CaRT vice chairman to go?
LYNNE BERRY, Canal & River Trust (CaRT) vice chairman, will be amongst a number of trustees to stand down or retire over the coming months, writes Allan Richards.
Following an advertisement to recruit four trustees, the Trust has announced that these appointments ‘will join the Board ahead of the retirement of a number of current members [ten] of the Board who joined the Trust ahead of its establishment in 2012'.
Transition trustees
Some eleven transition trustees were appointed either by a Defra appointed committee or by a joint trustee/Defra committee ahead of the the establishment of CaRT in mid 2012. Four have already resigned (or in CaRT parlance ‘stood down') without completing their current term of office. They are Tony Hales, (ex BW chairman, chairman of trustees and chairman of council), Nigel Hugill (ex BW director) and John Bridgeman (ex BW director).
Also resigning was financial expert, Marisa Cassoni who only lasted a couple of months.
Articles of Association
Under CaRT's Articles of Association, service as a transition trustee is not taken into account. Trustees can serve for periods of up to three years but may be appointed for a second term. The period of appointment is variable as one third of the trustees have to stand for reappointment based on oldest appointment or reappointment date.
The problem is that CaRT's articles of association also stipulate that the Board of trustees must have between eight and 12 members. If, as CaRT claims, the new appointments will be made ahead of retirement then it will have 14.
Oh dear!
The 'No Wales Partnership'
The All Wales Partnership was dubbed the ‘No Wales Partnership' by narrowboatworld when it failed under the leadership of Dr Mark Lang (Wales fails). It was resurrected by the Trust as Bwrdd Glandŵr Cymru under the leadership of CaRT's Vice Chairman Lynne Berry.
Having been passed over for the position of CaRT's Chairman and the advert specifically requesting applications from candidates with strong networks in, and connections to, Wales, it is a fair bet that Lynne Berry will be long gone before the next AGM.
[A proposal (by Lynne Berry) to replace the All Wales partnership with a new Bwrdd Glandŵr Cymru (Glandŵr Cymru Board) was accepted by the Board of trustees in March 2015. Lynne Berry was appointed as its chairman. According to CaRT's meeting calendar its inaugural meeting was held on 17th September 2015. No minutes have been published and no further meetings are scheduled.]