Letter writing campaign

Our Waterways for Today report was launched in a bid to highlight the importance of the waterways network. It demonstrates how inland waterways can contribute to the country’s economic recovery and outlines the 12 most significant benefits that the inland waterways can bring to our economy, environment, local communities and lives.

The waterways are valuable assets to our country, but ongoing funding is critical if we are to protect them so that future generations can continue to enjoy the many benefits that canals and rivers provide. Our Waterways for Today report forms a comprehensive resource that we hope will help to secure vital funding for navigation authorities, waterways charities and restoration projects.

With your help, our waterways may stand a chance of securing the investment they need. This is why we are encouraging all waterways supporters to write to their MPs about the importance of waterways funding, particularly with respect to Defra’s current review of the Canal & River Trust’s grant funding. This will be critical for the long-term financial position of CRT, which was discussed in an All Party Parliamentary Group for the Waterways (APPGW) meeting in November 2022. See page 11 to find out more about the meeting and the discussions that took place.

All MPs with waterways in their constituencies have been sent a copy of the report, which can be downloaded from our website.

To assist you in writing to your MP, we have provided a letter-writing template on the next page. You can find this and other useful resources, including the IWA Directory of Parliamentary Constituencies with Waterways, on our website waterways. org.uk/campaigns/waterways-fortoday/lobby-your-mp.

For boaters who move around the system, please write to the MP in the location you are registered to vote.

Note: This template is designed so that you can pick and choose some of the bullet points. It is not necessary to use all of these points and, if the letter can be rewritten in your own words, then that will be even better.

Dear (MP)

Opening paragraph – choose from one of these options, or write your own:

Option 1: I am writing to bring to your attention the importance of the ongoing public funding of navigable waterways, particularly those in the management of the Canal & River Trust, which is currently undergoing a review of its funding by Defra.

Option 2: I am writing to ask for your support when the issue of funding for the inland waterways is discussed in Parliament. This is a subject that is very close to my heart because ...

Option 3: I am writing to let you know that the country’s inland waterways provide hugely important benefits to people, the environment and local communities, while also contributing significantly to the economy, but they are under threat due to lack of funding.

Background information paragraphs – choose 1 or more of the following:

Suggested paragraph: Our canals and rivers create jobs and bring financial benefits through tourism and leisure. They offer opportunities to mitigate flooding, transfer drinking water and provide habitat corridors for wildlife and biodiversity. They can also contribute to the improved health and well-being of the whole population. These benefits can only be realised if they are well maintained and looked after.

For England and Wales: It is vital that the waterways in public ownership funded by national or devolved government (such as those managed by the Canal & River Trust, the Environment Agency and Scottish Canals) receive adequate financial support.

For Scotland – letters aimed at MSPs as waterways is a devolved issue: It is vital that the waterways managed by Scottish Canals receive adequate financial support from Transport Scotland.

Suggested paragraph: Smaller, independent or local authorityowned waterways also need access to additional funds so they can remain viable as an important resource for local people.

Suggested paragraph: Without funding, existing navigable waterways are in danger of being closed, with local people and communities along their routes missing out on all the benefits that they bring.

Suggested paragraph: The Benefits of Inland Waterways (choose two or three benefits and add local examples of waterway businesses or regeneration projects if you can).

Suggested paragraph: The inland waterways network brings the following benefits to your constituency:

• Contributing to the country’s economic recovery – waterway projects can regenerate both rural and urban areas and improve the lives of millions of people.

• Increased spend in local communities – boat-based tourism and leisure activities contribute £2.5bn to the economy each year, with people on day trips, boat holidays and taking part in water-based activities spending even more in local pubs, cafés and shops.

• Savings to the NHS and social care budgets – waterways are well placed to improve the health, well-being and longevity of the many people living near them through increased physical activities and social prescribing.

• Protecting and improving the natural environment –waterways are blue-green corridors that allow opportunities for reconnecting disparate habitats, biodiversity net gain and improvements for wildlife.

• Waterways heritage for future generations – with their historic buildings and structures, waterways form a vast, open-air heritage network that is accessible to everyone and brings history to life for current and future generations.

• Sustainability and planning for resilience and climate change – our waterways face unprecedented challenges from climate change, but they can be part of the solution through adaptation, mitigation and enhancing the natural environment.

• Connecting communities – access to the paths that run alongside our waterways is free. These inclusive, flat, linear routes are active travel corridors that connect communities and provide passage between urban and rural areas.

• Education and young people – waterways offer opportunities for hands-on learning in science, technology, engineering and maths subjects, as well as the humanities and arts, through outdoor classrooms, visits to local waterways and intergenerational learning.

• Jobs, training and apprenticeships – waterways offer many opportunities for employment, training and apprenticeships including in the tourism, leisure, hospitality, engineering and construction sectors.

• Improved physical health – waterways open up multiple opportunities for outdoor activities such as walking, running, cycling, fishing, sailing, canoeing, paddle boarding and volunteering.

• Improved mental health and well-being – waterways can boost well-being and improve mental health through physical recreation, shared social experiences and connecting with nature.

• Creating better places to live – waterside locations create a sense of place that can enhance people’s enjoyment of the area they live in. This can encourage greater diversity and inclusivity across local communities.

Concluding paragraph

Please will you raise this with the Defra minister with responsibility for the inland waterways, Rebecca Pow MP, as a matter of urgency, and bring to her attention all the benefits of the waterways mentioned above as reasons why the inland waterways in general, and the Canal & River Trust in particular, should continue to receive funding from Government into the future.