THE campaign to make the Southern Oxford Canal a safer place for boating started in narrowboatworld (Neglected South Oxford) has been taken up by BBC News Oxford.
It was Kevin McNiff who raised safety concerns on the waterway by the total neglect of Canal & River Trust (CaRT) to cut back the trees on the waterway, that were not only making it difficult to see approaching boats on the bends but branches damaging paintwork and brushing objects off the roofs.
Also concerned
The BBC went on to mention the Russell Newbery Register group, whose members were also concerned at the lack of any attempt to clear the overhanging trees. Kevin's photograph shows the state of the waterway.
Walkers too, it claimed, were having difficulty on the towpaths owing to the further neglect to cut vegetation, that will perhaps bring results from CaRT, with its concern for visitors.
It was the summer
The BBC told that CaRT blamed the summer weather conditions for 'quicker than expected' growth!
Kevin of course had his say, pointing out that the situation on a 20 miles stretch of canal between Hawkesbury and Oxford had 'deteriorated over the past 12 to 15 months, and that it was now difficult to spot obstacles ahead and in places it was no longer possible to stop and disembark from a boat in an emergency'.
Jeff Whyatt of CaRT was quoted as admitting some areas had become 'a little overgrown'. But he would be tackling the problem.