoe Trails and BW had looked at best practice elsewhere. He reiterated the challenge BW faced in securing funding for the GGCT.
6. Mrs Cuthbertson raised a concern about a perceived Inverness bias on the canal. Russell Thomson reassured her that this was not the case, as evidenced by the recent installation of power & water supplies at Banavie & toilet blocks at both Gairlochy and Banavie but BW seeks opportunities to work with partners, and is now working in Lochaber with Lochaber Partnership. The Highland Canals Disability Access Forum has representatives from the Lochaber Access panel.



Thank You and Close

Jon Hargreaves thanked everyone for coming to the meeting and advised that notes would be circulated in due course.

End of Season Meeting

A big thank you to everybody who came along to the meeting on Saturday the 1st November.
Amongst the topics discussed were:
* The condition of Bona Light House and what plans BW had for it.
* Not all the navigation Buoys are lit, which can cause problems when entering Loch Dochfour.
* BW's policy of selling their canal-side properties.
* The new bridge protocols that BW is negotiating with the Highland Council.
* Lack of facilities on Loch Ness.
* A proposed ferry from Foyers to Urquhart Castle to link in with a new national cycle route, and the Association's need to be involved with this.
* Mixed experiences were expressed over transitting Fort Augustus; some good some bad.
* Reminder of BW's meeting in Fort Augustus on the 22nd November.
* Fund raising ideas were explored and ideas sought.
* Not to forget that the Blog offers a place to sell your boating bric-a -brac.
* The loss of 'Red' diesel - see http://www.britishmarine.co.uk/services/government_relations/campaigns/red_diesel.aspx for further details
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please post your commets about these points and any others you may have.

Photo Competition

Results are in.

1st prize goes to (other) Dave Bird with this photo




Our judge said 'well spotted, good composition & timing, interesting & cute'.

2nd & 3rd place goes to Rona McWhirter

Judges comments 'good composition (with the man, smoke & boat) & good use of colour contrast'.

And to this one he said 'nice action shot & composition'.

Bridge Opening Protocol

We attended the ward forum meeting between BW and Highland Council to hear suggestions about a new protocol for opening Tomnahurich and Muirtown bridges.
Basically residents and road users are concerned about the traffic delays that opening these bridges causes especially around peak times, although there are restrictions in place around the rush hour periods.
The council had produced a computer model of the traffic congestion and were going to feed in everybody's suggestions into it to see what effect this would have. Then after doing this they would give the results at another meeting in 4 -6 weeks.
Suggestions included fixed opening times, smart displays, longer 'closed' periods around rush hours, longer operating hours, more efficient bridge operation, etc.
One of our concerns revolved around the fact that computer models do not reflect the real world as far as boats are concerned, and weather conditions and boat handling needed to be factored in.

FORUM

This is a blank posting for you to make comments on any subject you wish.

Waiting Lists

We have asked BW to give us a formal written copy of their rules regarding the waiting lists for berths on the canal. Quite a few of our members have expressed concern over this especially as many people on the lists don't appear to actually have boats.
We are waiting on BW's reply.

***

And here it is:


WAITING LISTS FOR BRITISH WATERWAYS MOORING SITES –
England, Wales and Scotland

British Waterways (BW) runs waiting lists for each mooring site that we manage. Our Waterway units in England, Wales and Scotland administer the mooring sites and waiting lists in their area.

To choose a mooring site you could look at a full list of moorings, which is available on our website www.waterscape.com/boating/moorings. The website includes maps and mooring rates for our sites, the contact details for our regional waterway units and also has details of sites operated by other companies. A list of mooring sites is also available from our local offices. Please note that we only run waiting lists for our mooring sites, and not those operated by other companies.

You are allowed to place your boat on a waiting list for a maximum of three BW sites per waterway unit. You cannot give your place on a waiting list to anyone else, but you may change your boat, provided you tell us in writing. You may also change any of your chosen mooring sites by withdrawing your interest from a site waiting list and making a fresh application. You may make an application even if you do not own a boat. A refundable application fee is payable for mooring site waiting lists managed by our London waterway unit.

Offers will generally be made on a ‘next on the list’ basis, although there may be exceptions to this rule. If you accept an offer from us, the mooring fee is payable even if you do not move your boat to the site by the start date. We will offer you a maximum of three mooring sites per waterway unit but if you decline all our offers we will remove your boat from all our waiting lists for that particular waterway unit.

The terms and conditions of our waiting lists for mooring sites managed by us are set out below and take effect from 1st July 2006. If you have any queries please contact the relevant waterway unit.


