A man and a hole

On one of my wanders along the canal I happened upon a man looking into a hole. The man was a Canal and River Trust (C&RT) staff member and the hole had appeared beside the canal pound, between the swing bridge and Hirst Lock. As I peered into the hole alongside him, he explained that when the water level rises it can overtop the bank and then, as it soaks away it takes a little bit of soil with it. Over time, that causes the ground to sink - a small sinkhole. He and his mate (who declined to be photographed) were just about to try and repair it. The C&RT staff and volunteers must constantly be busy as there are frequent issues with leaks and collapses. The canal is 250 years old and needs endless maintenance. 

The canal and river network was at one time managed by British Waterways, a governmental corporation. In 2012 its assets were transferred to a charitable trust. The grant received from the Government is reducing all the time. When I asked my MP about this, the reply from DEFRA (Dept for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) was that 'it is wrongly assumed that there is an obligation on the Government to fund C&RT beyond 2027 and that it [the funding] should be inflation-adjusted; neither of which is the case. The Government does not routinely inflation-proof funding it provides, and organisations ranging from charities to Government departments are expected to absorb inflationary pressures. We want to avoid a cliff edge in C&RT funding and so the new Government grant is being tapered at an annual 5% reduction to help the C&RT continue to meet the objective of reduced reliance on government funding.'  In other words, the charity is expected over time to generate its own funding - but I find it hard to see how they can do this. It's not like the National Trust, which can charge massive entry fees or annual membership to visit their properties. There is only so much that can be raised in fees from boat owners and it's impractical for the C&RT to try to charge the people that use the canal and river paths. They do operate a membership scheme but I think only the most public-spirited canal users bother to join. It is a huge black hole opening up, not just on the canal bank but in its funding. It's such a short term view from the Government. Once the waterways network starts to crumble it will rapidly become unusable and that will accelerate the decline. Such a shame.