Regional Advisory Board Group Meeting, Bonded Warehouse, Stourbridge, Sept. 6 th 2018

Transcription

1 1 Meeting Notes Regional Advisory Board Group Meeting, Bonded Warehouse, Stourbridge, Sept. 6 th 2018 Attendees Actions Peter Mathews CMG (PM) Phillip Bateman (PB) Campbell Boyle (CB) John Yates (JY) John McNicholas (JM) Claire Williams (CW) Bashir Ahmed (BA) Richard Preston (RP) Adnan Saif (AS) Simon Papprill (SP) Nicholas Hall (NH) Laura Fahy (LF) Graham Fisher (GF) Len Cresswell (LC) Ani Sutton (AS) Ewan Hamnett (EH) Apologies Imran Mirza, Stephen Hardy, Nicola Lewis-Smith, Ian Lane Welcome & apologies PM welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced new members to the group. Claire Willliams attended her first meeting as a substitute for Laura Shoaf. Opening message. PM emphasised inclusivity of public is key to success of the Trust, and not responsibility of management to be involved in day to activities of the Trust. AS stated accessibility and communication is the key to the success of the Trust. PM requested addresses, contact details to be circulated to all board members to ensure fluidity of communication. NH Matters arising from previous minutes JM questioned the meeting notes regarding President of the United States (POTUS) suggesting the notes implied POTUS was to visit Birmingham. This was clarified as West Midlands police and resources being re-directed to support the visit of POTUS to UK. Meeting notes were accepted after this point

2 2 Declaration of Interest No new declarations. PM Annual General Meeting (AGM) finalised as 14 th November, with preliminary meeting 8th November. Location to be finalised. Could be Aston University or Warwick Race Course. PM Aston University offered their facilities and PM suggested member of Aston higher education team to be invited to attend Board meetings and/or greater integration the Trust. PM took Patrons of Birmingham Chamber and representatives of Birmingham Airport to visit the Roundhouse to expound on collaborative working and discuss possible business potentials. PM stated continued work with Highways Agency and considerable amount of PR work to promote interest in the canals. PM raised issue of speeding cyclists and liability issues, e.g., incident of cyclist damaging boat due to speeding (head smashed boater s window and liability). PM raised issue of new signs for Canal Watch, based on reports raised by Imran regarding incidents on the canal. PM emphasised need to let public know there is a continued background presence of police monitoring. This is to ensure safety during major events, such as the up and coming Commonwealth Games. RP stated continued towpath work will be completed in December (Birmingham mainline). RP also outlined the redistribution of funds to enable work to be continued for various projects, including the Walsall canal. RP also highlighted continued Metro works in Birmingham and general improvements to Birmingham city. JY raised the issue of ensuring projects do not compete, with each other, in terms of funding. JY stated the Trust needs to be aware of how political factors can impinge and even halt work on restoration projects, such as the Montgomery. JY raised the issue of conservation management plan and how the Trust can work to manage competing interests. PM emphasised the need for the Board to work as one team across the new expanded area of the West Midlands. JM stated Stoke Council seems committed to the Trust s work. However, to ensure this commitment is real, JM has asked for a meeting with the Council s Directors and Senior Management to put their commitment into action.

3 3 JM raised issue of night time economy and needs to be addressed swiftly to coincide with City of Culture project JM stated plastic patrol is underway and highlighted work of Canal Watch and public safety. The Taskforce is working in a positive way, thanks to the help of Barry Knight. CW has been working with RP on towpath improvements in the Black Country. CW stated market research has been conducted on people s perceptions of towpaths. Perception is currently quite negative, however continued towpath work is aimed at addressing these perceptions. CW highlighted their remit to improve cycling across the West Midlands by improving the infrastructure and tying in such work with national campaigns again, to tackle negative perceptions. CW outlined the THRIVE project aimed at improving and raising awareness of mental health in the workplace. CW is keen to link up with Canal Watch, especially considering the upcoming Commonwealth Games. This relates to CW s project to encourage people away from single car use and to use public transport, especially around major events. EH highlighted QE hospital is interested in adopting a canal. However, no date specified, and this has been an on-going project for some time. BA responded with aware of the hospital s delay, this is a space issue and is an ongoing project. BA stated this is an opportunity for continued engagement. EH outlined he had met the chair of Birmingham/Solihull CCG to raise issue of how Type 2 diabetes significantly damages a person s health, and how cycling and activity can reduce this risk. EH wanted the Trust to become more engaged with this work. EH stated the Trust needs to understand that putting up signs is not enough. The Trust needs to genuinely connect with the public to succeed in its wellbeing strategy. EH stated there needs to be more connection between canals and linkages to green space. EH raised issue of how people are put off using towpaths for cycling as they are not connected across the region to cycling routes and public use walkways. EH stated part of the cause of speeding cyclists is due to this disconnection. SP highlighted Weeping Poppy event at Middleport Pottery, Stoke. This is a tour of the event which initially took place at the Tower of London. SP noted the water used for the poppies comes from Brownhills and noted the interesting heritage link. SP highlighted various programmes and their financial support which is taking place across Stoke

