THE Canal & River Trust (CaRT) has apologised to the National Bargee Travellers Association (NBTA) and extended its Council election for a further six days.
This was after the NBTA complained that, contrary to an assurance by CEO Richard Parry in September, boaters without home moorings who had been forced to take a 'restricted' three or six months licence had not been included in the election.
Previously, only 12 months boat licence holders were able to vote in the election. CaRT admitted that the exclusion of those on 'restricted' licences from the election was an unintended consequence that it had not anticipated, and it had not meant to exclude them.
The election will now end on 17th December not 11th December. Any eligible voter who does not receive a letter or email inviting them to vote should complain to Electoral Reform Services who are running the election on 0208 889 9203 or
Roger Hanbury, CaRT's Head of Governance, explained:
"We have checked our actions following the agreement with Richard Parry to include restricted licence holders in the election.
"I can confirm that ERS were provided with the details of the licence holders in this category but regrettably this morning ERS have confirmed that they did not incorporate them into their list for the election mailing. This is a matter of great regret for which ERS have apologised and the matter will be further reviewed with ERS in due course.
"Today ERS will send out voting instructions to all those involved by email to the address provided to the Trust by the licence holder or, where there is no email was provided, a letter will be sent by first class post to the postal address provided by the licence holder. We will also extend the deadline for voting in the elections from 11th December to 17th December.
"I am sorry to have to write in these terms and we apologise for this error. Our clear intention is to include the restricted licence holders in the election".