AWCC

John Dodswell addressed the AGM of the Shrewsbury Branch of the IWA on March 19th 2013. John is a trustee of the Canal & River Trust.

We think that the content of his address may be of interest and attach the full text below.

John will be the guest speaker at the AWCC AGM in 2014 and we look forward to hearing him.

IWA Shrewsbury AGM speech 090313

How will the CRT Council elections voting work?

Your quick guide from the AWCC

 Every eligible voter, i.e. a boater with a current BW licence, will have a vote in the election for four boater’s representatives on the CRT Council. The election is to be held under the Single Transferable Vote system, so your vote may be transferred to your second, third, or fourth choice in order to avoid wasted votes.

The ballot paper will include all 33 boaters candidates standing and the elector should use their vote by numbering as many of the candidates as they wish, in the elector’s order of preference (e.g. by putting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc… against the candidate names). You may list all 33 if you wish and the AWCC recommends that you list at least 4 preferences.

If your first preferred candidate already has enough votes to be elected, or cannot ever get enough, your vote will be transferred to your second preferred candidate and so on, so it is not wasted. Votes will be counted electronically.

Voting for Council will open on Wednesday 8 February 2012. You will have 30 days to cast your vote. Voting will close at 12 noon on Friday 9 March 2012. You can vote by post, phone or on-line. Full details will be included in your voters pack, which you should receive on or after February 8th 2012.

To ensure that the election process is fair, open and transparent CRT have enlisted the help of the Electoral Reform Society, an independent organisation, to organise the election process. For more information about the ERS and the Single Transferable Vote visit

www.electoral-reform.org.uk/single-transferable-vote/

AWCC urges every eligible voter to make use of his or her democratic opportunity to vote. Voting will start on 8 February 2012, so look out for your papers in the post and send them back to the ERS as soon as you have made up your mind.

We’re pleased to be asked to add a link on our Blogroll to the Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust, who are looking to add 32 Km of new canal to our Inland Waterways.