BCN 24 Hours Challenge scuppered by Canal & River Trust

THE Canal & River Trust have closed Netherton Tunnel to boaters on the day of the BCN 24 Hour Challenge.

The tunnel will be closed on Saturday 4th June when the boaters taking part in the challenge were scheduled to pass through the tunnel and of course are now not able to do so, Keith Gudgin reports.

Paddle board event instead

This is because the trust has closed the tunnel on that Saturday as a paddle-board event is planned, with volunteers at both ends of the tunnel making sure no boats pass through.

This leaves the entire challenge in disarray unless a new route can be devised.

So if you are a boater planning to use the Netherton Tunnel—an important branch of the BCN—on Saturday the 4th June  or are on the 24 Hour Challenge, you will not be able to as paddle-boarders take preference.

A one-off event

So the trust has ignored the annual  BCN 24 Hour Challenge boating event, scuppering it for a one-off paddle-board event.

The people at the Birmingham Canal Navigations Society are not at all pleased at their annual boating event being sacrificed by the Canal & River Trust to paddle boarders, and no doubt wonder at its priorities...