Having read the first 12 pages of this topic I decided not to participate, instead I emailed Richard Parry the new CEO of CRT despite the fact tat he was on annual leave and it was a week end he replied within 24 hours. In that response he said amongst other things,
"To reassure you, I’m personally committed to active engagement with boaters (and others); an inclusive approach, reaching out to involve all those who use and/or enjoy our waterways is, I believe, essential for the Trust to fulfil its mission"
So much of what has been posted is inaccurate, people making 2+2 equal 5, or just plain mischievous. I then continued to read the next 13 pages here we entered the realms of fairy tales, people stating from god knows where their version of CRT's accounts. Now if you want the truth get a copy of CRT's Trustees' Report and Accounts for the period ending 31st March. Now I will be the first to admit these are complicated since they cover a 9 month period from July 2012 when CRT accepted the transfer but the figures are different from those being quoted here. So here are the facts.
Income
Government Grant. £29.3m
Boat licences/moorings. £26.4m
Marinas. £5.2m
Utilities. £17.4m
Investment Income. £31.1m
Third Party. £10.4m
Other income. £2.3m
Total Income. £122.1m
Expenditure
Maintenance. £31.7m
Vegetation, waste. £10.1m
dredging £3.3m
Operation teams. £6.9m
Restoration. £5.9m
Facilities etc. £7.8m
The full 12 months figures would show income totally £154m in 2012/13 increasing to £156m in 2013/14 and to £176m in 2015/16 when the government grant increases by £10m.
If you want to know more read the report, or alternatively you can believe the inaccurate rubbish spouted by some people.
What would be better is for boaters to actively participate by volunteering, litter clearing, nor dumping large bits of you boat on rubbish collection points and vegetation control are three areas where boaters could make a real difference and save CRT tens of thousands of pounds. So how about it?
Well as Forrest Gump would say that's all I have to say on that!