INLAND NAVIGATION ISSUES, NEWS, AND VIEWS • BW Licence banding resolved • BW ‘Boating Issues’ Update • Horseboat through Standedge Issue 4 June 2006 3 Chairman's Column The chairman 6 BW Licensing resolved Stuart Sampson 6 BW Boating Issues Update (BW) 10 For Your Safety New WFRS Fire Safety booklet Gas Box Locking? (WFRS) Security on Bollards SS 11 BW Bylaws Stephen Peters 12 So You Are Thinking of Buying A Boat... 14 BWAF The chairman 15 Red Diesel conditions of sale Stephen Peters 15 Email Bulletin ‘Blacklist’ The webmaster 16 Discounts from River Canal Rescue RCR 17 Notices 18 Rivers - New Thames Rep Council Warning Peter Foster EA TWAO latest (EA) 19 Horseboat through Standedge Horseboating Society 23 Silly Signs 24 Fly on the wall at Council Said insect 26 Medway Cruise 2007 Carole Sampson 26 More Boat Names 27 Letters Yourselves 29 Counterpoints Drifter 30 NABO supplies 31 Council and contacts 2006 CALENDAR Council Copy meeting date July 15th July 22nd Sept 16th Sept 23rd Nov 18th AGM Nov 25th Dec 7th 2 CHAIRMAN’S COLUMN Another couple of months has passed autonomy. Was it too and it seems we are making progress. much, and has NABO BW's headquarters staff are now enough people around bending over backwards to take the country keeping advantage of our offers to help and I tabs on the situation? hope you will soon be seeing results. We need you more than ever. BW Development - NABO consulted Thankfully we have two in London, NABO has even started dialogue with where BWL, as it likes to call itself, ISIS, BW's property development seems to have grand ideas. From my partner. This news was volunteered by perch in England's largest county, with BW's Commercial Director, James the largest BW Unit, London's Froomberg, in front of everyone at the waterways look like that little bit in the BW Advisory Forum, up to and far left hand corner! “Treason”, I hear including the Chairman of the Board. you cry - send in the Beefeaters and take me in shackles to the Tower! It all started at a local User Group level However it does seem BWL has let in Yorkshire. ISIS gave a ten minute through a number of navigation presentation on plans for Leeds Granary unfriendly developments, without any Wharf with not one mention of the meaningful consultation. word 'boat', even though there are two listed dry docks on the site. After our One headquarters directive which Northeast Secretary reminded them seems to be lapsing is Robin Evan's what canals were for, she is now part of Veg Pledge. Trees are still growing out a working group helping the planners to of the towpath bank on the Grand incorporate improvements for boaters Union, River Stort (London again!) and and hopefully to keep a dock the Macclesfield, as discovered first operational. Why didn't BW Yorkshire hand when BW's External Affairs do this? Because the staff involved manager shed his office tie and went didn't have a boating background? truly external as a hire boater. He also noticed how cow parsley and nettles are However, to put it into perspective, growing rampant along many banks. even though we maybe getting involved with BW's own development schemes, Dredging remains an issue, with the they only cover 3% of of the waterside. Units still not asking users about where We also have to urge the BW Units to and how much needs taking out. Surely stop other development travesties by not London again? getting their navigation savvy people in All right, let’s have a go at West on the planning approval process. Midlands (no particular reason except we are on the BCN at present). Like The chain of command any BW Unit, it has various duties:- BW’s central management may be • Ensure everything in its domain listening to boaters, and even doing conforms to Health and Safety some boating themselves, but what about those outside Watford? Robin • Balance its books Evans re-organised BW into Business • Look after its waterways Units and gave them a degree of • Please its customers 3 The Government appointed Robin Boating Facility Consultation Evans at a time when it knew BW These tales of woe might make us customer engagement was lacking, and wonder about the worth of our efforts, part of his re-organisation was but fear not, there are promises of a supposed to put customer relations 'culture change'. The Head of Boating higher up the list. With so many civil Development has been going external engineers in senior positions in the too, not only afloat, but also with a Units he attempted to redress the firm of consultants to gather boaters' balance by creating Service and opinions about what they believe can Customer Operations Manager posts. best be done with a limited budget to Has this worked? improve the network. It is part of BW’s Certainly in the West Midlands there Customer Insight Programme. are still work boats littering Visitor and One of the spin-offs from this will be Facility Moorings, a sure sign that that BW will have to take stock of its BW’s paying customers are still low on existing facilities, something already the priority list, despite posts being started with Waterscape’s Boaters created to champion their cause. For Guides. example: the Black Country Museum 48 hour moorings are due to be One may wonder why NABO isn't the occupied by contractors’ boats for the one gathering boater's views and whole summer and when we went there presenting them, but, no matter how was a hopper on the 8 hour moorings many times we are proved right, the too. No effort was being made to hard core in BW has yet to be minimise the inconvenience caused – convinced of our credibility. We did, time they were introduced to EA’s however, accept with open arms BW's ‘Moor Alongside’ campaign! invitation to help plan the survey and I hope if you were approached by one of Customer services are also failing to the team’s personable young ladies, provide consistent information as to you found her questions well informed. where and for how long a boat can moor, something especially important BW is also promising a culture change around the BCN for visitors. I assume recognising the value of the NABO this is because the staff brought in with Waterway Reports Forum. but you the customer insight don’t know the know all about that, don't you? Unit’s waterways well enough. Etiquette I mentioned earlier that Eugene Baston For instance: Cuckoo Wharf, a very had gone ‘external’. It was in a Black strategic overnight stop on the Prince hire boat and it is a pity that Birmingham and Fazeley, is billed in some private owners let the side down one document as 14 day moorings and by assuming all hirers are speed in another leaflet as 48 hours. In reality merchants and totally devoid of a big sign proclaims ‘Residential courtesy and etiquette. Members of his Moorings’, but, if you can see it behind crew were quite put off by the endless the work boats, there is a small sign signs and needless gesticulations to saying ‘14 days max’. Not very long for slow down. We complain about excess residents, so we assume these were BW signage but what about our own? visitor moorings. No mention at all is made of Cuckoo Wharf as a mooring Are we not capable of tying up a boat, site on the BW information boards. particularly on a long-term online 4 mooring, in such a way that it can be spent on Hyde Park in London, which passed at a reasonable cruising speed is in reach of far less users - none of without damage? Has nobody heard of whom are charged a penny. the benefits of a spring line or two and Waterways get in a year less than the some decent fenders? You see lots of Highways Agency get in a day, and men 'fettling' their moorings to get the over the last 10 years Grants In Aid most comfortable ride when boats have been, barring a few ‘blips’, in pass. I do it, I don’t know if it is a steady decline. You know the form - ‘man thing’ but it keeps us out of get writing! mischief while the ladies are doing something more important! Council We all know that some boaters are Unfortunately Merleen Watson will excusably ignorant, others the not be working for NABO on Council uncaringly ignorant, but why not forget any more. She has resigned for a the imperative for once, and not always number of reasons but I felt she was assume that the approaching boat will never really able to get into it and I am be travelling too fast? I hope the sorry if that was my failing. It is a NABO window slogan is more friendly: shame but I hope she finds another "Thank you for passing us slowly". way to fulfill her desire to help the waterways cause. EA funding There may be optimism on the BW One thing she did mention though was front, but what are we going to do with people on Council with specific the EA? How can a navigation agendas. This should not be a authority possibly survive without problem, providing their interests are enough money? Can it ever make ends in the open and balanced. In fact that meet if it must increase its charges to is one our strengths – you can’t paint a boaters so much that it is in danger of true picture without some strong driving them all off the rivers? colours on your palette.