News from Waterscape Boaters needed for Canal & River Trust Council

21st Nov 2011

Boaters are being asked to stand for election for the Canal & River Trust Council and get involved in shaping the future of Britain’s waterways. The nominations for boaters’ positions on the Council open on 12 December 2011.

Seven positions on the 35-strong council are to be filled by boaters or boating businesses. Four positions are to be elected by boat licence holders and two positions elected by boating businesses. The British Canoe Union, which holds a collective licence for around 60,000 individual and club members, will be asked to nominate a person to fill a further position representing all those who use the waterways for waterborne sport and recreation without holding individual licences. A Canal & River Trust employee will also be elected by all employees at this time to serve on the Council.

The Council is the guardian of the long-term values and purposes of the Canal & River Trust. While the trustees are responsible for determining policy and strategy, the Council will have an important role in helping to shape policy, raising and debating issues, and providing guidance, perspective and a sounding board for the trustees. It will also have the power to appoint or dismiss trustees.

Voice for boaters

Members of the Canal & River Trust Council will be expected to bring the experience and perspective of the constituency they represent and to provide a voice for their interests. In exercising this role they will have to at all times act in the interests of the charitable purposes of the Trust. Members will serve for a term of four years.

Tony Hales, chair of the Canal & River Trust, said: “The boating community has a wealth of hands-on experience of the waterways, and having boaters on board is essential to the success of the Canal & River Trust. I am writing to all licence holders and I encourage them to put themselves forward and add their voices to those shaping the Canal & River Trust’s future.”

Boaters wanting to stand for election in any of these groups will need to complete a simple nomination form which will be available for download from www.canalrivertrust.org.uk/councilnomination from 12 December 2011 until 18 January 2012. To be eligible to stand for election and vote in the election, boaters must hold a 12-month boat licence on 18 January 2012. Nominations must be supported by ten sponsors who each also hold a valid 12-month boat licence on this date.

Voting will take place between 8 February and 9 March 2012 via a designated website or by SMS text. Voting by post will also be possible, but only for this first set of Council elections. The election is being managed by Electoral Reform Services