BELLE

Apologies for the delay, but unfortunately I have been ultra busy with my day job and I have had very little spare time for the last few weeks.   To boating business – I met with the BW Customer Services Supervisor for the Coventry, Ashby and Trent & Mersey Canals and a couple of his BW colleagues on 19 April 2010.   This was an opportunity for me to air my views about the maintenance issues I have raised in my BLOG. 

I have to say that I found these BW guys very receptive and there was very little said (or not said) from their side to suggest to me that they did not know about pretty much all of the issues I have raised.  They convinced me that BW does regularly carry out inspections of the waterway in this area.  For example, I was told that one or other of the members of the supervisor’s team walked the canals for which he is responsible (at least once every month) and that in so doing the presence of any new issues is noted, as is any deterioration for any known issues.  This information is supplied to colleagues in BW and they prioritise/schedule the remedial work required.

Now for the bummer - in the vast majority of instances, unless classified as ’safety critical’, or it gets associated with one or other of the BW ’honey pot’ projects, whatever the issue, it will just sit there in a queue until money becomes available to deal with it.  The number of BW maintenance personnel is being reduced, as is the maintenance budget for the area.  Ergo, contractors cannot be used if the BW maintenance personnel are no longer available.  Overall, I got the impression that these guys were at a stage where getting the OK from above to spend money on tins of paint was becoming an issue, so the issues I have raised will probably sit around for quite some time to come.

The message here is that the waterway is actually deteriorating and will continue to do so.  It would appear that the BW personnel at ‘local’ level are more or less powerless to do anything about it, because they take their instructions from above and they cannot do any work without sufficient budget authorisation from above.  Any BW funds that do become available will, more likely as not, be prioritised towards the ‘honey pot’ projects.

Fradley Junction is classified as a ‘honey pot’ project.  Activities here will become more intense, not so much as a result of more boat traffic passing through, moreover because more and more people are being encouraged to visit the area to take in the nature pool, etc.  For sure, facilities for these people will be developed further.  Rumour has it that the car parking capacity here is about to be increased significantly.  Does this mean that BW has purchased some suitable land nearby, thus diverting more BW funds away from essential waterway maintenance?

A nearby piece of (what was agricultural) land has been receiving spoil (including brick and concrete rubble) for about a year now.  As I type, excavators are buzzing around levelling this land - could this be with a view to hard surfacing it for use as a car park I am wondering? It’s certainly no good for growing crops any more.

BW has been busy at Fradley Junction - good in one sense but not in another.  Yesterday, a ‘temporary’ water point was erected about 15m away from the proper one and the proper one was surrounded by a rather impressive wooden fence.

I am very pleased that BW has at long last recognised the needs of the boater, insofar as BW has at long last recognised the importance of the water supply at this location – thank you BW.  I have my doubts however about the efficacy of this wooden fence.  In reality this fence is easier (for those that feel the need) to climb over than the orange fence that was there beforehand.  This temporary water point is so close to the old one that it is only a matter of time before boaters needing water will moor alongside this fence, even if they are just waiting for another boater to vacate this temporary water point.  Some will in all probability climb over the fence.  Therefore, the presence of the fence is virtually superfluous when considering the mitigation of the risk of injury presented to the boater (and other users of the canal) by the collapsing wall at this location.   Me thinks that somebody at BW has not carried out a robust risk assessment (or does not know how to do so) or the persons that participated in this risk assessment are short of common sense (you do not need to be an ‘expert’ to figure this one out!).

Could it be that BW’s decision to erect this wooden fence was driven more by a desire and/or pressure from others to get rid of the ‘unsightly’ orange fence?

How long will it be before somebody else is injured?

Fix the bloody wall!

Matters continue to deteriorate at the BW water point immediately outside the BW office at Fradley Junction.  Somebody (presumably a boater) has made short work of BW’s extensive bagging, taping and tagging, removing it all so as to gain access to the tap.

A complete collapse of this wall could well be accelerated by those that are prepared to risk using this water point in this condition, orange fence or no orange fence.

Thank you BW – the ground paddle at Woodend Lock (L20) on the Trent & Mersey appears to have been fixed.  Well, I am assuming it has been fixed because the tape and the warning notice have gone.   I did not have a windlass with me when I passed so I could not check myself to see if it was indeed operating normally.

Time to fix = approximately 2 months.