WAITING LIST TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Definitions:

‘Boat(s)’ means the boat(s) or vessel(s) named in the Waiting List Application Form(s) and/or Mooring Permit Application Form(s) or one that is substituted for it with our prior written consent (which will be subject to the suitability of the mooring).

‘British Waterways, BW, we, us, our’, means the British Waterways Board, its successors and assigns and any of its employees or other persons authorised by British Waterways to act for it.

‘Mooring’ means the water space at the mooring site temporarily allocated to you from time to time by us for the mooring of the boat during the period of this agreement.

‘Mooring Site’ includes the mooring and land and water adjacent to the mooring that is in our ownership or control.

‘Owner, you, your, yours’ means the person(s) or entity named as owner in the Waiting List Application Form(s) and Mooring Permit Application Form(s) and includes an employee of the owner or a person in charge of the boat with the owner’s permission.
You can make an application for your boat to be on the waiting list for a maximum of three sites in any one of our waterway units. You may make applications to more than one waterway unit. Your positions on each mooring site waiting list are independent of each other.
If you wish to make an application for more than one boat, you must make a different application (up to a maximum of three sites) for each boat.
The waiting list entry will be dated the same day that we receive your completed Application Form (and application fee, for sites managed by the London waterway unit).
When a mooring becomes available we will generally offer you the mooring on a ‘next on the list’ basis but we reserve the right to exercise our discretion, depending on the circumstances, for example:
(a) smaller boats at the lower end of the waiting list may be allocated before larger boats depending on the size of the mooring available;
(b) we may need to give priority to boats requiring relocation from other mooring sites;
(c) the condition of the boat at the time of the offer may be unsuitable for the mooring site;
(d) for health and safety reasons; or
(e) our operational reasons.
Once we make you an offer of a mooring you have 14 days to accept or decline/refuse it. If you wish to accept our offer you must send us a completed Mooring Permit Application Form with payment within 14 days of our offer. Payment is due from the date you accept our offer (i.e. the date we receive your completed Mooring Permit Application Form with payment) and not when you move your boat to the mooring.
When you accept our offer of a mooring, it can only be allocated to the person whose name is on the waiting list. The mooring is not transferable.
Any offer we make is conditional on you having a valid licence for the boat before it is moved to the mooring.
If you do not accept our offer within the 14-day time limit our offer will lapse and we will offer the mooring to another person on the list. For the avoidance of doubt, the following actions will be treated as declining/refusing our offer:
(a) you fail to respond to our offer within the time limit, or
(b) you fail to return the completed Mooring Permit Application Form and payment within the time limit, or
(c) you return an incomplete Mooring Permit Application Form within the time limit
A maximum of three offers of a suitable mooring will be made to you (for each boat) by a particular waterway unit, which may be on the same or on different mooring sites.
If you decline/refuse three offers from a particular waterway unit, your boat will be removed from all waiting lists for that waterway unit.
The positions of your boat on the waiting lists are not transferable to anyone else. If your boat changes, you must notify us in writing. We will substitute the new boat for the old boat in the same positions on the lists. The new boat must first be registered in your name before we make the substitution.
You must notify the relevant waterway unit in writing if you need to change any of the details of your application, such as home address or boat details.
If a mooring site is separated into more than one section (e.g. linear and pontoons) and your requirement is for only one of these, you must make this clear on the Waiting List Application Form so that you do not need to decline/refuse an offer because the mooring is unsuitable.
From time to time we may contact you to confirm your continued interest in the mooring sites. If you do not respond within 28 days we will assume that that you are no longer interested and we will remove your name from all our waiting lists. No reminders will be issued after our first contact.
If you are on our waiting lists but wish to change any of your chosen sites, you must withdraw your interest in the sites you no longer want and make a new application for your new mooring site preferences. For the avoidance of doubt you will lose your position on the waiting lists from which you have withdrawn your interest and be allocated new positions for your new mooring site preferences.
You must be 16 years or over to make an application.

Additional terms and conditions for mooring site waiting lists managed by our London waterway unit:
An application fee of £25.00 is payable per application.
The fee must be paid by cheque, payable to ‘British Waterways’ and sent to the London waterway unit.
If you accept our offer of a mooring, the application fee will be deducted from the first mooring permit fee for your boat.
The application fee is refundable if you wish to be removed from our waiting lists at any time, providing you notify us in writing. No interest will be payable on the application fee.
If we remove you from our waiting lists, having declined/refused three offers of a mooring, the application fee is not refundable.