'Thank-you' from Richard Parry
FIRSTLY, thank-you to all the boaters and other waterway users who I've met this year at the 12 open meetings that have taken place around the country, writes Richard Parry, Chief Executive Canal & River Trust.
I've enjoyed meeting all of you and have learnt a lot about what you want from the Trust—what we're doing well and where we need to improve—from listening to your views, experiences and opinions. Overall, you've told us that you found the meetings useful too (over 800 people attended and 75% of those who responded to our feedback forms said the meetings were either very useful or useful). The photograph is of Richard at the Nottingham meeting.
Keep you updated
A lot of themes have been discussed, covering all things boating and beyond. I wanted to keep you updated on the key themes and work we're doing around these issues:
§ You wanted to know more about our major works plans. We published the detailed £20m+ major works plan in April, (Plan) and we'll shortly be publishing an update. Whilst much of the work is done during the winter we plan to complete 40% during the warmer months when we can get work done more easily and cheaply.
§ We've also set out the details of our winter stoppage and lock gate replacement/repairs programme for public consultation. That consultation has concluded and we've announced the revised programme today, following which you'll have a chance to make further comments before the final plan is shared in September.
Local repair work
§ You told me you wanted us to share more information about the local repair work we are carrying out. Our waterway teams have published their detailed ‘high priority' repair programmes and you can find them on the noticeboard section of your local waterway page. (Page.) We'll be updating these plans—to tell you what we've done and any changes to the future programme—shortly. Later this summer you can expect to see updates on our dredging programme and our plans for tackling more offside vegetation
§ You asked me a lot of questions and told me about problems specific to your local area. My teams are looking at all of these, fixing them where we are able to. We'll be publishing a document showing you what we've achieved soon.
More meetings
We're now planning for the next wave of meetings, which will start in September with a second live Twitter Q&A and continue with face-to-face meetings from 1st October. As part of our drive to put customers first, I've created a role for a Head of Customer Services, which Dean Davies (the West Midlands Waterway Manager) is covering on secondment.
Dean will be participating with me in the autumn, so we can expand our meeting programme. So far, the meetings have been a mixture of weekend afternoon and weekday evening events. I would like to hear your views on what timing works best for you. Please email
In the meantime I hope the vast majority of you are able to get out and enjoy our waterways. I've been lucky enough to have been invited out boating on the Ribble Link and the Stratford Canal in the past few weeks, as well as attending many of the superb canal and river festivals. If I haven't bumped into you already, I look forward to seeing you out on the water in the months ahead.