So the open letter put out by the new Canal CEO tries to convince us that their latest helping of consultations will be fair and correct? Writes John Coxon.
Whether this is sincere or not, I for one am not convinced. Experience tells me to be very skeptical about any consultation or survey etc from the trust.
The last time they 'consulted' it was found that they fabricated the results and then implemented the draconian licence rises on continuous cruisers even though it was found that the vote result had been altered from the true figures, as Allan Richards clearly divulged.
We boaters saw through this scam as it was obvious that no matter what the actual result was, CaRT had already decided what it was going to do. They just went ahead and implemented the licence rises whilst at the same time, publishing the false results. The consultation was just a scam, a front to hide what was really the case!
Nothing in this new one has convinced me that it is any different. As far as I and others are concerned they are just doing it to get a minister to change the laws. This will not happen if the consultation results don't show what CaRT want. We also know that transparency is not always as transparent as it's made out to be?
If CaRT want to gain the respect and support of boaters then they need to be seen to be fair and totally above board. For a start it would help if they admitted that they got it wrong last time, reverse the decision to scam continuous cruisers and refund them. At least it would show willing?
They need to stop persecuting continuous cruisers who obey the rules and target the so called boaters who do not. If they want to make the towpaths family friendly and safe then they need to rid them of anti social behaviour and such types as drug takers and drunks, use of firearms, intimidation of boaters and other towpath users by cyclists/e-bikes/e-scooters etc.
If they want our support and help, they need to properly engage with real boaters, especially the continuous cruisers, who obey the rules and just want to mind their own business. They know who we are, we're the law abiding ones who also pay our licences!
We just want to engage with nature and the canals without all the hassle of crowded city life. We do not support those who just want a cheap place to live close to their chosen school, workplace, hospital etc. and just sit there breaking the laws and rules and then complain when asked to move.
They're not real boaters, they have no interest in the canals or rules or the etiquette of boating. They're just selfish types who think that by massing together they can get what they want by shear weight of numbers!
In order for CaRT to gain some trust they need to abandon trying to change the laws and/or rules covertly by the back door using trumped up consultation results as an excuse to do so. This sort of activity will certainly not get them any friends on the waterways.
They are, after all, a charity, a trust, but as far as the boaters I've spoken to on the towpaths are concerned they are not seen as either charitable nor trustworthy?
If CaRT stopped trying to foister rules and conditions upon boaters and actually engaged with the real boaters they would probably be surprised as to what they could accomplish without all the hassle they seem to tie themselves up in.
It's no good them hiring a hall in the middle of a big city and trying get boaters like me to come along. I've been there, done that and got the tee-shirt. No, all they'll get are the continuous moorer types. I don't waste my time with those types of meetings any more as they tend to end up in a slanging match etc. without resolving the issue on hand. Besides they're always in places that are difficult to reach. No, CaRT need get out onto the towpaths and find those of us are sitting quietly, minding our own business and not disturbing other people or nature?
Proper continuous cruisers could be a real boon to CaRT. They are the eyes and ears on the ground so to speak and they're about all year round. They don't, in general, have an axe to grind so most would be willing to help and inform on all aspects of the waterways.
As it stands at the moment all CaRT seem to want to do is alienate those same continuous cruisers. I just can't understand why they want to blind themselves by taking away the eyes and ears it has on the canals?
Now I notice we have another 'idea' from CaRT, a Citizens Boater Panel.
Who can tell what or who the 'member' represents? If the meetings are to be held online how would they know that the named representative is actually the person on the keyboard? Just because they say they are from this group or that group does not necessarily mean they are? How will they be vetted? Who will police it? Will it's workings be published in total and unedited? Can we believe it's outcomes? Will CaRT be bound by it? Etc, etc, etc... Sorry but no.
My message to CaRT is, engage in face to face dialogue with us, the real continuous cruisers. You might just get the answers you are looking for without the need to upset and alienate us by unfair draconian impositions? You could even save a lot of money by doing so too?