Chairman latest from MKP

chairman Good feelings!

Chairman’s Comment

Here we are at the end of one of our strangest years ever. However I’m sure this edition of Navvies should stop you all from feeling too downhearted. Let’s start with the extracts from early editions of Navvies on pages 27-30 which remind us that, for all our frustration at our lack of activity this year, at least we have not been up against a set of authorities (both local and national) who have a stated policy of trying to close our network down. In fact I think the monumental changes that have occurred since then are something that the doom and gloom might have hidden from us. This year has done a lot of damage world-wide, but when the government needs to launch its recovery plans what does it go with? A green recovery plan. Not another HS3 or a big investment in the city or anything like that but an attempt to restart things by investing in green things – such as the work we do. Now I’m not suggesting that it was the waterways alone that swung it for the policy makers, but we have for many years been playing our part in promoting the value of these ideas. So, at least for the next few years (till we have to bail the bankers out again) this should be a golden time for waterway restoration. Both the general public and the policy makers seem to appreciate the waterways for all the benefits they bring and we should be capitalising on this. This good feeling continues on page 24 with good news about how other authorities and organisations are helping fund our efforts and aligning with the message we have been giving for a long time. Then there are pages 10-23 that give the good news from restoration schemes who are not only producing plans but are actually doing work, moving some of our favourite restorations forward in very significant ways totalling millions of pounds. Finally, in our own little world, we have a report from our Covid working group on pages 89 which means we can be sure that, in one form or another, we will be back in action on site soon. Sometimes it can be quite hard to see it, but I think there is good news all the way from the very highest national strategic level all the way down to those very boots on the ground. So am I suggesting all is well and if you can just hang on a little bit longer then all will be back as normal? Well yes and no. Because right from the start we said that we should use this period of standstill to do the things that we never have time to do. This includes having a good look at what we do and how we do it. So, just because a vaccine has arrived and people are starting to think life will return to normal is no reason to ignore this opportunity. The Covid working group have already been able to consider lots of ways of working that normally we never have time to think about. What I’m trying to say is that all of this might result in some additional ways of working. So perhaps longer but smaller camps, or camps with actual separate rooms, or all sorts of options. So if you have ever been interested in an alternative to our traditional offering then now is the time to contact Head Office while we are devoting time to examining options. This is the last edition on Navvies for 2020 and tradition states it should include an element of prediction for the coming year. So, despite it being only a twinkle in the eye of me and a few others, I like to tell you about some work we are doing that should surface in 2021. On page 7 Martin talks about Waterways in Progress – the IWA report that seeks to prove that even relatively small-scale investment in standalone projects along a waterway could bring benefits from day one. It’s been well received and we like to think it has made its point. So next year we are going to the other end of the spectrum. There is lots of evidence about how an individual waterway restoration brings benefits be it jobs, tourism, community cohesion, etc. But we feel what is needed is to sell the idea of a whole restored network as a single entity. We need people (and government) to see the waterways network as they see a road or rail network, and to see how restoration provides the expansion of it by another 700 miles or so. We intend to put together a series of case studies that show how all those benefits of health, regeneration, environment, heritage, education, national resilience, infrastructure and just being a nicer place to live would be delivered in a more effective way if considered as part of a national network. Every mile you add to the Nitts and Stuffs canal is not just a mile of that canal, but another mile of a massive vibrant network *. There is still much to sort out (including getting the resources together) but over the next year you should see how the contributions we are all about to (re)start making are part of a much bigger picture – one that the whole nation should be supporting. We will keep you posted. Thank you all for all you have done to help 2020 pass by with some laughter and smiles. Mike Palmer