Reducing the whitewash

IN RESPONSE to Graham Phillips' warning about a possible Inland Waterways Association whitewash, if lots of non-IWA boaters go to www.canalrivertrust.org.uk/consultations and respond, then the impact of any attempted whitewash will be reduced, writes Keith Gudgin.

There is a consultation about some of the London canals on there as well if you want to look.

The opportunity

Canal & River Trust, good or bad, are at least giving us the opportunity to have a say in what is happening whether we get what we want or not.

There is also a meeting in Milton Keynes about it in March and if lots of non-IWA boaters attend that as well then we will have even more say on the matter. Did I not read somewhere on here that the Milton Keynes branch of IWA was behind the spying furore? Non members need to unite and come out in force to have their voice heard as well, or it will be a whitewash.

Trying to take over

I am not, and never will be a member the IWA, I've had enough of non-authority organisation prima donnas trying to take over the running of things, both in my professional and social lifetime. It seems to me that so many of them want to be the boss and the union rep at the same time! Seems to me that IWA means I Want Authority?

I will make no comment about who should or should not be at the head of the IWA, that's for its membership to decide. I only know that it does not, and never will, represent me.

Send your feedback forms in, have your say and we might actually get something that is useful to us, the normal everyday boater and not just a bunch of over paid pretenders who only come out onto the water on sunny Sundays and then try to tell us how it should be done.