Canal River Trust have released details of their ‘proposed’ licence fee increases and surcharges.
This is absolutely ridiculous ! In the first place it is as clear as mud, are they proposing to increase licence fees by 5% per year for the next five years or are they proposing a 5% increase in 2024 followed by a 10% increase in 2025, followed by a 15% increase in 2026 followed by a 20% increase in 2027 and finally a 25% increase in 2028 ?
What on earth are CRT’s folks smoking ?
Which planet are they orbiting I have to wonder !
Do they seriously believe that we don’t know that this whole fiasco is just another scam ?
Do they really think we aren’t aware of their real agenda ?
The fact of the matter is that they simply do not want continuous cruisers on the system.
They have to provide us with facilities for our domestic needs, sanitation and potable water, disposal of domestic waste etc. and it clearly isn’t popular with them that they miss out on us paying three or four thousand pounds a year for a mooring, either one of their own whereby they gain an extra three or four times our licence fee. Or, if we go for a marina mooring they’re in for a cut of the fee so basically, they want everyone paying for a home mooring… easy cash bonus for them !
They aren’t bothered about the fact that boat prices and values will plummet as costs soar. They aren’t bothered by the fact that many of us are already struggling financially because we have seen our fuel costs, propane gas and diesel fuel double in price over the last few years because of the (to quote the Prime Minister) cost of living crisis. They really aren’t bothered by the fact that their proposed increases and surcharges will very probably force some, perhaps many, of the most vulnerable and financially challenged of us off the system altogether !
Why is that do you think ? I think it’s just an extension of something they’ve been trying to achieve ever since they took over from BW. Gentrification of the canals has been ongoing since day one.
You see, their real motivation isn’t to preserve our heritage and historical sites and structures, it isn’t in being a ‘Navigation Authority’ responsible for the maintenance of the canal network. It is in creating more personal wealth for themselves, their directors and senior management, and in ‘self preservation’, ensuring the long term security of their positions and the organisation which they have created.
Some of you may remember when they took their first steps in taking over from BW. They published their ‘Charitable Articles’ which failed to include the words Navigation Authority because that was a job they didn’t want from day one ! They had to be pulled up and made to include it !
That’s why they came up with the idea of becoming a somewhat unquantifiable and rather ambiguous ‘Wellbeing’ organisation ! Instead of being responsible for the upkeep of the Navigation, they made themselves responsible for the ‘Wellbeing’ of a whole bunch of people and were able to move their focus away from the job in hand to their chosen occupation of ‘Charitable Works’.
They re-branded themselves at a huge cost which they lied about for months claiming that the re-branding cost only £60,000 and since then have been splashing out on huge numbers of often irrelevant, ludicrously stupid and pointless ‘blue signs’ which have been and continue to be placed all around the system. The latest of these at Milton Keynes adjacent to the new marina at Campbell Park which carries instructions for horseboats !
How many horseboats do they think are active on the canal network ?
Do they think that horses pulling boats are daily plodding their way up and down the Grand Union Canal ?
I mean besides the two which ply their trade on a few hundred yards at the top end of the Llangollen canal and are unlikely to ever venture anywhere near Campbell Park Marina !
And ok, it’s just one blue sign in the grand scheme of things but it’s indicative of a culture of utter incompetence and stupidity which has seen lots of nice shiny blue signs consigned to the bin because the numpties in charge of blue signs struggle to cope with the English language, punctuation and historical details.
Just take a look at some of the pictures on our site and you’ll see what I’m talking about !
So here we are, at the bottom line… Continuous Cruisers are not wanted, gentrification is in process and before long our beloved canals will have fallen into a state of utter degradation and disrepair due entirely to the actions of Parry’s Posse except for the nicely ‘gentrified’ parts which will have been turned into an 18 inch deep linear water park for the paddleboarders and people living in the luxury developments which used to be our historical heritage sites !
But only part of the story if you ask me, I think the reality is much worse.