From Paul Le Blique, AWCC National Chairman

I am pleased to inform you that Ruth Ruderham (BW Head of Fundraising) will join Lynne Berry (Transition Trustee) at the AWCC AGM and will give a presentation after lunch. This will provide an insight into CRT, its future plans and how volunteering features in those plans.

All AWCC Clubs are reminded that they are entitled to have up to two representatives at the AGM. If your Club has not received an invitation to the AGM, please contact the National Secretary to obtain your invitation and the necessary AGM forms.

BACKGROUND

I am 67 years old and I grew up near Aldeburgh on the East Coast, where the sea was always part of life. I build my first boat at the age of 12 using two WW2 drop tanks, having dredged them from a flooded pit on the local airfield.

I pursued a technical career and qualified as a scientist and Chartered Engineer and later as an economist. Some of the things I invented in my early career in industry are still around! I spent 32 year working in the public sector in the management of science and technology, having obtained relevant qualifications.

I have managed major Naval projects, all delivered to time and cost. I was a research fellow in the Department of Economics of Birkbeck College, University of London and afterwards became a policy advisor in Whitehall. I concluded my career at the Defence Research Agency and helped launch it as QinetiQ.

It was during the Whitehall period that the AWCC thought that someone ‘on the inside’ would be a useful asset for its National Executive Committee: all very useful in dealing with DEFRA and its predecessors! I am still there on the AWCC NEC 22 years later having been Vice Chairman for 10 years and National Chairman for 8 years.

I formally retired at the age of 60, but was immediately invited to become a Trustee of the QinetiQ Plc Pension Fund, which I did for 3 years.

BOATING

I bought NB Gnashers II in 1989 and joined the St Pancras Cruising Club. We are both still there and it has been the base for my extensive cruising of our connected waterways system. I was soon introduced to the campaigning part of boating by Roger Squires and completed six years as SPCC Commodore. Roger and I remember well the occasion on which we got the better of the late Mrs Dunwoody in her Select Committee – unusual indeed!

I still stand as Trustee for the club. I have cruised extensively in Europe and the USA, mainly with the Waterways World cruising group, and have attended some of the World Canal Conferences. It was a delight to witness Tony Hales stick his neck out on behalf of the British boater and the embryo Trust at last year’s conference in Rochester NY.

CANAL & RIVER TRUST – MY COMMITMENT

I was a founder member of the British Waterways Advisory Forum and have spent the last three years with other BWAF members deeply involved in the process of evolving the Trust proposals. BWAF provided the platform for a positive relationship with members of the BW Board and we would not be where we are today without it. It has given me a well-informed view of where we need to go from here. I am currently BWAF Secretary.

One crucial matter debated at length was getting sufficient money to make the Trust viable. I lobbied the Minister, Richard Benyon, on all possible occasions since his appointment and was happy to be invited to the meeting to hear his recent statement on funding. In the round, it is what I had been asking for. I am convinced that this now forms the basis of a workable package to make CRT successful. (A worked example is available here - downloads as a PDF file ) CRT is now potential viable and we need to move on to make it so. If elected to the Council, I will ensure that financial viability is very high on the agenda.

However, I should make it clear that above all else, I am determined that CRT shall have navigation and the ability to cruise a connected waterways system at its heart. Without this, all other aspects and objectives are unlikely to be achieved. I understand the drive for localism and the need to get more people involved as volunteers on a community basis, but local partnerships have to be connected on a fair, even and equitable basis. Why not read what I said in answer to the DEFRA Consultation here (downloads as a PDF file).

I am also concerned that boating on the inland waterways shall NOT become elitist and that it shall remain affordable for the average boater, both young and old. I am concerned that not enough children and young people are coming into boating. The inland waterways must not become a rich man’s playground and I am convinced that I share this view with all Interim Trustees.

The traditions of our waterways are an important and part of our cultural heritage. They are equally as important as the built heritage. The AWCC top team has worked hard over many years to protect both. However, there is sometimes an uneasy compromise to be made between preserving built heritage and operating a viable cruising network. I understand the problems and will seek the best possible outcomes for all boaters.

