Greater clarity of purpose for partnerships

Published: Thursday, 11 January 2018

THE very much hailed Waterway Partnerships are to have 'greater clarity of purpose' we are told by Canal & River Trust.

These partnerships are a conglomeration of literally anything remotely connected with the waterways and have proved a complete drain on resources.

Received £25,000 each

The 13 that were originally formed each received £25,000 'to generate funds for the waterways', and proved a complete failure as over the first three year period 'generated' just over £20,000 in total, less than each one cost to set up.

But now with the Trust intent upon once again shuffling its waterway regions, this time from 10 to six, it tells us that the partnerships 'will have greater clarity of purpose which will include income generation'.

No cover original cost

None of the partnerships even raised enough income over three years to cover its original cost, with some not even producing minutes or details of meetings or activities.

Such was their failure that it resulted in the government setting up an All Party Parliamentary Group to inquire into the aims and progress of the Waterway Partnerships way back in 2013'.

Cannot solve the problem

Though recommendation were made, very little took place, with the partnerships still not generating profit, and it cannot be seen how a transition by the Trust from 10 to six waterway regions can solve the problem, as the partnerships are simply not money-making organisations.