4 4 SP highlighted the continued valuable work of Stoke Council, in restoring Middleport and improving access. PM asked NH to list key events in the region to help the Board identify opportunities which the Trust can get involved in, e.g. Commonwealth, Coventry City of Culture, Poppy event, etc. NH CB stated he had visited a Church gathering to judge canal boat decoration competition. CB stated he and Simon are to organise a meeting with Staffordshire Waterways group to encourage Staffordshire Council to become involved in the Trust s work. PB stated the canal festival that took place on August 11/12 th was successful. Awaiting detailed figures from Experian. PB stated support for festival growing and another festival is planned for 10/11 th August PB highlighted the largest nature reserve in the country is nearing completion and it is believed it will contribute significantly to the local economy. The reserve is also close to major bus transport links. PB asked the question what is the long-term viability of the Wyrley & Essington canal, particularly in the Rushall area? Anecdotal statements from boaters suggest the Trust is abandoning this area of the canal network. PM response was the Trust does not aim to close any canal area; in fact, its aim is to open as much canal network as possible. There are obvious budget restrictions but no plan to abandon the canal. PB asked for this response in writing. PB received declaration from Wolverhampton Council regarding nature reserve. Wolverhampton has accepted, pending Walsall Council s decision, the nature reserve will be opened. PM/AS LC stated the number of boats is now declining due to increased mooring costs and boating costs in general. This is causing people to abandon plans to hire boats and reducing overall revenue for boat hiring companies. Economic spiral was highlighted by LC as a real problem to the longevity of the canal network. GF stated the BBC Radio WM was an amazing success. GF stated the Royal Geographic Society (RGS) now feature his podcasts of his walks. These are the first ever to go on their site. The RGS has over 50 downloads a day of his walks, which given that the walk is of a small canal, shows significant interest.

5 5 GF stated the importance of SYNERGY, i.e. the Trust and supportive agencies all working together for the common good of the canals and their benefit to society. GF stated he has witnessed continued synergy between organisations and wishes it to continue. GF stated he wants a big THANK YOU to be noted in the minutes, especially for the Digitisation Team and Canal and River Trust in general. Can these be recognised. LC would like a list of senior managers to contact relevant people about issues LC stated a concern regarding signing up to the Canal Watch scheme and not receiving any information. LC is not receiving information from WMNow in particular. LC stated Warwickshire and other organisations have copied the Trust s work and promote their agendas, for example, there was an issue with discs and LC asked why does the Trust not use discs? Can discs be created? LC and the Trust raised an issue in relation to safety on the canals and the Canal Watch scheme, which LC felt is not working. BA responded stating figures suggest it is working AS stated looking at new areas as she and her team are taking on the new enlarged West Midlands region. AS has visited various sites, such as Rugby, Wolverhampton, etc. However, AS stated they need to prioritise areas due to resources. AS raised issue of orientation, what can be realistically achieved, what cannot be achieved, getting the expectations correct. AS stated thank you for the boat race JY raised issue of meeting time and how this restricts people to using the car. AS stated the waterways and wellbeing need to be a collective effort. The new area is large however resources will always be limited as there is never enough. AS stated the relationship with the NHS is critical to the Trust s Wellbeing agenda. AS stated landmark initiatives, such as the Commonwealth Games, are critical to the success of the Trust s future and growth. PM closing remarks stated communication is key to the boards success and the essence of what we do; raising the profile and engagement is key. PM next meeting 4 th October Aqua House (7:30 9:00am)