USER QUESTION RESPONSE John Fiddies Wheelton Boat Club As a result of failed temporary repairs undertaken to a number of lock chambers during the Winter Stoppages has safety been compromised? The most serious incident resulting from a blown cill causing the near sinking of a craft in the bottom lock (no.64) on the Johnsons Hill Lock Flight. No temporary repairs to paddles have been undertaken during winter stoppage lock gate replacement works. Lock 64 had a temporary blanking plate fitted while a new paddle was constructed after the existing one failed. The blank failed and this incident is being investigated, with the investigation near to conclusion. A new paddle was fitted on the day that the craft experienced problems (Good Friday) with the new paddle planned to be fitted the following Tuesday. All the paddles that were replaced in the lock gate replacement works have been replaced with new paddles. Ian Moore - IWA Can we have an update on the Leeds to Bradford towpath city connect scheme? Unfortunately the Leeds-Bradford Towpaths project has experienced some recent delays. Despite receiving approval in March from the project partners, Leeds City Council has re-considered the intended design solution and has asked that we at the design again. The City Council is concerned that the unbound surface dressing that we proposed for large areas of towpath will not provide adequate life of towpath. We are in the process of discussing this with partners involved and an update will be provided as soon as a way forward has been agreed. We are very keen that the project proceeds as it has benefit for towpath users, we just need to take more time to get the detail agreed with all those involved. 1
Carole Finnan Has there been any progress in updating the stoppage notices at weekends? We are in the process of arranging training for the on call teams to be able to do this. In the meantime, the team at Anderton Boat Lift will offer assistance, should it be required. Our administration team have recently updated the system out of office hours when required on Easter Monday. Carole Finnan Maureen Olley Are there any plans to include work on leakage and paddles on the Poolstock locks and Wigan lock no 86 on the winter stoppages. Is there any funding available for the possible appointment of a project manager to undertake survey & planning for the restoration of the northern reaches of the Lancaster Canal? Works to this lock are not included in the stoppage programme for this winter. However, we will review the lock on the next monthly inspection and see if a repair is needed now. It is unlikely that Canal & River Trust could source internal funds for this. However, we can pass this request to our enterprise team who may be able to help with identifying funding sources. We are in regular contact with LCT had have agreed an action plan with them within the last couple of months to help support the restoration plans. Joy Paxton It was planned to upgrade the towpath from Bridge 31 New Lane to Bridge 29 Martin Lane during April. Work has not yet started. Since this stretch is an almost perfect example of a rural towpath and does NOT require upgrading can the funding be diverted to upgrade towpaths between Parbold and Appley Bridge which urgently need it and are much more heavily used? Canal & River Trust does not have the resources to undertake towpath upgrade works using internal funds, unless it poses a health & safety risk to users. Our enterprise team work hard to secure third party funding to undertake towpath upgrade works and other betterment schemes. Sources for such funds can be partnership schemes with local authorities or agencies such as Sustrans. This funding is often tied to specific locations and the money cannot be transferred to other areas. Our teams are always reviewing ways to secure funds for upgrading stretches of 2
towpath in poor condition and we have passed your comments to them so that they can investigate possible funding streams. Joy Paxton Does CRT have a general and/or specific plan (e.g. a "5 Year Plan") regarding repairs, restoration and major works for the whole canal system and does the NW Region have the same for their canals and are these plans available for the general public to view and if so, where? Our plans are based on inspections undertaken by staff which assess the condition of our assets. Those needing repair are then put into a works programme with a year and priority allocated to it. This means that we prioritise works that need doing more immediately than others. We also have a regular maintenance programme for assets such as locks and bridges to help us to extend their life and to minimise failures and disruptions for customers. Our major works programme is agreed with our central teams based on the risk that the repair presents. We do not have a restoration programme at this time, although we have recently agreed an action plan with LCT for the Northern Reaches. The NW plan of works for 2014/15 will shortly be available on the website. Joy Paxton How are CRT NW intending to prevent water shortages in the future between the Wigan Flight, Poolstock, Pagefield and Ell Meadow locks given that this has been a serious and recurring problem for many years? An additional pump has been installed at Scholes Feeder which means if the first one fails we can switch over immediately so there is no hold up on feed. That said we can only feed water if there is enough in the river to do so. As you are aware, Wigan suffered water shortages recently because we had a failure of the Scholes feeder after it became blocked by rubbish in the water, combined with a number of paddles being deliberately left open running water off as staff tried to refill. As a result we locked up overnight over Easter to minimise the risk of further disruption to boaters. We have suffered no other incidents since but staff continue to be vigilant. We are keen to recruit voluntary lock keepers for the Wigan 3
