Championing nature and art

I AM disappointed to read pieces such as James Henry's jaded complaint (Concerned about AGM) about the Canal & River Trust AGM agenda, writes Suzanne MacLeod.

In particular, I'd like to pick up on two of the items I feel strongly about, and which are linked.

Nature conservation

Firstly, Mr Henry seems to object to investment in nature conservation, lazily describing as 'the Nature brigade' those like myself who are concerned by the loss of habitat and risk to the continuation of species affecting us all, whether we care or not.

In my view, where science has identified a problem or threat, an authority that has both responsibility and opportunity acts and spends appropriately. It is not only for utilitarian or economic reasons that we should protect wildlife (thinking, for example, of the current bee disease/pollination issue) but because wildlife has both an intrinsic value and a fundamental right to thrive, and also because interacting with wildlife has the capacity to bring us humans delight.

Otter in Bath

Last week I saw an otter on the Avon in the centre of Bath—such a joy! I have yet to see a water vole while boating, but the motivation to do so is strong and helps to bind me emotionally to the waterways.

I am very happy to see CaRT funds spent on wildlife conservation, and remind even the most cynical of the redeeming power of nature. Pave your entire front yard for car parking with the finest concrete blocks, then campaign for everyone in the neighbourhood to do likewise, then wonder one day why you don't hear birdsong any more.

The arts

Secondly, Mr Henry clearly fails to see how CaRT investment in the Arts can be justified. Perhaps it's just the case that CaRT's choice of art projects is not to his personal taste. Or else Mr Henry has not understood how imaginative and strategically minded organisations (as opposed to merely reactive and conservative ones) recognise that the long term is secured not only by day-to-day operational competence and spending—which is of course necessary—but by having an eye also to capturing wider interest and involvement in the waterways by any means that's effective.

We want to push forward on many fronts. Certainly, prioritisation is a vital tool to wield when allocating funds. But we must still ring-fence for at least some spending those things that matter at all. Art is capable of delighting and inspiring people. Art is a way of expressing ourselves, and of appreciating the different ways that other people respond to the things we ourselves respond to, so that we can experience a sense of how we fit in to a community and a society.

Adding to common enjoyment

I believe it's capable of adding to our common enjoyment of the waterways in ways we may not immediately be able to recognise, or ever be able to measure, and of bringing new people to the waterways. Let Mr Henry subtract from his own life everything that can be attributed to the artistic effort of someone or other, and he may find himself very gravely impoverished.

The link between these two points is simply 'delight'. Yes, we must pay attention to basic needs. Functioning infrastructure is the sine qua non of our waterways. But we all want more from life than satisfactory functioning, don't we? Don't you?