A boat Waterways turning at Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent.
Watch
RUPERT SMEDLEY
Spotlight on…
A well-surfaced towpath can make it accessible to all.
JOHN DODWELL
waterways watch Get involved in IWA’s latest initiative to tackle issues affecting boaters and towpath-users across the inland waterways Waterways Watch is a new initiative from IWA that aims to gather evidence about campaigning issues to assist the Association in lobbying navigation authorities and Government about problems or concerns experienced by everyone who uses our inland waterways. The scheme follows on from the successful Gaptracker campaign that ran over the last two years, and gathered data from boaters about facilities that were missing or not fit for purpose. It found that the key area of concern was provision of the basic three facilities that all boaters need: water, rubbish disposal and portable toilet emptying. The findings were shared with navigation authorities, particularly Canal & River Trust which welcomed the report and incorporated it into its own research and plans for replacing and refurbishing boaters’ facilities. We are awaiting an update from them on how these plans are progressing.
GATHERING DATA Waterways Watch is very much about supplementing IWA’s knowledge of the waterways and will cover all navigable waterways and navigation authorities in England, Scotland and Wales. The information that we gather will help us to raise important issues with individual navigation authorities and build up a better picture of what problems are happening locally or where something is part of a wider national issue. It will also assist us in bringing together evidence for lobbying Government for additional funding for the publicly owned waterways. Waterways Watch is not intended to replace any reporting system for emergency repairs or maintenance issues, which should continue to be communicated direct to the relevant navigation authorities.
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Dredging on the Slough Arm.
This new system aims to provide navigation authorities with reports on a wider range of specific issues over the coming months and years, such as dredging, winding holes, overhanging vegetation, issues experienced by towpath users and navigation issues identified by boaters. Waterways Watch will gather information on specific issues over a particular period of time. As one project gathers enough information for it to be taken up with relevant navigation authorities or other bodies, new issues will become available for reporting on. Waterway users will be able to suggest topics for new surveys. IWA is well placed to campaign nationally about issues across all the inland waterways of the UK as we have established relationships with the various navigation authorities. Boaters, cyclists, walkers, anglers and anyone else who uses the waterways will be encouraged to take part. This call to all waterway users to get involved will enable certain issues to be prioritised and raised with the relevant navigation authority in a more encompassing and consistent way than previously. Waterways Watch will be launched on the new IWA website with a reporting form as well as background information on the first topics where evidence is being sought. As the scheme progresses, the final reports of surveys will also be made available on the website.
TOP OF THE WATERWAYS WATCH LIST The first three topics for Waterways Watch, which will be launched via IWA’s new website, will be: ■ Dredging: Boaters – let us know where the bottom is too near the top
Summer 2020 16/04/2020 14:54
