Hales to reappoint himself?

THE Canal & River Trust (CaRT) Chairman, Tony Hales, who said that he would stand down as from April this year is now seeking to reappoint himself at a 'secret' meeting which he is chairing, writes Allan Richards.

The meeting will take place at the Museum of London Docklands, West India Quay, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4AL on Wednesday 18th September.

Secret meeting?

On searching CaRT's meetings calendar, no record can be found of this meeting. However, a CaRT council member has forwarded a copy of the invitation signed by Nigel Ian Johnson, Secretary to the Trust and dated 3rd September giving just two weeks notice of CaRT's first Annual General Meeting.

The council member tells us the meeting is not open to the public and CaRT is trying to keep it a secret to avoid protests from staff and boating customers as has happened in the past at British Waterways' Annual General Meetings.

Discouraging council members

He also suggests that the meeting is being held midweek with a late announcement to discourage even council members from attending!

The meeting will, of course, be chaired by Tony Hales as Chairman of both the Board (of trustees) and Council.

Agenda

As well as receiving the Trust's accounts for the period ended 31st March 2013, attendees will be asked to reappoint four Trustees who are due to retire by rotation (none of whom it appointed in the first place). Two of these trustees, Tony Hales and John Bridgeman have previously served on the board of British Waterways.

The meeting will also be asked to confirm the appointment of Francis Done who has previously served as as a trustee of The Waterways Trust.

Time to go Tony

It was first announced that Tony Hales would step down in April 2013 after completing 12 months in office. Then it was announced that he was staying on for a period because the Trust was late in starting. Then the excuse was that he was needed for a time because his chief executive was leaving.

What is his excuse now?