I find it quite alarming that so many customer service facilities have been closed, writes John Smedley.
As a continuous cruiser I have managed to arrange my cruising every 14 days as per the rules so to get rid of my rubbish at the service facilities along my routes.
But two of them are no longer there that means there is no facility to get rid of my rubbish as a formally did before all these closures took place (and thanks to Keith Gudgin for keeping us informed, as I can't get on with the shower of stuff that the trust send).
I realise the closures are not the trust's fault as the facilities have to adhere to yet another stupid dictate from this government, whose people who make these rules just do not understand the working of the waterways and especially us continuous cruisers.
But I don't know how long this is going to go for, or if more facilities are to be closed, for there is no information I am told by others suffering the same problem as I am. In my case, I shall have to find another area where they are still there and hope that they too don't get closed.
And with all these closures they too causes problems.
Chatting with other continuous cruisers, they tell me they have decided to just stay put where they are by the facilities they need and so are ignoring the 14 days movement rule. And what with all the closures, I don't see that the trust can do anything about it. It can't enforce that what is impossible.
[John Smedley is a regular contributor.]