The Canal & River Trust’s new Chief Executive Richard Parry fielded questions from over 150 boaters who turned up in Birmingham for the first of a series of Open Boater Meetings being held as part of a CRT initiative to open up more communication with its boating users.
The Canal & River Trust’s new Chief Executive Richard Parry fielded questions from over 150 boaters who turned up in Birmingham for the first of a series of Open Boater Meetings being held as part of a CRT initiative to open up more communication with its boating users.
They quizzed Mr Parry on a wide variety of topics including the need for more canal dredging; worries about the legal status of volunteer lock keepers in case anything goes wrong; the state of lock landing stages on the Stratford Canal, and the future of the moorings auction system.
The Chief Exec and other senior staff were able to answer some questions straight away – for example, they confirmed that there’s no difference in legal status between CRT volunteers and professional staff – but for most of the questions the response was “we will take that away”. With 20 of these meetings planned, Mr Parry and his staff will have plenty of work to do to provide answers to all their questions.
The meetings are open to anyone. The next two are in Nottingham on Saturday 8 February, and in Banbury on Wednesday 26 February. See canalrivertrust.org.uk to find one near you.
