BEDFORD & MILTON KEYNES July 2016 Volume 14 no 2. Pete Winkelman expresses his support at the APC

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1 B&MK NEWS BEDFORD & MILTON KEYNES July 2016 Volume 14 no 2 WATERWAY TRUST PATRON Sir Samuel Whitbread KCVO Pete Winkelman expresses his support at the APC APC: Opportunities too amazing to turn your back on. Keep the dream : Pete Winkelman This year we held our Annual Partnership Conference (APC) on the same day as the Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Arts Central in Central Milton Keynes. The APC was a great success, with contributions from Pete Winkelman, Hilary Chipping and senior representatives from the 3 councils along the route. All the speakers were very positive about the project, and about the new strategic approach we are taking, as outlined in the last B&MK News. The thread running through the conference was that the proposed Bedford to Milton Keynes Waterway Park is not just a nice-to-have but an essential component of the Oxford-Cambridge corridor infrastructure regeneration with strong social, economic and environmental benefits. Guest speaker at the conference, Pete Winkelman, chairman of MK Dons, said he had a big interest in what the waterway s potential could be. The opportunities it opens up are too amazing to turn your back on, he said. Mr Winkelman highlighted the importance of the connection of the east- (Continued on page 2) Annual General Meeting On the same date we held our AGM in the evening. Bill Gush, Regional Director of Land & Water (LAW) gave us a fascinating talk on their work maintaining waterways and building marinas. After describing the company s background, Bill explained the importance of Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) in achieving workable and costeffective solutions to a customer s problems. The customer and client working together are likely to reach a better result than if they decide what needs to be done completely independently of each other. (Continued on page 5) 1 Where Sold

2 View from the Chair It seems no time at all since I sat down to write the previous View from the Chair for the March newsletter. As always the past three months have been a very busy period for the Trust. We now have an approved Business Plan which can be viewed on the Trust website. I would urge members to have a look at it so you can see exactly what the Board is working on during this year. Steve Parker, our Programme Manager has started work on our Programme Plan and has been meeting with our partners in the Consortium and members in order to bring some better structure to projects such as the Head of Navigation. Our sub groups (mentioned in the last newsletter and explained in the Business Plan) have met a number of times to take forward the tasks which they are assigned in the Business Plan and, of course we have recently held our Annual Partnership Conference and our AGM. Both are reported in this newsletter. If you were able to come along to either or both of these events, you will have been able to pick up one of our new brochures which we are using to promote the benefits that the waterway park will bring to the region. It is essential that we work hard to convince a very wide audience that ours is a waterway for all. Not only will it close that gap in the waterway network, it will bring many other benefits. It will link communities via new pedestrian and cycle routes, provide new routes for horse riders and opportunities for visitors to take a break in pubs, marinas and picnic spots. In doing just that and encouraging a very broad range of activities the waterway park can be a step towards boosting the local economy as visitors come to enjoy what it has to offer We are taking this argument forward in preparing evidence for a very important government sponsored study. The National Infrastructure Commission, chaired by Lord Adonis, have been asked by the previous Chancellor, George Osborne, to lead a study into infrastructure requirements to help maximize the potential of the Cambridge - Milton Keynes Oxford corridor. You can read more about the study at: consultations/cambridge-milton-keynesoxford-growth-corridor-call-for-evidence. This offers a major opportunity for the Trust and its supporters to argue that the waterway park can be a key factor in promoting growth in the corridor and is therefore worthy of significant investment. The deadline for submitting evidence is 5th August. The Board is basing our submission on the Business Plan, the impact study undertaken for us by SQW in 2009 and any other evidence which our partners in the Consortium can provide us with. You may have heard me talking about this recently on BBC Look East and have seen articles in the local press. I have also met with Richard Parry, the Chief Executive of the Canal and River Trust and Ali Taylor, Environment, Planning and Engagement Manager for the Environment Agency to explore how best we might work together to strengthen our case. The Trust has also had support from Mark Lancaster, the MP for Milton Keynes North. We hope to build on this and secure support from other local MPs. As always we also need your help. We need volunteers to help us with our stall and display at major events so that we can spread the word about what we are doing. We need our members to persuade friends, neighbours, businesses, councillors and MPs that the Waterway Park has the potential to make a huge difference to the success of this area. We want many more people to argue that this is a must have piece of infrastructure. The Trust values you, our members and supporters, so please let us know if you think you can spare a little time to help us. Enjoy the summer and I hope many of you are able to enjoy a trip on the Ouse in the John Bunyan! (Continued from page 1) APC (Cont) west corridor Oxford to Cambridge, Milton Keynes to Bedford. The east-west rail link was enormously important and having the canal as well strengthens that connection, he said. He compared the project to his struggle to build the Dons stadium, and the similar challenge of creating a training ground near a disused section of the Buckingham section of the Grand Union Canal. He said the stadium project, like the waterway, was a dream to start with and some people said it would never happen. But it came about by working with the right people and MK Council from day one with policy support and collaboration non-political and doing the right thing for Milton Keynes. He told the conference that with all the policy buy-in it already meant that the project was a lot further ahead than supporters might think. It feels sometimes it isn t going anywhere yet slowly, but surely, all the things start dropping into place. He recognised how successful the Trust had (Continued on page 3) 2

