Phil Pickin reports…
THE low number of attendees to the Disabled Boater and National Boater Forums was just one of the questions raised during the recent disabled boaters’ Teams meeting.
Alongside the issue of the number of those taking part in the meeting was the ongoing evaluation of the accessible mooring bollard prototype. This prototype has been installed at Icknield Port in Birmingham, and Matthew Symonds, CRT’s head of boating and customer services, was asked if the new design could be installed at a location with a higher footfall to help generate additional interest. In reply, Matthew told the forum that a possible location in Central London had been identified but that it would require the support of the leaseholder of the mooring.
Suggestions as to how to canvass the opinions of a wider cross-section of the boating community on the design of the new bollard included a display at Crick. Having had a plastic prototype on show at the 2024 event, Matthew agreed that any future designs should also be on show at the 2025 event. Questions were also asked regarding the heritage issue of the new bollard, and it was pointed out that while the bollard is very different from what is currently in place, it is a reversible installation that can be removed and the site returned to how it was before the installation if needed. This, and the delegated powers around mooring, should mean the bollard can be installed. However, there will be some installations that will require additional thought.
The forum also provided Matthew with an opportunity to outline the recently announced commission that will investigate the future licensing framework. He pointed out that the existing British Waterways Act predated the introduction of the Equality Act and similar policies, so these would not have been considered previously. This subject was of particular interest to the forum members.
With low attendance at the online meeting, the subject of how this and the National Boater Forum should work to try and attract more attendees was discussed. Matthew Symonds said that the National Boater Forum had tried to introduce different styles of presentations to overcome this but also pointed out that the number of trust-held disabled boater forums planned has been reduced for 2025.
Dan Noakes, CRT’s relationship, policy and strategy manager, asked the forum for suggestions as to where else the forum meetings could be advertised. One suggestion was the increased use of towpath noticeboards, but it was also pointed out that issues surrounding the use of the Eventbrite booking platform could also put people off booking to attend. Another suggestion was the use of the recently announced boater app, which, in the opinion of those taking part, should have a news section.
Forum members commented that it would be good to be able to join a forum directly via the app, and they also raised the possibility of opening forums like this one to anyone with an interest in accessibility on the network as this could increase attendance. Matthew Symonds agreed that introducing an accessible customer forum was a possibility as it was also pointed out by forum members that they are concerned that the current forum description is not detailed enough. They felt that this could be improved to include detail on exactly who it is for and what topics are to be covered.
