This is an urgent petition regarding the Canal and River Trust’s recent decision to close the much-needed boater refuse facility in Bathampton on the coming Monday 11th March 2024. 

We are a group of local residents, itinerant boaters and long-term mooring holders writing to express our great concern at the imminent closure of the CRT-managed refuse facility in Bathampton. The notice period given by CRT is less than one week as of 5th March 2024 (closing on 11th March) with no replacement facilities provided for use after this date. This decision will create a perfect storm of problems that will burden local government, and since the facilities in question are on council grounds, we have also contacted the council so that when problems arise, they have a more complete context of how this situation arose.  

While we understand that the CRT has suffered a substantial funding shortfall due to a recent government decision, we – as license-paying service users – feel that the organisation should not seek to cut costs by removing vital refuse collecting facilities in one of the busiest parts of the network, and an area designated both as a Conservation Area and one of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Environmental impact:

There are a number of reasons why service users and local residents are highly concerned with the CRT’s abrupt and final decision, which they were not consulted on:

• The bins in Dundas and in Bath are overburdened already. They will not be able to cope with the surplus waste, and will very quickly become unmanageable for CRT.
• The extra rubbish in Dundas and in Bath will affect the environment and the wildlife in the canals and its surroundings.
• Service users will struggle to find anywhere to throw their waste, which will result in more pollution for the environment. Realistically, some boaters will unfortunately opt to burn their waste, others will fly tip along the canal.
• Many more service users will now have to drive to empty their bins, which will result in more pollution for the environment as well as even more road congestion along Warminster Road.
• People will continue to fly tip at the closed Bathampton facility, the village will become like the Naples of the U.K. due to this uncollected waste. 

The bin problem:

The problem with the misuse of the bins in Bathampton has been known to CRT for a number of years: local residents and business owners are fly tipping on a daily basis. All local leisure mooring permit holders and countless continuous cruisers have witnessed small vans emptying their waste at night or cars pulling up at all hours of the day to throw bins over the low wall and straight into or on top of the containers. Some of us spend our evenings trying to tidy this up. These are easily accessible since the facilities are constantly left wide open for the world to use. 

The bin solution:

The solution to the misuse of the bins in Bathampton has also been known to CRT for a number of years, as it has been communicated to them across social media platforms including Facebook and by email from dozens, if not hundreds, of service users:

• The bins need to be fully contained by building a simple roof on the compound and solidifying its structure.
• A proper lock needs to be built into the door, which will only be accessible to BW (British Waterways/CRT) key holders. 

These practices are common across the network, but for some reason CRT has chosen not to implement these changes in Bathampton. Instead, they have neglected them and allowed the problems to persist. 

This two-fold solution is simple and very cost-effective for CRT and its customers, since clearly paying for constant contractor collection of bulky items has not been sustainable. It would not entail interminable payments to contractors. It would be a drop in the ocean compared to CRT’s recent expenditure on rebranding. It would be a one-off cost that CRT could even commission service users for, as there are many professional and experienced carpenters who own boats, use those bins, and know exactly what is required for them to be safe from fly tippers (including one carpenter with a permanent leisure mooring in Bathampton). However, if CRT will only engage larger operations, there is a well-regarded local company by the name of English Oak Buildings who could be commissioned to construct a new bin facility at a reasonable price (the owner is passionate about the waterways and boating).

Mooring holders in Bathampton are particularly distraught by the removal of this facility, which was an important factor in attracting them to these particular moorings, and a determining factor in the high amounts they were willing to pay in their initial bids for these moorings. Indeed, recent moorings that were auctioned for record high prices explicitly listed the waste facilities as a nearby feature. One currently live on the Waterside Moorings website still does list it!

Local mooring holders are therefore very keen to resolve this issue by working alongside CRT to find an acceptable solution that will benefit everyone. For this to come at a time when CRT has just announced a very high phased-increase in license fees, as well as a 5% increase in overall mooring fees, is deeply troubling.

Environmental duty:

In your most recent annual report, it is stated that the CRT’s Six Priorities for 2023/24 are:

1.     Growing our income

2.     Delivering the basics well

3.     Controlling our costs

4.     Improving infrastructure resilience

5.     Engaging with government

6.     Growing awareness and building public support

It seems to us that the decision to remove these bins would fulfil the third priority, but to the detriment of all the others. Failing to deliver the basics well (refuse collection is a basic service that license holders pay for and expect of the CRT) can only lead to growing awareness by local government and the general public of poor environmental standards, resulting in a lack of public support and trust in an organisation whose support for UN Sustainable Development Goals was stated extensively in their previous annual report, but strangely not in the latest. This in turn might negatively impact the trust’s first priority. 

The solution to the bin problem stated above would fit nicely with CRT’s 4th priority of improving infrastructure resilience. To quote CRT in the latest annual report: “As we face the growing impact of climate change, we must continue to invest in strengthening the resilience of the old infrastructure in our care, especially where it presents a potential risk to neighbouring properties and communities.”

As stated above, the pollution caused by the removal of this vital infrastructure would have a negative impact on wildlife, biodiversity, pollution and climate change. With nowhere for boaters to throw their waste, the potential sanitary risk to neighbouring properties and communities such as the local primary school (just meters away), is serious. A simple update on strengthening the resilience of this old infrastructure in your care would be a fantastic example of CRT “making life better, by water”.

Thank you for reading this email and for working with us to develop a better future for all service users, for the local community, and for the CRT itself.