3 shire executive member responsible for regeneration, said the project would bring an enormous amount of regeneration to Central Bedfordshire. He acknowledged some cynicism around the project, including among his own colleagues, but opening up the connection from London to The Wash is beyond interesting, he said. Hilary Chipping addresses the APC (Continued from page 2) been to get the waterway project on the agenda so far. The link was in place and Government would have to take the connection seriously. He praised the tenacity, perseverance, fresh blood and amazing strength of the volunteer army. The time is now, you are in the moment. Keep the ambition, keep your dream. Mr Winkelman said landowners must get used to not taking all the value out of a development, and that better mechanisms were needed to capture the value of the canal and more of the land value. The Government wanted to build more houses and lots of these houses would have to be built in sustainable places. These were all the reasons why there would be development in the east-west corridor. We are in a very interesting period. The next 20 to 30 years could define our new region. It bodes really well for economic strength. Local authority support Mark Oakley, head of economic development at Bedford Borough Council, said his Council was making sure the project was delivered. He pointed to the success of the Trust s John Bunyan community boat, which was bringing some real life to the river Great Ouse. And soon the Riverside North development would bring real life to the town centre, connecting the centre better to the river. Another key project would be extending the head of navigation at Kempston, where the waterway would join the Great Ouse. He was very keen to be involved. SEMLEP Hilary Chipping, deputy chief executive of SEMLEP, paid tribute to the Trust for their vision for the project. The role of SEMLEP was to grow the local economy and help to secure investment and funding. Local enterprise partnerships were increasingly being used by Government to look hard at infrastructure projects where there was strong collaboration and governance, and which provided health, walking, cycling and sustainable transport opportunities. An audience member urged the Trust and planners not to cut out horse riding from the equation and include it in plans for the route. Equestrianism was a big contributor to the local economy, she said. Lord Adonis is leading the infrastructure review of the Oxford-Cambridge corridor with the potential for creating more jobs (Continued on page 7) Earlier, the three local authority members of the consortium which will deliver the project Milton Keynes, Central Bedfordshire and Bedford Borough added their continuing support for the Waterway Park. Opening the conference, Mayor of Milton Keynes Steve Coventry, said he could only see the project strengthening existing links between Milton Keynes and Bedford. It was a great opportunity for developers to draw into that and get the project going. The plan was innovative and something they should all be working towards. He was more than happy to get more involved. Councillor Nigel Young, Central Bedford- 3 Nigel Young tells us that it should be called The Central Bedfordshire Waterway

4 The Vision Document The Consortium has recently prepared a Vision Document for the project. This is intended to be a briefing document to give to decision makers the information they need to understand what we are trying to do, and why it is a great idea. The design was carried out for us by David Lock Associates, and we are grateful for their help. The Vision is a fold-out A4 document, and the complete front and back are shown at the top of the next page. As that is too small to read, we summarise the main points below. The document opens to reveal the vision statement, explaining our aims. This page also carries the graphic showing the positive economic impact that we will have. The current estimate is that the waterway will attract 85,000 day visitors a year, and increased visitor expenditure of 4 million per year in the area. The Front of the Vision Document The second graphic shows that 50% of the UK population lives within 2 hours drive of the route. This leads to an intriguing prospect. The Falkirk Wheel is north of Glasgow, and last year received 600,000 visitors. Our Brogborough feature will be in easier reach of many more people, as well as being visible from the motorway. How many visitors will that attract? The number of new homes shown are those already planned. We are not intending to create more homes as part of the Waterway Park, just to make what is already planned more pleasant by being close to a new and innovative feature. What we will be doing, however, is to link green space along the route. 20 square kilometres of green space will be directly connected by the Park. When the document is fully opened, the full route can be seen (top right opposite). Significant features and places along the route are highlighted and at several points we have pictures showing what the area does or would look like. Finally, and importantly, we list the logos of the consortium members, showing support from important and relevant organisations in the area. These include the councils along the route, the navigation authorities at 4

