Objects of the Articles

WHEN announcing that Canal & River Trust (CaRT) wouldn't after all be trying to beggar waterways-based charities like the Bruce Trust, Richard Parry said 'We've taken the time to listen to our customers'.... writes Paul Burke.

This of course highlights the odd nature of CaRT and puts us thoroughly in our place. The National Trust is the nearest comparison to CaRT in terms of scope and responsibilities; but they have members, not customers, and £97 a year gets me and my family free run of the park and a say in how it's run.

Customer

On the other hand, my £800 or so plus whatever cut they take from the mooring fees only qualifies me as a 'customer', like when I buy a book in Oxfam or one of the grand'uns buys a pencil sharpener at Penrhyn Castle. CaRT membership is strictly for our betters, and we who merely consume their product must be content with the benefits of their wisdom. There are so many millions of people using the waterways that democracy would be impractical, nay mere anarchy. The purpose of CaRT is far higher than mere messing about in boats and....

But what does CaRT say it is for? Without wading through the 19 or so Acts of Parliament and Byelaws that it lists (consultation with a solicitor advised), this is from the CaRT Articles adopted 27th March 2012. This was copied somewhat inaccurately by the Charity Commission in their registration, to which CaRT also links: Canal & River Trust charity registration details as at 20 April 2012 . The Commission appears to think that there are two paragraphs 2.1.2 and that the foremost classification of CaRT is in THE PREVENTION OR RELIEF OF POVERTY (all CAPITALS just like that). Which is a very laudable aim, but one perhaps not best addressed by keeping lock gates watertight.

The Objects:

2.1 to preserve, protect, operate and manage Inland Waterways for public benefit:
2.1.1 for navigation;
2.1.2 for walking on towpaths; and

2.1.3 for recreation or other leisure-time pursuits of the public in the interest of their health and social welfare;

2.1.1 appears to prioritise navigation over other canal activities. So far so good, though its public statements about visitor numbers don't seem to take much notice of this. What's 33,000 to so many millions? In any case, the Schedule (capitalised) at the end of the Articles, which as they emphasise in Article 1 defines their interpretation, says 'navigation' includes navigation by any ship or boat used for the carriage of freight and by any ship or boat used also for human habitation;

Not included

So canoes, rowing boats, day hire boats, and your pristine polished narrow boat (which you use for occasional habitation, but never for the carriage of freight), do not come under this article, nor is CaRT intended to preserve, protect, operate and manage any waterway used by such vessels. Now I'm pretty sure they didn't MEAN to say this, perhaps that 'also' just crept in somehow, and it all really illustrates why you should get a good solicitor as advised. But it does give them CaRTe blanche to cease to preserve, protect etc. any waterway not used by freight. It does not define 'freight' in the Schedule.

Also note that mooring or water points, pump-out facilities, showers, washing machines, toilets and rubbish disposal or any other boaters' facilities are not mentioned. Expect these activities to be moved to the commercial sector as they think they can get away with it, sorry, as the customer demand profile develops. Especially mooring: it seem to be setting the going rate at £25 a night (or was it per day, or per 24 hours?) a nice little franchised earner in the honeypot areas.

Exclude running and cycling

2.1.2 is an oddity. It specifies walking (not necessarily by humans), excluding thereby running, cycling, clambering over fishing gear, sitting glumly by that fishing gear, birdwatching, picking blackberries or crab apples, overfeeding the ducks, or sitting on memorial benches eating cheese sandwiches and drinking lukewarm tea from a cheap inefficient Thermos flask. Perhaps it's there to remind Sustrans, fishing clubs and would-be Olympians that they only come in 2.1.3. Though I'm sure CaRT consulted a solicitor of some sort, if only to be sure of what it mean by 'towpath'.

My dictionary says that it is 'a path used by horses towing barges'. No doubt its meaning in these latter days, when horse-drawn barges are rarely seen on, say, the Huddersfield Narrow, is covered by some of those Byelaws and Acts of Parliament, but it is not elucidated by the capitalised Schedule at the end of the Articles. Perhaps I need to get my solicitor to read the Companies Act 2006 as well, as that is where they say undefined terms are to be found.

2.1.3 is clearly there as a catch-all, covering all these activities and more, as and when extra heads are needed to inflate the user numbers.