flight and will be advertising again soon, if you know of anyone who may be interested please pass their details on to Matt Taylor, Volunteer Co-ordinator Alan Mather Lancaster Canal Trust BW gave permission for a small part of the Navigable section of the Northern Reaches near Crooklands to be dredged by the Lancaster Canal Trust approximately 1999 and 2011 this was done safely and without problem. LCT has been given permission to dredge. The section of canal where Peasey Beck Feeder enters is now only 50cm deep and getting shallower, our Trip boat can no longer pass this point. WHEN WILL CRT DREDGE OR GIVE LCT PERMISSION TO DREDGE? On Sunday May B/H weekend we cruised 2 1/2 hours from our mooring at Woodplumpton to fill up with water, On arrival we could not moor a 35ft boat. Four boats left unattended and one boat occupied who said he had broken down but he has been there for weeks if not months, he said he had already received a ticket and still he has not moved. His engine was running when we arrived. Can you not enforce your own rules or as the canal become a free for all? When are you going to put the water point at Pendle Marine safe? It has been like that for at least 4 years. We carry out regular boat checks along the Lancaster canal, and more frequently at some visitor moorings and hotspots. Any craft found not to be meeting our terms and conditions will be subject to our normal enforcement processes but due to data protection restrictions we cannot divulge any actions we are taking against specific craft. We will pass these details through to the local enforcement officer.. We will investigate the issues at this water point. We have had no other complaints about this. We will keep you updated on the progress. A member asked could the facilities at Hest Bank be reinstate. The Hest Bank service block is the property of Lancaster City Council and they have taken the decision to close the facility. There is a CRT water point on the long term moorings near to Bridge 118. 4
When are you going to dredge the worse areas of the Lancaster Canal? I.e. from Leaches Bridge through to Salwick Basin going south, Cadley Halt to Ashton Basin is also very shallow. Last year Mr. Weston promised my husband that he would contact the supervisor to dredge as a priority between Br 55-56 as boats were getting tuck, it still has not been done, please can you tell me when it will be done? Mainline dredging schemes are decided on a national basis by our central teams. Surveys are undertaken highlighting areas which are not at required dimensions and works are completed on a priority basis, with the worst affected areas being the highest priority. Due to the huge expense associated with dredging works, we can only complete a handful of sections each year. Our local team are always noting the areas which have smaller localised issues and we review if spot dredging can be completed in these locations. This is assessed against other priorities and available funds within the North West. Lesley Packwood The reeds are getting worse the Jolly Roger (Pendle Marine) the channel is just one boat because of the reeds a wide beam just can get through. Opposite our boat near Moons Br the reeds are creeping across again one boat channel, sometimes boats get to close to our boat. Again when are you going to do something about the reeds? At Br 26 to M55 motorway bridge there are Mayors tails growing on the offside, (one boat channel and very shallow) slowing they are working across the canal, what are you going to do about them? As we knew the Waterbus was out of action until after the bank holiday, several boats tied up on the Waterbus mooring. Kingfisher arrived at about 7pm insisting that the already moored boats were moved so that Kingfisher could get onto the Waterbus mooring for the night as he had a trip on the Bank Holiday Monday morning and would not get there in time if he had to tie up somewhere else. Our members moved out of the way and we managed to get them moored up nearby but with hindsight I am wondering why Kingfisher assumed Various areas of Norfolk reed were treated last autumn. More treatments will be programmed again for this autumn on the identified areas we have on record, this being one. Chemical effectiveness is limited to this time of year and what we can safely use on or near water. At the meeting Partnership members will be talking about the progress with the Lancaster Moorings Project. Your comments have been forwarded on to them. 5
he had any more right than any other licensed boat to moor there. The canal has lost many moorings in Lancaster when the two basins were made strictly no mooring areas. Is there a possibility that the waterbus and other commercial trip boats could make their pick up and drop offs from either of the two basins? This would free up half a dozen moorings for visitors, ensure that trip boats' moorings were kept available as required and keep everyone happy! Presumably the trip boats would only be on the moorings for short periods of time normally and I would hope that the locals would find this acceptable. An added bonus could be that this may also stop the practice of the commercial boats letting their passengers all use the Sanitary Station facilities which are not the cleanest around and should really only be used by key holders I would have thought. 6