Another half million gone?

THE sale by auction of five 'Dutch barges' by Canal & River Trust (CaRT sells more boats ) is causing some speculation.

It is understood that the total purchase cost including delivery to London was somewhere between £300,000 and £500,000, but we are told that it would have been much cheaper to construct from scratch rather than adapt 'historic' barges.

Too wide to use

How did CaRT come to own boats that are too long and too wide to use the majority of its waterways?

Firstly, as has been pointed out by knowledgeable boaters, they are not Dutch barges, but labelling them as such might attract more attention at auction. According to CaRT, they were purchased by British Waterways as a mixture of 'historic' Belgian Spits (or Spitz) and French Peniche barges originally built for use with the old Freycinet gauge locks of those two countries.

But why does CaRT own them and why is it selling them?

Mark Bensted

Apparently, its was British Waterways' London Director Mark Bensted who 'spotted the potential of using these types of barges in Docklands', so travelled to Amsterdam with Docklands Manager, Denis Fink, to purchase them.

Having possibly saved these barges from being cut up for scrap, British Waterways and its joint venture partners Bloc ran a competition, in 2009, to remodel them to 'create an exceptional mixed use scheme in London's Docklands'. That gobbledygook of architect speak means that the barges were to be converted into shops, offices, restaurants and possibly homes. The pictures show the winners' submissions.

Challenging traditional perceptions

The panel of judges, led by Mark Bensted himself, was impressed by the two winners' 'ability to challenge traditional perceptions of water-space design, whilst retaining continuity with the commercial past of the barges and their surroundings'.

Of one winner, Mark Bensted stated 'The approach demonstrated design flare and variety with considerable thought given to the three main areas of animation; the dockside, the urban space around the barges and the on-deck space'.

.... and the judges told of the other 'all white scheme' (pictured): 'An innovative and adaptable design which creates a new urban realm and landmark space with the surrounding decking'.

(It is, perhaps, a testimony to British Waterway/CaRT's powers under section 43 of the Transport Act 1962 that it can demand that people are painted the same colour as boats!)

Did not happen

Of course, the development never took place. Indeed, just a few short months after the results of the competition, British Waterways announced that a previous initiative involving converting barges for commercial use had failed (Business barges failed).

So these barges have been languishing unused for years and quietly put up for auction where they will only make scrap value, unless a bidder has a project in mind and perhaps more importantly a mooring large enough.

Boris

At a time when CaRT is demonstrating that it is unable to make good use of its waterspace in London, others are ploughing ahead. Boris Johnson, London's Mayor has just announced 'Floating Village' plans for the Royal Docks. These will be modelled on floating developments already proven on the continent in such places as Ijburg near Amsterdam.

Would Boris would like to buy the barges, we wonder?

Bensted leaves

A few months after the competition, Mark Bensted, left British Waterways' employ quite suddenly. He was not replaced. His departure came just days before narrowboatworld revealed that his Olympic brainwave, Three Mills Lock (also known as Prescott Lock), built at a cost of between £20 to 25 millions, was not fit for purpose and would carry virtually no construction traffic (The White Elephant).

His departure also came amongst rumours that British Waterways were grabbing land in the London area from long established boaters in the name of property and mooring development (Small part of a formidable legal challenge).

However, with British Waterways' delusional penchant of rewarding for failure, he was paid £342,285 during his last year in office and left with a pension pot of £1,122,440.

Bensted returns

H20 Urban (or to give its full name H20 Urban (No 2) LLP) was set up as a limited liability partnership by British Waterways and Bloc in 2008. Its members are now Enbloc Estates Limited (wholly owned by Bloc) and Canal and River Trading CIC, CaRT's trading arm.

H2O Urban's website gives a list of its board members divided into 'Canal & River Trust' and 'Bloc'. Surprisingly, the list of CaRT's board members includes Mark Bensted.

Hopefully Mr Bensted is providing his services as a volunteer rather than charging £342,285 a year!

.... and if the barges remain unsold, can we expect Mr Bensted to travel to Amsterdam to buy some white paint?