campaigns Update

CAMPAIGNING WITH YOU

Sustainable boating and the future of our waterways in a post-Covid-19 world are among some of the issues we’ve been campaigning on with your help. Here’s how we’ve been doing…

Building Back Better

The vital importance of the waterways to the Government’s aspirations to Build Back Better in a post-Covid-19 world was highlighted by three navigation authorities during a video meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Waterways on 8th December.

Michael Fabricant MP, APPGW chair, opened the meeting and welcomed parliamentarians, officials from Defra, IWA representatives and members of many waterway organisations and navigation authorities. Leaders from Canal & River Trust, the Broads Authority and the Avon Navigation Trust all presented on the important contribution that the inland waterways can make to the country’s economic prosperity and the population’s physical and mental health.

All three navigation authorities reported dramatic increases in visitors to their waterways during 2020, with the restrictions imposed as a result of the pandemic bringing many people to their local canals and rivers for the first time. Visits to towpaths and riverside paths had increased, as had the number of people using canoes and stand-up paddleboards. All three also stressed the importance of future funding to ensure ongoing access by the whole population to safely managed waterways.

Canal & River Trust

Richard Parry, CEO of Canal & River Trust, spoke about the economic benefits of the waterways and their wider efforts to support health and well-being: • 16% of the English population live within 10 to 15 minutes’ walk of a CRT waterway. Mr Parry noted that CRT could contribute to the Government’s

‘Levelling Up’ economic development agenda, helping to improve health and well-being in urban and deprived areas across the Midlands and the North. • CRT’s network represents a significant portion of our national infrastructure, particularly as a response to extreme weather events such as flooding. A programme of work estimated to cost £125m over the next five years is required to improve the resilience of the trust’s 68 reservoirs and hundreds of other high-risk structures. • The trust has identified several hundred kilometres of routes to add to the National Cycle Network as part of its promotion of active travel along its waterways. Mr Parry added that there was further scope for the canal network to make a positive contribution to decarbonisation, such as by increasing green freight transport via the canals. • CRT has been successful in its bid for the Government’s Kickstart Scheme, which provides funding for the creation of job placements for 16 to 24 year olds, and throughout the recent crisis has maintained its supporter and volunteer networks.

Avon Navigation Trust

The second speaker was Adrian Main, deputy CEO of the Avon Navigation Trust. He began by introducing the scope of the 48-mile route between Tewkesbury and Alveston Weir upstream of Stratfordupon-Avon, as well as the volunteer-led focus of the navigation authority: • 75% of hours worked on this independent, self-funding navigation are carried out by volunteers. • During lockdown the river saw high levels of engagement from the public, with a further surge in visitors during the summer. • Around £1m a year is required by

ANT to maintain the navigation and to reach a steady state condition of all the river’s assets. Further to this, Mr Main revealed ANT has a number of investment projects: • The Neptune Project – a repurposed barge to serve as a floating youth centre • The Avon Extension – a direct link between the Severn and the Grand

Union Canal at a cost of £29.6m • Evesham Lock Youth & Volunteer Centre • The Wyre Whitewater Project.

Broads Authority

The final presenter was John Packman, chief executive of the Broads Authority, who outlined the following: • The authority is working with organisations such as the Environment

Agency to develop the Broadland

Futures Initiative, aimed at using the waterways to mitigate the impact of sea-level rises on the area. With climate change already impacting the Broads as a result of coastal erosion and rising sea levels, the Government’s Building Back

Better approach needs to take a longterm view in making waterways and

National Parks more resilient to future environmental pressures. • Tourism is a vital contributor to the

East Anglia economy, with the Broads

Below: Michael Fabricant MP (r), with

Paul Rodgers, IWA National Chair, at a Parliamentary briefing pre-Covid-19. Mr Fabricant recently led virtual APPGW meetings on the future of our inland waterways and sustainable boating.

having seen a tremendous increase in visitors this year. • Investment in facilities for watersports, as well as volunteer-led investment for access and moorings, had been a major incentive for the authority. • The authority is promoting training projects for young people, providing work experience and apprenticeships in skills such as woodworking. • The authority’s large volunteer base continued working throughout the year, where possible, in areas ranging from vegetation maintenance to piloting motor launches. • Despite the Government’s Build Back

Better incentive, the Broads Authority is having to meet the challenges of a cut in the National Parks Grant. In order to meet the demands for the sector, more direct funding would be required.

Further discussion

Following the presentations, Michael Fabricant MP thanked the speakers and opened the meeting to questions from other participants, with contributions from MPs and peers, navigation authorities and representatives from waterway user organisations. Among the issues raised and discussed were: • The challenges associated with

vandalism and anti-social behaviour on canals, and the importance of volunteer opportunities and initiatives to get young people involved in activities such as angling. • The scope for a Government rescue package for small navigation authorities, such as the Cam

Conservancy, which had been hit tremendously by Covid-19 resulting in a loss a £165,000 from the usual lines of income. • How all waterway organisations, large and small, could work better together to send a consistent message to government regarding the need for

long-term sustainable funding. • The provision of facilities and importance of safety advice for all the new waterway users. • How diversity on the waterways can be improved.

These were noted as potential topics for future meetings of the APPGW.

The minutes of the meeting, and the presentations given by the three speakers, can be found online at waterways.org.uk/appg.

The important issues raised during the meeting will form the focus for IWA’s parliamentary campaigning during 2021.

Sustainable propulsion and net zero on the waterways

The All Party Parliamentary Group for the Waterways held a video meeting on 10th November to discuss how developments in sustainable forms of propulsion can enable the inland waterways to meet the UK’s zero carbon commitments. Members of the cross party group of MPs and Lords were joined virtually by representatives from boating organisations, navigation authorities and other stakeholders. Four presentations were followed by a lively debate led by Michael Fabricant MP, chair of the Group.

IWA’s own vision for sustainable boating was presented by Bowman Bradley, chair of IWA’s Sustainable Propulsion Group. This vision includes the opportunities associated with moving to battery and hydrogen fuel cells as a replacement for traditional hydrocarbons, and outlines the importance of a move towards more use of sustainable biofuels for existing boats. Bowman noted that policymakers would need to develop a legislative framework to meet the sector’s vision, which would require investment in recharging infrastructure, more support for biofuels, and investment in hydrogen technologies.

Jonathan Collins of Cadent Gas highlighted the growing importance and developments of hydrogen-based technologies in reducing emissions from the residential, transport and maritime sector.

Philip Whiffin from the University of Warwick noted that the low energy and low power requirements for the majority of canal-based pleasure craft rendered battery-based solutions a feasible replacement for traditional hydrocarbon-based engines.

The meeting also heard from the Innovation Hub at Oxfordshire County Council, which is progressing a scheme working with boatyards, marine engine manufacturers and electric vehicle infrastructure providers to develop a feasibility study and obtain third-party funding for a project to install electric charging points on the Oxford Canal.

Michael Fabricant MP concluded the meeting by stating that the APPGW would write a letter to the Chancellor asking him to consider the key conclusions of the discussion. The letter requests investment in infrastructure in the form of electric charging points, suggests a proposed boat engine scrappage scheme to encourage conversion of existing boats, and notes that current proposals by HMRC and HM Treasury to move from red diesel to white for inland waterways craft is short-sighted in the context of moving towards zero carbon by 2050. Instead, the Group considers that increased use of biodiesel would be more effective in the longer term in reducing emissions, with red diesel being retained until there is wider distribution and use of biofuels.

The minutes of the meeting, and a copy of the letter sent by the APPGW to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, can be found at waterways.org.uk/appg.