Latest news
British Waterways bids for trust status
British Waterways, which manages the UK's 2,200 miles of canals and rivers, has put forward proposals to become a charitable trust in order to secure its future.
The organisation, which receives around £60m worth of government funding each year, claims that by becoming a trust, it would be able to encourage greater community ownership of local waterways, more involvement from the voluntary sector and a wider funding base.
The board of British Waterways is looking to establish the body as a third sector, 'public interest company' - or trust - within the next decade. The board also believes that as part of changing its status, its annual deficit grant funding could be changed into new government contracts.
According to Tony Hales, chair of British Waterways, the organisation has been forced to explore alternative ideas for securing the waterways' future due to the mounting cost of maintaining an aging network, which includes the UK's third largest collection of listed structures.
Hales said: "The waterways have had an extraordinary rebirth since the middle of the last century. Today they offer some of Britain's greenest recreational facilities, they are breathing new life into scores of waterside towns and cities, and they collectively comprise one of the most important examples of industrial heritage anywhere in the world.
"The network is more than just a pretty place though: it is important in alleviating flooding; it provides refuges for threatened wildlife; it offers alternative transport routes and; thanks to the latest technology, it is even helping to generate clean electricity.
"For this to continue, we need to look at a new model of ownership for our waterways, one which provides greater certainty and flexibility over funding and gives communities more of a role in the running of their local canal or river."
British Waterways will hold a series of stakeholder meetings over the next six months, to discuss its strategy with councils, devolved assemblies, partners, waterway communities and third sector organisations.
In particular it will be discussing the ideas with Defra, the government department which sponsors and funds the organisation's activities in England and Wales, and with the Scottish Government, which is responsible for British Waterways Scotland.