Midlands boaters meeting
THE Canal & River Trust trustee, John Dodwell, will be attending a meeting of Midlands boaters in Birmingham on Thursday 14th February, but it is already oversubscribed, so a second meeting is being arranged to accommodate those wishing to attend, writes Allan Richards.
The meeting follows several that have taken place recently and has been arranged by liveaboard boater, John Sloan (Boaters' meetings—18/1/2013). Amongst a four strong CaRT contingent attending will be Head of Boating, Sally Ash, who is currently in the limelight due to the controversy caused by the flawed South East Region moorings consultation.
Plan of action
A meeting of the South East Partnership was told in December 'Sally Ash is meeting with continuous cruiser groups to develop a plan of action to tackle the problems. The South East is focusing on the management of visitor moorings. The South East waterway can shortly begin to plan for a GUS [Grand Union South] version of the Kennet & Avon's continuous cruisers if the Partnership wish'.
It is hoped that Ms Ash understands that boaters at this meeting are not a 'continuous cruiser group' and that the notorious Vaughan Welch (IWA disowns Welch—25/1/2013) is a member of the West Midlands Partnership.
A sorry tale
Before a previous meeting in Skipton, organiser, John Sloan invited the four (IWA) CaRT boating council representatives to send a single delegate. It was a sorry tale of emails disappearing, a representative claiming he needed more notice, expenses needing CaRT authorisation, and of course the exposure of IWA trustee (and boating council member) Vaughan Welch's extreme views.
Although none of the four CaRT council boating representatives attended, the Skipton meeting was graced with the presence of Nigel Stevens, a business boating representative on the CaRT council, who convinced the audience that they should not be talking to their own representatives.
Nobody found it strange that this message did not come from the four themselves but rather from an ex city financier and fellow director of Sally Ash in Drifters Leisure, a company that sells boating holidays on behalf of 'the trade'. (According to one ex Drifters director the company has provided up to 200 free holidays for British Waterways staff, but it is not known if this practice has continued under CaRT).
Falling over
However, it now seems that boaters council representatives are falling over themselves to attend the Midlands meeting with Ivor Caplan asking if he may attend and ex IWA national chair Clive Henderson saying that he will be attending.
....and Vaughan Welch? He has not asked to attend nor been invited. It is rumoured he is still attempting to find his elusive continuous moorers hiding on the BCN. But sadly they keep moving and will not stay still for long enough for him to catch them!
(In my article Boaters Petition against mooring proposals—(7/2/2013), I referred to to two 'Independent boaters leaders'. For the avoidance of any doubt, I was referring to two individuals who are leading 'from the front' or 'by example' rather than being 'in charge'. The boaters meetings do not have elected officials—Allan.)