After years of complaints...

A REGULAR users of the section of the Trent & Mersey Canal where the breach occurred, and narrowboatworld contributor, Frank Hurst believes Canal & River Trust has the gall to to appeal for funds, and writes:

Following on from the Trent & Mersey Canal breach and the appeal to the wider public for funds to repair it, I find it incredulous that after many years of constant complaints to British Waterways  over the state of this canal especially in the location of the breach and requests for increased maintenance the new embodiment of British Waterways, CaRT have had the gall to start this appeal.

Steady decline

I have used this canal for many years and have watched the steady decline in maintenance. I am aware of many instances of problems being reported to British Waterways, and I have myself reported lack of maintenance with no result. The canal near to the breach is run down and overgrown with weeds, towpaths and copings are falling into the canal and the navigable width is reduced in many places by weeds to one boat width with low water levels increasing the risk of grounding.

I moor on the Bridgewater Canal, and I buy a British Waterways reciprocal licence every year, so I am able to use the Anderton Lift and spend time on the Weaver.

Increased dramatically

Over the last two years the price of this reciprocal licence has increased dramatically, as an example my licence in 2011 went up by £80 per year and my licence this year went up by £90, this increase has priced many people on the Bridgewater Canal off the now CaRT waterways, it is simply unsustainable that on top of a Bridgewater licence which costs as much as a CaRT licence I have to pay £240 per year for a concessionary CaRT licence.

Also due to this breach myself and all the other Bridgewater Canal moorers who specifically buy this licence now can't use the CaRT canals to Anderton and the Weaver and will lose three months use of our purchased licences. Oh, but I hear you say you can still get to CaRT waters the other way, yes I say if I travel over 40 miles I get to Leigh, but would you like to travel to London on the motorway via Edinburgh, I think not!

Spend where it is meant for

CaRT should look to spending the contingency fund to deal with this breach, that is what it is for—it should sort out its house and finances, and spend the money it has for what it was meant for, there was a big who-ha when it launched stating that government funding was guaranteed for many years, so lets use it and spend it on what it was intended, I think boaters have paid enough.

If CaRT wants more funding get it from the cyclists, walkers and fishermen who pay nothing for the use or upkeep of our canal system, if it wasn't for boaters and canal restoration societies we would not have a canal system to use.