Committee change
Executive committee member Vic Trott of Westfield, Woking, who did not seek re-election at the AGM, was thanked by the Chairman for his contributions over a number of years.
Vic Trott has, for a long time, taken a particular interest in riparian planning proposals and, with Peter Coxhead, has been responsible for commenting on plans in the Woking area of the canal. He was also organiser of the Society’s first successful boat rallies held at Ash Lock Cottage. Vic Trott will continue to sit on the Woking events committee.
L.E. ‘Pablo’ Haworth was elected to the Executive Committee along with other members who stood for re-election: Robin Higgs (Chairman), David Millett (Vice-Chairman), Philip Riley (Secretary), Nigel Parsons (Treasurer), Alan Grimster, Pablo Haworth (planning review -
Surrey), David Junkison (Special Projects Group), Peter Redway (working party liaison), Derek Truman (fund raising), Jonathan Wade (planning review - Surrey).
Question time
Prompted, perhaps, by the publication of the Society’s case for restoring the western end of the canal, a member enquired about the current position with regard to the possible restoration of Greywell Tunnel. As far as Hampshire County Council was concerned, "it is not leaning one
way or the other", replied the Canal Director who predicted that any decision would be the subject of a long debate. The Chairman added that it was clear from local public meetings
that there was strong support for restoring the western end of the canal which was considered to be an eyesore.
What would a Visitors Manager do? asked Janet Greenfield, with just a hint of incredulity, referring to the Canal Director’s wish to appoint such a person. Paddy Field explained that until now David Gerry had been responsible for both maintenance and recreational management in Hampshire. As Surrey had no manager, David Gerry would become responsible for the Surrey end too. The amount of work involved was too much for one person and rather than split the work geographically, Mr. Field said that he wished to divide it by job function with David Gerry taking responsibility for maintenance.
Two questioners felt that the committee had, perhaps, lost a degree of contact with Society members. Kyle Bullus asked whether the Society’s "elders" were supporting members views sufficiently. And in the absence of any information on what the committee intended to do with its
£60,000 bank balance, Chris de Wet, Chairman of the canal’s Boating Club, asked how would the money be spent?
Chairman Robin Higgs replied vaguely about "supporting the infra-structure of the canal", and then admitted that the committee had no proposals. But funds would not be allocated to support maintenance work, he asserted.
The Society’s Press Officer, Dieter Jebens, reasoned that if maintenance was under funded, as the director had argued, county councillors would not feel the need to increase the budget if the Canal Society "made up the difference". "The Society should be campaigning for increased public funding to maintain and develop the canal
amenity", he concluded.
In response to the question of how and when the canal will be dredged again at its western end, which is known to be heavily silted up in places, the Chairman was unable to offer any prospect of clearance. David Gerry added that the absence of suitable dump sites for silt was one of the problems to be resolved.
An observant Peter Jones asked about the "No cycling" notices along the canal in Surrey when many more people seemed to be taking to biking along the towpath. Paddy Field revealed that he had cycled 18 miles of the towpath that day, so cycling was permitted! "Horses, no; motor cycling, no; jogging is tolerated and walking is positively encouraged", he said.
The menacing presence of army patrols had eased and been confined to army installations, a questioner was told. Guards should not challenge boaters and military exercises were not permitted along the towpath, members were assured.
Full-time team
What was the future of the full-time team? The Chairman explained that the jobs would be redundant after restoration was completed. The team knew this and the Society would assist with any necessary retraining. Frank Jones, it was reported, planned to continue working
on the canal as a contractor on a self employed basis.
Should locks be left full or empty? For safety reasons Surrey locks were left empty with the result that the pine planking on the bottom gates tended to open up and leaked when locks are filled, Frank Jones explained. While he understood the engineering reasons for the "empty"
policy, the Society considered that locks should be left full, to prevent timbers drying out, and he hoped the new management would come to a similar conclusion.
NCC and SSSI
One of the most important questions came from John Walker, in the absence of any report from the Committee - what was the situation with regard to the Nature Conservancy Council and its intention to designate 25 miles of the canal a Site of Special Scientific Interest?, he asked. The Chairman could offer little information other than the possibility that the NCC may have
been advised to take a less strident attitude. He added that the NCC may also have changed its view of the canal’s wildlife interest.
Dieter Jebens pointed out that there had been one significant development to report, in that the NCC was now formally represented on the Joint Management Committee. He felt that members should be given such information, and generally be provided with news of developments which was, at times, arbitrarily restricted.
In closing, David Gerry commended Bill Homewood’s walks programme to members at large. A final word came from Alan Barnett, the Surrey Heath Borough Council’s local councillor and JMC member who welcomed the meeting to his ward and said: "We have been listening to what has been said and taking note".
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