IT IS rather obvious that the aim of all the 'wasteful' spending that the Canal & River Trust has embarked upon is purely to impress those who hold its purse strings, writes, T. Lang.
And of course it is the government that holds the purse strings, so CaRT by pushing for more and more of its towpaths into cycle tracks it can show that it is promoting the 'green' factor with more and more cyclists then visiting the waterways.
Welcomes
All the 'welcoming' notices it must feel also show it—well, welcomes—visitors. And —its duck notices and towpaths marked-off for them together of course for its care of bumble bees, water voles and such like shows those the government that wildlife is so important to it.
And most of all telling that it has 350,000,000 visits to its waterways a year, must surely impress those who haven't the sense to just think about it, and I don't expect there are many in the government who do!
Keeps rolling in
It all shows the government that its money is being well spent in providing a fantastic place for visitors, and so the money keeps rolling in.
Alas, we boaters know that it is all 'pie in the sky' and the waterways really have very little to attract visitors. Those 'gaily painted boats' that CaRT boasts about are very much being superseded by rather scruffy ones with their roofs piled high with detritus, covered by tarpaulins, often moored with either engines or generators noisily churning away, that are hardly an attraction.
Grotty
And the new policy of 'wait until it breaks' means locks are no longer the attraction they once were, but rather grotty things badly in need of a lick of paint, and as such an attraction to nobody.
I could be a good idea for CaRT to make the waterways seem inviting for visitors, to the government, and thus keep the money rolling in, but the lack of attention to its infrastructure is defeating its object, as it is attractive no more.