Interview rebounded

IN HIS article Canal & River Trust Trustee, John Dodwell, asks narrowboatworld readers 'Did you see chief executive Robin Evans' interviews in Waterways World and Canal Boat?', writes Allan Richards.

Perhaps he wishes readers to rush round to W. H. Smith to buy a copy of Waterways World for £3.75 (Canal Boat £3.70) rather than read narrowboatworld for free.

Missing

Unfortunately, those visiting newsagents to buy a copy of Waterways World will miss the four page interview. A new edition of the monthly was published several days ago!

What you will have missed is a picture of Robin Evans addressing the launch of CaRT in July, another with a group of volunteers at the start of the Droitwich restoration (including the obligatory white hard hat and day glow tabard) and a third with fellow directors in CaRT's new Milton Keynes offices.

...and as if that were not enough Waterways World gives us two uncaptioned photos with the famous 'cheesy' grin.

It is almost as if the questions asked by its Deputy Editor, Keith Goss, and Robin Evans' responses were superfluous to the promotion of CaRT's chief executive by the publication.

Criticism

However, the current edition of Waterways World (January 2013) shows that its readers did put the text of the article under the microscope and the chief executive came in for criticism. How big the magazine's postbag was following the interview is unknown but one suspects that what was published was a small representative sample.
Trustees please take note!

Waterways World asked two questions on executive pay with Robin Evans reply on the second being 'our postbag has fallen silent on it now'. Jack Hutchinson's letter condemned this as 'ill concealed smugness', pointing out that people tire of protesting about fat cat salaries. He adds 'We may have stopped writing, Mr Evans, but rest assured that our contempt lives on'.

Pay and poetry

However, another letter unrelated to the Robin Evans' article mentions that Waterways World published no less than six letters relating to Robin Evans' pay and poetry in its November issue. Its readers, it seems, are still writing on these issues but to the magazine rather than CaRT.

Certainly, contempt for Robin Evans and his fellow directors continues but this contempt must surely now extend to CaRT's trustees. These were the people who simply sat back while British Waterways' Executive and Board spent public money having reports prepared to justify continuing high remuneration levels, allowed themselves to be bullied into accepting the findings of these reports, and are now faced with the impossible task of justifying a decision on future salaries which they simply rubber stamped.

(The Information Commissioner is currently investigating a complaint that CaRT has refused to provide information relating the part played by trustees in setting executive remuneration.)

Freight

Peter Hugman took Robin Evans to task about his negative views on freight and was particularly scathing about Three Mills Lock failing to carry any commercial traffic during the building of the Olympic Park. Peter convincingly argues that it will also fail to carry any commercial traffic in the future. He says not only is the river approach navigable for only a few hours around high tide but a submerged pipeline, lack of dredging, low bridges and a lack of a wharf to unload barges all conspire to ensure that it has no future.

The money (more than £20 millions) could have been better spent, he suggests, on more viable freight projects.

Communist philosophy

Peter Bannard, whose contribution Waterways World bills as its 'letter of the month', wonders 'if the lunatics have finally taken over the asylum'.

Peter refers to a previous comment made by Chairman Tony Hales in Waterways World November issue 'there are sad people who continue to knock the trust' adding that in one sweeping phrase the chairman arrogantly dismisses all those who dare hold an opposite view to his own.

Undaunted at being considered 'sad' for his views, he then takes Robin Evans to task for suggesting that, in the past, this country has had a communist philosophy with regard to support of its waterways. He rightly points out that that the citizens of Sweden, France, Holland and, indeed, Scotland who all fund waterways via taxation probably do not consider themselves as communists!

He also also suggests that the chief executive must be living on 'Planet Evans' if he believes that dog-walkers and casual walkers will leave sizeable legacies in years to come.

(As an aside, unfortunately some dog walkers do leave legacies by failing to 'pick up'. The size of the legacy is normally dependent on the size of the dog!)

John Lilley

However, it is Waterways World regular contributor John Lilley who really gets to the point. In a very few words he exposes Robin Evans assertion that CaRT is doing well.

He says 'Four years ago financial consultants indicated a need for a government grant of at least £84.5 million. With inflation we can make that £96 million today. Yet Defra is giving the waterways £39 million for each of three years rising to £49 million thereafter'.

He then condemns the chief executive for describing the settlement as 'brilliant', questions how the Trust can make up the massive shortfall and suggests that the true condition of the waterways needs to be examined closely.

The report that John refers to is a £600,000 KPMG report produced in 2008. As he says 'Are the English and Welsh waterways so well looked after, as Mr Evans suggests? If so, what were those independent consultants talking about?'

All critical

So there it is. Four letters, all critical of the Robin Evans' article in Waterways World.
....and all these criticisms have been previously made in narrowboatworld.

One wonders why it is that we are being exhorted by a trustee to read the article. Perhaps he is so out of touch with what the public really think that he simply did not realise that the article would generate a backlash.

One thing is certain. The 'brilliant' settlement described by Robin Evans in the article is nothing of the sort.

Dumping the waterways on the third sector gives certainty of funding for years to come. However, it is certainty of underfunding.