CaRT's Annual Public meeting

CANAL & RIVER TRUST'S Annual Public Meeting will take place at Ellesmere Port on Tuesday 9th July, writes Allan Richards.

Its invitation, if you were lucky enough to get one, states: 'The meeting will be an opportunity for you to discover more about our work'.

Non adversarial

It is understood that the format for the meeting will be non adversarial. This is 'Cart speak' for 'we don't want to answer embarrassing questions'.

As such the formal part of the proceedings will be hurried through and instead of the trustees and executive directors being questioned on CaRT's performance in 2012/13 we will have workshops such as 'Wildlife: What have voles ever done for the waterways ...'. We will also have 'Arts: How the arts helped save the canals ....'. and 'Restoration: Canals good=more canals better?'

(With that last one it is suspected that some attendees will spend much time figuring out what it means!)

£127 millions

.... but is this not just a case of 'fiddling whilst Rome burns'. A mere distraction, whilst CaRT's infrastructure continues to deteriorate through lack of maintenance.

Lets face it, it is a matter of public record that Robin Evans told politicians that CaRT's waterways needed £120m per year spending on them in 2010/11 to prevent them deteriorating from the previous years condition. CaRT's trustees believe that these costs rise by 3% a year so for 2012/13 its about £127m.

Annual report?

When CaRT publishes its first annual report we will no doubt find hidden in the mass of figures that it spent less than two thirds of the £127m needed.

However, CaRT has yet to publish its report and accounts. Perhaps the intention is to have its Annual Public Meeting without this document!

Are they aware?

CaRT's trustees were seemingly oblivious to the fact that Board papers had not been published for 12 months despite expressing a wish that they should be. Perhaps this incompetence extends as far as not ensuring that annual report and accounts are available some weeks before an annual meetings.

..... or perhaps they do know!