THE Canal & River Trust has pledged to ‘redouble’ its efforts and ‘do things differently’ following a ‘disappointing’ annual boaters’ survey. Overall satisfaction among respondents to the survey, which provides an important snapshot of boaters’ views, has dropped to 46% from 54% a year ago – falling from a peak of 76% in 2017.
A total of 45% of respondents rated the upkeep of waterways as ‘poor’, an increase from 38% last year, and while they praised trust staff and volunteers for helpfulness, the 2024 survey recorded that the overall attitude towards the trust has declined; net favourability fell by 8% to 38%, and those ‘positively advocating’ for the trust fell by 6% to 22%.
Analysis of the results confirmed that boaters are ‘now more than twice as likely to have spoken negatively of the trust than positively,’ up 7% to 49%. “Underpinning these attitudes is a longer-term decline, since 2021, in belief that the trust is listening to and acting on the interests of boaters,” said a report published on the CRT’s website in July, which also highlighted that:
· 57% do not believe the trust listens to boaters (up from 48% in 2023).
· 59% do not believe the trust prioritises spend effectively (up from 52%).
· 40% do not trust the CRT to look after the canal network (up from 33%).
More proactive and preventative maintenance, wider sources of funding, and more consultation and better communication with boaters were suggested by respondents, and against the backdrop of the cost-of-living crisis, concerns were raised about rising fees and equitable charging between licences.
More than 1100 randomly selected trust licensees responded to the online questionnaire during April, including leisure and liveaboard boaters with home moorings or who continually cruise, and trade boaters.
The feedback has been described as concerning by the CRT, which has reiterated its focus on key areas including facilities, general upkeep and maintenance, and communication – and is now finalising a plan to address the survey results.
In an update sent to boaters, the CRT said: “We are greatly concerned to see the fall in boater satisfaction over the last year, which continues a downward trend in satisfaction since 2017.
“The trust is committed to doing whatever we can within our means to provide all our boating customers with the experience and service they expect. This disappointing result confirms that we need to redouble our efforts to improve this.
“We recognise that a number of factors may have contributed to this decline in satisfaction – among them the number of stoppages due to the impact of the flooding we experienced for several months in the winter, the increase in licence fees, and last year’s issues with grass cutting.
“The trust is committed to providing our boating customers with the best experience we can. We acknowledge that we must do things differently to respond to concerns, notwithstanding the challenges of climate and funding that will continue.
“We recognise that the key factor for the boating community is the general upkeep and maintenance of the canal network, and that this demands a clear focus from trust. This will form the main part of our plan. How to keep essential facilities in good working order will form another area of the plan, and communicating more effectively with boaters and listening to your concerns, explaining more about what we are doing to look after the network, how we are spending and prioritising our resources, and giving as much notice and information as we can about stoppages.
“While we will be doing what we can to deliver improvements, we know that you have experienced for yourselves the impact of extreme weather events on the network. This is hitting us at the same time as a real-term reduction in our government grant, despite several years of high inflation, and when we’ve been required to significantly increase spend on our reservoirs – now accounting for a significant proportion of our major works expenditure – to meet legally binding safety measures.
“Our commitment is to listen to your concerns and tackle those areas that are most important to the boating community. We greatly appreciate your support and understanding as we do so.”
An update on the CRT’s website added: “Over the coming weeks we’ll be finalising the plan with timescales and measures so you can see how we’re delivering against it. We are fully committed to doing what we can to address the concerns highlighted in the survey.”
Read the survey in full here: https://tinyurl.com/boaterssurvey
