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Page 1 of 2 WITH all the many non-boating members of CART, it was to be expected that they would be well catered for, and believe me they are.
Any one listening to BBC radio last week will have gleaned the latest hare-brained scheme—to plant apple trees along the towpath! They haven't the common sense to realise that they will be too much of a temptation for people to uproot and plant in their gardens or flog at the local car boot sale.
And should they by some remote chance survive, the roots eventually won't do a lot of good to the canal banks. And how much is this little stupidity costing—we are obviously not told.
 And another
Another little scheme is for newt fans to text 'NEWT' and give £3 to create a pond on the Grand Union Canal where newts, birds and dragonflies can thrive.
Of course this is all to 'Bring your towpath to life'—to hell with the Grand Union Canal, for we all know about the newt fanatics, who even stopped the restoration of the Ashby Canal because they were discovered in the water.
And reeds
 All of you who have cruised the Droitwich Canal will be well aware of the seemingly never ending reeds invading each side of the waterway, but the ecologists want even more! Yes, they want to restore a reed bed on the canal, to provide a vital habitat for wildlife tells ecologist Mark Robinson. This time they tell us how much it will cost as it is 'only £5,000'.
A pity he didn't join us on our trip through there and seen there are reeds galore, enough for all the wildlife imaginable, as can be seen.
Worse is to come
We have already told you about Floating Water Plantain, another hazard for boaters that is to be introduced into the waterways, but this is nothing compared to what is to come.
The vast number of non-boaters of that 150 that comprise CART, are well and truly digging their heels in, for we are now told:
To celebrate its launch, the Canal & River Trust is unveiling its first ever appeal of 50 projects across the country to breathe new life into towpaths and riverbanks.
Yes my friends—50 no doubt money wasting schemes to pander to the ecologists, naturalists botanists, conservationists environmentalists and all the other such now firmly latched on to our waterways.
Did I mention waterways? What are they?
And yet...
Here's an official statement:
The Canal and River Trust will help people who live by, visit or work on the canals and replaces the roles previously held by British Waterways and The Waterways Trust in England and Wales.
Every penny donated to the cause will be spent directly on conserving, restoring, and enhancing local rivers and canals.
Every penny, eh?
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