5 The Two Sides of the Complete Brochure both ends, the Parks Trust and Forest of Marston Vale representing local environmental interests, SEMLEP (the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership, the Government s preferred funding route) and David Lock Associates. We launched the Vision Document at the recent APC and AGM, and it has been very well received. We are confident that it will help us present our case when talking to government and grant giving organisations. You can find a pdf of the document on our website. The easiest way to find it is to find the News item about the launch. AGM (Cont) Jane Hamilton Introduces Bill Gush at the AGM (Continued from page 1) LAW have worked with the Environment Agency dredging the Rivers Parrett & Tone following the floods in Somerset in LAW have also worked on the restoration of the Stroudwater and Wilts & Berks canals, and are also working with the Wey & Arun navigation. They will also build and / or operate marinas, and are very interested in working with us to develop the Waterway Park. In the formal part of the meeting, Jane Hamilton reported on the progress the Trust has been making, and introduced the Vision document described above. The more strategic direction has been welcomed by our Consortium partners. The minutes and accounts were accepted by the meeting. In director elections, John Best and Richard Wood were re-elected. Julian Armitage, Beryl Bennett MBE and Simon Clewlow, who had been co-opted during the year, were elected to the board. David Watson had been intending to stand, and was mentioned in the Notice sent with the last B&MK News, but unfortunately had to withdraw before the meeting. Following this, Andrew Stanley, finance director of the enterprise (BMKWEL) gave a (Continued on page 6) 5

6 AGM (Cont) (Continued from page 5) report on the results for the year. 2015/6 has been another good year for the John Bunyan, when they carried over 5,000 passengers. They have introduced new speciality cruises (fish and chip suppers and jazz cruises have been particularly popular). An important innovation for many passengers has been the introduction of a bar! Turnover was up over 20% on the previous year (largely due to the bar) and BMKWEL were able to donate 4,000 to the Trust, as well as paying their annual lease for the boat and passing on almost 6,000 of donations, on which we can claim GiftAid. Both Jane and Andrew emphasised the urgent need for more volunteers as boat crew and to strengthen Trust membership. The changed venue was well received, although some people seemed to find it hard to find (The description at the bottom of the Notice of Meeting was pretty clear Ed). We held the APC and AGM on the same day this year, to try and reduce the cost and work involved, but will revert to separate meetings next year. Alternative Payment Methods for Subs You will be aware that, finally, we were able to accept alternatives for your payments of membership fees from this year. This has been remarkably successful, although a few people were not able to make the QR code work for them. All the methods we introduced: payment on line, direct debit and sending card details in to us have been used by some members, although about three quarters still prefer to send a cheque. Cheques are the cheapest method for us, all the others incur a processing charge. It is really too late now for direct debits for this year, as we have already processed this batch. The other methods are still available to anyone who has not renewed, a reminder will be with this issue. We will be making direct debit available again for next year s renewal. If you have any comments about how this has gone, or any suggestions for other alternatives, please let us know to: membership@b-mkwaterway.co.uk Weekly and Short Break Holiday Hire 4-8 berth self drive Luxury Narrow Boats Excellent Boats on a Beautiful Canal Cruise through the waterside parks of Milton Keynes Our base at Linslade is within weekend reach of the Waterways Museum at Stoke Bruerne or the Chiltern Hills and Aylesbury. Choice of exciting one or two week cruises including the River Thames. Also Waterside Cottage (sleeps up to 11) set in the boatyard grounds The Wyvern Shipping Co Ltd Rothschild Road, Linslade, Leighton Buzzard, Beds, LU7 2TF Tel: Fax: James@canalholidays.co.uk 6

