Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2019 23:04:03 GMT
This is a copy and paste from an attendee at tonights (17-6-19) south east user group meeting.
I did laugh at the bit where the new regional director stated they knew nothing about parry's 10 year plan for the waterways ππ
CRT Regional User Forum Braindump.
7 CRT managers in attendance, most of whom have only been doing their jobs a couple of months.
Led by Roz Daniels the new regional director who did a powerpoint, and Sir William Something who chaired the Q&A. A couple of CRT names I did recognise were Sowar Ahmed and Lee King. Our own Tim Wiseman did a bit about Oxford City.
About 75 people in the room, mostly Oxfordshire boaty types. Banbury was represented by Matt from Tooleys, Thrupp by a bloke with a strong yorkshire accent, Oxford had people there from Wolvercote, St Edwards, Hythe Bridge, and Carys from College Cruisers. A few other Oxford people attended and Tony Joyce the chair of the OCCP was there. I counted 5 Oxford City Councillors.
The Q&A began with the chairman (Sir William Something, doing a very good David Dimbleby impression) calling for questions from 3 City Councillors in a row. Coincidence?
Cllr James Fry asked about zero emissions zones and what CRT is doing to make canal boats electric. Tony Joyce chipped in asking for action not words.
Cllr Mike Gotch asked about creating more spaces for boats to be used as affordable housing. Turns out that's up to the housing authority ie Oxford City Council/Cherwell DC. Sowar Ahmed said that CRT is planning to create moorings at Castle Mill Stream (oh how we laughed).
Cllr Suzannah Pressell asked about promoting biodiversity on the canals. She was lectured by Roz Daniels about how that is one of the trust's primary purposes, I switched off.
Mark Davies off of Hythe Bridge Arm complained that grass was being cut at Isis Lock too often and should be cut less. (The ultimate canal equivalent of First world problems.)
Ruth Anderson off of Wolvercote LA21 complained that the consultation about the winter closure at 231 was a surprise and that consultation should be done betterer especially because it involves cutting off winter fuel supplies to boats.
Ruth's point led to a heated discussion about lift-bridges, with Thrupp people asking if installing hydraulics was making them too complicated especially since their electric one keeps breaking. Tony off of OCCP and Jon off of NBTA both chipped in and CRT were pressured into giving an update to the next OCCP meeting. Me: "I don't care if you've only been doing your job for 2 months, these lift-bridges have been dangerous for 200 years." Banbury lift bridge broke recently and people are confused by it.
Matt from Tooleys asked very diplomatically about the maintenance backlog across the system, pointing out that a lot of the infrastructure was on the verge of total failure (eg locks with only one paddle working at a time).
Carys from College Cruisers spoke about interaction with and feedback from lots of different types of boaters and a general feeling of disappointment with Oxford as a whole.
I asked how long it would be until the next time CRT had another restructuring process and we all have to start back at the beginning again. Sir Timothy had a good rant about how what was in the past should be forgotten and they would accept no responsibility for what had gone before, this group of noobs can only be judged on future failures. Someone pointed out that in 2014 CRT had published a 10 year plan, this was news to the new regional director and she asked if she could be sent a copy of it. We laughed.
Max from LA21 St Edwards asked about getting some recycling bins and suggested a giffgaff style enquiries system. It all kicked off. Everyone wants recycling bins. Sir William lost the room from this point onwards. CRT manager number 4 blamed it all on someone else. Oxford City Council could save the day. Thrupp Yorkshireman gave a long speech about how Thrupp is the best way to do everything and everyone should copy how Thrupp does things, and that they still need recycling bins in Thrupp.
Thrupp Lady said the lift bridge repair had been good.
Ruth LA21 asked for slow down signs near moored boats.
Tony Joyce asked about CRT fundraising into the future
I did laugh at the bit where the new regional director stated they knew nothing about parry's 10 year plan for the waterways ππ
CRT Regional User Forum Braindump.
7 CRT managers in attendance, most of whom have only been doing their jobs a couple of months.
Led by Roz Daniels the new regional director who did a powerpoint, and Sir William Something who chaired the Q&A. A couple of CRT names I did recognise were Sowar Ahmed and Lee King. Our own Tim Wiseman did a bit about Oxford City.
About 75 people in the room, mostly Oxfordshire boaty types. Banbury was represented by Matt from Tooleys, Thrupp by a bloke with a strong yorkshire accent, Oxford had people there from Wolvercote, St Edwards, Hythe Bridge, and Carys from College Cruisers. A few other Oxford people attended and Tony Joyce the chair of the OCCP was there. I counted 5 Oxford City Councillors.
The Q&A began with the chairman (Sir William Something, doing a very good David Dimbleby impression) calling for questions from 3 City Councillors in a row. Coincidence?
Cllr James Fry asked about zero emissions zones and what CRT is doing to make canal boats electric. Tony Joyce chipped in asking for action not words.
Cllr Mike Gotch asked about creating more spaces for boats to be used as affordable housing. Turns out that's up to the housing authority ie Oxford City Council/Cherwell DC. Sowar Ahmed said that CRT is planning to create moorings at Castle Mill Stream (oh how we laughed).
Cllr Suzannah Pressell asked about promoting biodiversity on the canals. She was lectured by Roz Daniels about how that is one of the trust's primary purposes, I switched off.
Mark Davies off of Hythe Bridge Arm complained that grass was being cut at Isis Lock too often and should be cut less. (The ultimate canal equivalent of First world problems.)
Ruth Anderson off of Wolvercote LA21 complained that the consultation about the winter closure at 231 was a surprise and that consultation should be done betterer especially because it involves cutting off winter fuel supplies to boats.
Ruth's point led to a heated discussion about lift-bridges, with Thrupp people asking if installing hydraulics was making them too complicated especially since their electric one keeps breaking. Tony off of OCCP and Jon off of NBTA both chipped in and CRT were pressured into giving an update to the next OCCP meeting. Me: "I don't care if you've only been doing your job for 2 months, these lift-bridges have been dangerous for 200 years." Banbury lift bridge broke recently and people are confused by it.
Matt from Tooleys asked very diplomatically about the maintenance backlog across the system, pointing out that a lot of the infrastructure was on the verge of total failure (eg locks with only one paddle working at a time).
Carys from College Cruisers spoke about interaction with and feedback from lots of different types of boaters and a general feeling of disappointment with Oxford as a whole.
I asked how long it would be until the next time CRT had another restructuring process and we all have to start back at the beginning again. Sir Timothy had a good rant about how what was in the past should be forgotten and they would accept no responsibility for what had gone before, this group of noobs can only be judged on future failures. Someone pointed out that in 2014 CRT had published a 10 year plan, this was news to the new regional director and she asked if she could be sent a copy of it. We laughed.
Max from LA21 St Edwards asked about getting some recycling bins and suggested a giffgaff style enquiries system. It all kicked off. Everyone wants recycling bins. Sir William lost the room from this point onwards. CRT manager number 4 blamed it all on someone else. Oxford City Council could save the day. Thrupp Yorkshireman gave a long speech about how Thrupp is the best way to do everything and everyone should copy how Thrupp does things, and that they still need recycling bins in Thrupp.
Thrupp Lady said the lift bridge repair had been good.
Ruth LA21 asked for slow down signs near moored boats.
Tony Joyce asked about CRT fundraising into the future