Chief Executive side-steps

ON READING the recent article (Parry on Forgery and Fraud) I was very disconcerted over what came across as insincere comments from Richard Parry in response to Allan Richards' article alleging forgery of a CaRT land holdings map, the Terrier Map for Brentford, writes Del Brenner.

I was so astonished that I stopped for a cup of tea before going back to look at the article again to double-check what I had read. I could have done with something stronger. It beggars belief that a chief executive of a leading national organisation would deal with a very serious matter in such an inadequate way.

Scouts around the issue

It is strange the manner in which Richard Parry scouts around the key issue of the alleged fraud, and so obviously side-steps the matter, as he seems to make no direct reference to the alleged ‘forgery' in his comments to Allan Richards. The implications are serious that he does not directly deny any forgery, nor refute subsequent repeated comments on the issue, including a very recent comment from Deputy Master Jefferis in the High Court in October who said he had 'great sympathy' and could see why Nigel Moore was so upset about the matter (Forgery and Fraud).

I do not think that I know the Chief Executive very well yet, but I am not sure that I am satisfied with what I know so far. To be generous for a moment, I could wonder whether Richard Parry has been taken in, and by whom.

A useful reference

The Brentford terrier map was drawn up probably in the mid sixties, soon after the setting up of BWB by the 1962 Transport Act. It seems that the mapping was carried out as a useful process to identify the Board's land holdings nationally, and there are a large number of these maps covering sites around the canal network. It can be seen that each item entered on to the Brentford terrier map had a detailed annotation of the bundles of documents and deeds which established BWB's interests in the various sites in the area. The mass of information is very precise, and evidence based.

It should be noted that on the Brentford terrier map that was produced in earlier hearings of Nigel Moore's case in the High Court showing the disputed hatching of the land in question, there was no annotation whatsoever to establish and verify the supposed claim, a fact that Nigel Moore had made abundantly clear to the Registrar in 2005 and to the British Waterways Estates Manager in 2006.

Richard Parry states that the use of the Brentford terrier map was ‘abandoned' a long time ago (without admitting why), but terrier maps are not dispensed with as they remain a useful reference and the starting point for more recent land dealings, which may now be dealt with digitally. He talks about a long time ago, but a few years is not a long time ago when BWB were making use of the terrier map in High Court proceedings.

Land Registry links

It is interesting to note that in 2005/6 British Waterways sent two of its staff in its estates department on an intensive Land Registry two-year diploma course, and they qualified with flying colours which prompted a full page article in the Land Registry magazine congratulating them on the high level of their success (Landnet No.15, March 2007, Page 9).

It is even more interesting to note that when British Waterways was questioned about its staff qualifications in land registration it flatly denied any such thing, and it was only persistence from Nigel Moore with a FoI request that British Waterways eventually admitted that it had the specialist qualified staff. Why did BW not want anyone to know what it was up to? The plot thickens.

This was at the time when British Waterways was setting out on the process of voluntary first registration of the canals and adjoining land, and as nothing was said at the time, nor since then, no one realised what British Waterways was carrying out. Of course its job was made easier as it was admitted that British Waterways had got to know some of the Land Registry staff, and when staff picked up the phone there was a chance, it is said, that they might know the voice.

It is also noted that with its land registration, British Waterways seemed to be dealing with only a single Land Registry Office, the one in Birkenhead, rather than the regional offices. Nigel Moore expressed surprise when he discovered that British Waterways' registration of his land was being dealt with at Birkenhead rather than the London Region office at Swansea who knew nothing of the disputes that have arisen. All too cosy?

An isolated incident?

One of the key matters in the revelations about the BWB and now CaRT dealings with land ownership and possession (referred to as a ‘land grab'), is that it is not known how widespread it is. The Chief Executive's comments reveal nothing, and perhaps Richard Parry raises more questions than he answers.

I wonder, as the Parry ‘denial' is so patently a diversion tactic, whether more is being covered up. Is the Brentford alleged fraud an isolated incident, or would further investigation open a can of worms?

A crippling legacy

It all began in the BWB era, which ran for many years as a government quango under the responsibility of Defra and the relevant ministers who seem to have taken their eye off the ball. There was insufficient scrutiny, and a distinct lack of openness and accountability that was identified in the Select Committee investigations into BWB in 2006.

This throws the spotlight on to what I refer to as the ‘malign' operation which was the BWB board and directors, and which I have not been happy with for decades, especially in the London Region of British Waterways during the Mark Bensted era.

British Waterways ran a very tightly closed management, with characteristic control freakery, and they built a solid shell around themselves. The boating fraternity were ignorant of what was going on, and did Defra know (but turned a blind eye perhaps)?

Have this ‘can of worms' and many other problems been dumped on to the community when the BWB ‘management' was transferred lock stock and barrel into Canal & River Trust? It has always seemed to me that government were too anxious to get shot of BWB without taking time to sort out any of the problems smouldering in the depths of the administration.

Resolution

To resolve the canal's problems we should be turning to the Trustees, and asking them what they are doing about the grim allegations and the serious emerging dispute. Nigel Moore confirms that he has recently emailed his concerns about the matter to every Trustee, and says that he has not received a single acknowledgement, let alone any response.

The directors, including the chief executive, are under the leadership and control of the Trustees guided by their chairman. Ahhh, the Chairman of the Trustees, Tony Hales, was previously chairman of the BWB Board.

[Del Brenner is Secretary of Regents Network and member of the London Waterways Commission.]