7 July 16th & 17th October 12th Any time (to be agreed) June 2017 November 2017 Events Calendar 2016 Bedford River Festival. As usual, there'll be live entertainment, river events, carnival parade, funfair and fete. There'll be raft races, fireworks, sports, arts and heritage village, which this year will be recreating life in 1166, when the Bedford Borough was first formed. Once again, the John Bunyan will play a central role at the festival, and the Trust and the John Bunyan will have stalls. We need quite a number of volunteers to man the stalls over this popular event. Contact the Project Office if you are able to help, if you have never done this before, we will make sure that you are matched with a more experienced volunteer. Members Social Evening on board John Bunyan, Priory Marina Bedford. A talk by one of our experienced talks team members to your group, or any team of decision makers you can help us to meet. AGM - venue to be arranged APC - Central Beds, venue to be arranged APC (Cont) (Continued from page 3) and building more homes. An interim report would be published in the autumn and the full report in autumn Ms Chipping explained that as part of the A421 improvements it was essential to provide a culvert to enable the waterway to pass underneath the road. This required funding of 2.4m. Trust progress update Jane Hamilton, chair of the B&MK Trust, reported on the appointment of a new Project Manager, Steve Parker. Both highlighted development of a more structured business plan and a revitalised strategy. Instead of a nice-to-have the waterway is essential-to-have and will transform the region, she said. The waterway is a catalyst for environmentally led regeneration. A catalyst for opening up the local economy, increasing biodiversity, improving water management, storage and drainage with the potential for moving water around the UK as needed. Delegates arrive at the conference (above) and settle down (right). Speakers include Milton Keynes Mayor Steve Coventry (Below) and Mark Oakley (Bottom) The Trust would be submitting a funding bid to SEMLEP this summer. It would make sure the waterway route is secure; establish delivery mechanisms; promote the transformational nature of the project; and convince partners at regional and national level and private investors of its credibility. 7

8 John Bunyan Update Despite the uncertain weather that we have had the John Bunyan Boat cruises from success to success. As we enter our fourth season on the river (the boat was launched in July 2013) we do so with full order books. We have achieved budget target so far this year for our public and special cruises and the slots for our charter cruises were fully allocated for June, July and August, with bookings for September building nicely. The only way we can increase our number of cruises during the summer months now is to increase our number of volunteers. We do have a recruitment drive on at the moment, and you may have seen in the local media and the boating press our appeals for volunteers, so if you are not a volunteer and would like to try your hand at volunteering, or if you have friends who might, then please go to our website: for details of how to apply. Some of our cruises have been hit by the amount of rain in the past two months with river levels rising and on occasions preventing us travelling upstream to Sovereigns Quay. This has resulted in departures being made from Priory Marina. This not only causes some inconvenience for passengers and some lost business, but reduces our profit margins when we have to provide alternative transport to get our passengers to the boat. Being on a river which is also used as a flood relief channel does mean that the interests of the boaters are being put second to that of flood prevention by river management, but that is something we have to cope with. Let us hope that we don t get too many wet summer months! If you have not yet sampled our public cruises do give them a go. Our prices start from as little as 10 for a two hour cruise on a Thursday The John Bunyan emerging from the mist, one April morning or Sunday. We also offer Afternoon Tea Cruises in partnership with both The Swan and The Barns Hotels and, for evening cruises, a Fish & Chip Supper, and Jazz Cruises, not forgetting our premier cruise to Great Barford with lunch at The Anchor. So we offer a bit of something for everyone. Do visit our website for details, dates and prices. If you have a special occasion coming up and you would like to celebrate it with a river cruise (with or without food, and our licensed bar) you can also find details on the website. We hope to see you on the John Bunyan Boat soon! Graham Mabbutt Commercial Director, B&MK Waterway Enterprises Ltd. B&MK News Published by the Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust. Editor...Vacant Proof Readers...Vacant Photo enhancement...keith Malone Distribution...Leigh Willows Printed by...murrays Comments or articles for inclusion in the next edition should be sent to: editor@b-mkwaterway.co.uk B&MK WATERWAY NEWS is published by the Bedford and Milton Keynes Waterway Trust, a non profit-making company limited by guarantee (No ). Registered office: 30 St John Street Newport Pagnell, MK16 8HJ and a Registered Charity (No ). Contact us at enquiries@b-mkwaterway.co.uk or Tel (Tue & Fri mornings) 8