Victor asks if this will be a consultation to be believed

SO WE are having yet another consultation, but this time by an professional independent research company.

So if if gets the results as published by this company there's a good chance of it being believed.

Any-road-up—as we say up here—it's all about the price of boat licences, and is asking boaters for their views on whether increases should apply evenly to all boaters using the current boat licence fee structure, or whether it is fairer to apply higher increases to certain boaters in a way that reflects how they use the waterways and the higher costs of meeting their needs.

We know that the 'certain' boaters refer to such as the bargees that want its members to have everything at normal rates, but that CaRT would very much like to make them pay for their continuous use of the waterways, that I reckon, that is what this is all about.

Just think. We must all know the licence fee it going up, so normal occasional boaters will of course vote for those having year long use to pay extra for usage and facilities, as will the those self same long term users vote for no increase!

Ahh!  But there are the hell of a lot more casual boaters.  So they should get the results—as CaRT wants!

We shall see.

Where the money goes

Following this consultation was a cry from CaRT about not having enough cash for such as maintenance.

Which prompts me to mention that the professional research people organising the consultation must be costing a bit.

And  flogging-off so much of its earning properties lost it no few millions. To be spent on what? 

Here's a few examples of what it could have been spent on:

Those, what I call, non-waterway directors and managers? Here's a few from last August's list:

I'll start with the six lawyers—Senior Property Lawyer, Senior Environmental Lawyer, Senior Employment Lawyer, Two Senior Solicitor Advocates and a Commercial Lawyer. Yes, six in all, but obviously not enough with an advertisement of a vacancy for a Planning & Environmental Lawyer in the Linkedin list! Why on earth do we need all those lawyers?

Here's a few more, of non-waterways 'chiefs' I've picked out:

National Insight & Evidence Team Manager

Head of Supporter & Outcomes Development

Strategic Transformation Team Manager

Transformation & Change Manager

People Change Manager

Information Governance Manager

I'm completely in the dark as to their purpose, as the titles are not too forthcoming. But their cost certainly will be.

A good clear-out would certainly put the hell of a lot of wanted cash in the coffers.

Didn't survive the virus

Before coronavirus hit us there were a number of fairly healthy waterway internet publications about, but the virus, or whatsoever, has seemingly sorted them.

The best of them was Pennine Waterways that gave virtual cruises of the northern waterways plus a great deal of information. but whose latest news item was on Friday, 26th March 2021 concerning Skipton Swing Bridge to be replaced, going on for two years ago. Knowing the publisher very well we have tried to contact but to no avail.

Canal Boat too seems to have gone, with its last update in October 2022, though it seems Canal Junction is holding on—just—with three news items since last October.

It would seem that coronavirus took its toll, as there was very little to publish around that time, so most fell by the wayside, obviously not realising the importance of building up the contributors that are so necessary in an healthy publication, instead of relying on such as Press Releases from CART, that hardly make interesting reading.

Where do they find 'em?

Trolling through the offerings on the telly the other evening I came across the programme 'Making of the Canals' so of course stopped and had a look.

There was this woman going on about the building of the Bridgewater up to Manchester and I was amazed. Amazed at the sheer rubbish she was telling, I just catching her saying "The Bridgewater was the swan song of the canals."  Eh? Well love, the swan song, as you who are aware of Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake, know it is the 'song' of the dying swan—that last thing it did before it dies. But for the woman it it the first—as the Bridgewater was being 'born'!

But there was more. Her going on to tell "Workers were brought off the railways to build the canal."  Though as you surely are all aware, the railways had not even been invented.

I had had enough, so continued trolling!

Update

Our poor Thomas has once again been dragged kicking and screaming into an upgrade of narrowboatworld by his son, Software Designer, Jason, with no few complaints in the process.

But he was firmly told an update was a must as everything was getting too old and liable to get attacked.  So an upgrade it was.

A number of you have made suggestions and told it was an improvement, and especially in favour of having the Google advert away from the top with its 'effects' proving so annoying, so safely now at the bottom!  No doubt getting less income, but as it perhaps just covers the cost, Thomas is not worried, and after a few alterations is coming round to accepting the update.

Mind you—he had little choice!

Victor Swift