Hence, I believe that I would be well placed, as an independently minded boater, to be a Council member and to continue working constructively and effectively with the CRT Trustees and the directors of the delivery organisation.

THE ASSOCIATION of WATERWAYS CRUISING CLUBS

The AWCC has brought practical assistance to the average boater for nearly 50 years. We pioneered a self-help approach and localism, where volunteers organised club moorings and assisted fellow boater when boat breakdowns occurred. We have also campaigned nationally on all aspects of boating. In the last decade we have advanced The Third Way where club mooring are seen as an alternative to BW or commercial marinas. We have about 100 boat clubs in association, which represents about 20,000 boat owners and family members. We joined with Sir Frank Price in the difficult days of the 1970s in a spirit of co-operation to keep the system running. Pragmatism remains part of our, and my, governing philosophy. Sir Frank is still our Senior Patron. I am proud to have been part of this over many years.

 I have had the following advice today from Adrian Wilkins, the project manager at Electoral Reform Services who is running the C&RT Election.

“If a voter doesn’t receive their ballot pack or voting email they should contact our Customer Services section, Customerservices@electoralreform.co.uk, 020 8889 9203 (weekdays 9am-5pm), quoting their name, address and  membership/licence number, and Customer Services will be able to issue a duplicate.

Note that anyone who is issued with an duplicate will not be able to vote more than once though, as any duplicates issued will have the same serial numbers as the originals, and we will only allow each serial number to be used once.”

The Election Centre, 33 Clarendon Road, London N8 0NW

http:// www.electoralreform.co.uk

Brian Rich

AWCC National Secretary

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.

My thoughts about the Trust

• Above all else, I am determined that CRT shall have navigation and the ability to cruise a connected waterways system at its heart. Without this, all other aspects and objectives are unlikely to be achieved.

• I am concerned that boating on the inland waterways shall not become elitist and that it shall remain affordable for the average boater, both young and old.

• I was with the Waterways Minister, with my British Waterways Advisory Forum colleagues, when he made his statement on the revised DEFRA funding pack. I am convinced that this now forms the basis of a workable package.

• BWAF includes all the major user groups and numbers the current IWA chairman and the former BW CE among its members. As BWAF Secretary I can say that we have all worked hard in the background to get CRT going. I wish to be able to continue this work on your behalf as a Council member.

• I believe that I would be well placed as a Council member to continue working constructively and effectively with the CRT Trustees and the directors of the delivery organisation.

Am I a Suitability Candidate for the Council?

Being a Council Member will be a substantial management job – not just two days a year!

• MANAGEMENT – I have managed big public procurement projects and delivered them on time and to budget.

• MONEY – I know about the practical management of money and the theory of what makes the UK economy tick. I have been a Research Fellow in Economics and a Pension Scheme Trustee;

• PUBLIC POLICY – I ran a policy group in Whitehall for five years, so I appreciate the constraints. I know how to work successfully with politicians and Ministers and heads of public bodies. I understand how government departments work.

• BOATING ORGANISATIONS – I am passionate about boating and the inland waterways. I have helped run the AWCC at National level for 22 years. I helped organise the British Waterways Advisory forum at its beginning and I know that it has since revolutionised the relationship between all user groups and the BW Board. My contribution has been much appreciated by BW and DEFRA staff alike.

The AWCC

The AWCC has brought practical assistance to the average boater for nearly 50 years. We pioneered a self-help approach and localism, where volunteers organised club moorings and assisted fellow boater when boat breakdowns occurred. We have also campaigned nationally on all aspects of boating. In the last decade we have advanced The Third Way where club mooring are seen as an alternative to BW or commercial marinas. We have nearly 100 boat clubs in association, which represents about 20,000 boat owners and family members. We joined with Sir Frank Price in the difficult days of the 1970s in a spirit of co-operation to keep the system running. Pragmatism remains part of our governing philosophy. Sir Frank is still our senior Patron.

Elect me to the Council and I will bring all this experience, knowledge and commitment to bear in making the Canal & River Trust a success to be proud of.