Dredging down to less than half

BOATERS are responding to our campaign of alerting their MP's to the continuing lack of maintenance to the waterways, this time the lack of dredging.

The latest MP to question the waterways minister was David Heyes, representing Ashton-under-Lyne, his constituent(s) being concerned about the lack of dredging:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what length of (a) British Waterways canals and (b) Environment Agency waterways have been dredged in each of the last 10 years.

39 miles

Richard Benyon (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Natural Environment and Fisheries), Environment, Food and Rural Affairs gave the information that in the year 2000 to 2001 88 miles of waterway had been dredged, in 2009 to 2010  39 miles had been dredged.  (Various lengths had been given for the intervening years.)

This means that in ten years dredging has dropped to less  than half.

The Environment Agency does not keep detailed records.