Paddington Business Barges confirmed as a White Elephant

My friend Allan Richards has through his persistent public questioning of BW proved what most of us locally thought was the case: The business barges BW installed in Paddington Basin are a financial failure. It did not take a genius in property investment to work out that trying to market these barges as workspaces adjacent to one of the biggest office space developments in West London was going to be a challenge, whatever the economic climate.

The signs of course were apparent a year ago.

The answer to Allan's latest FOI request demonstrates that over the last eight years the project has made no return.

Boaters - An afterthought in BW's thinking?

To all of you who have been sitting round waiting for my latest musings my apologies! Please blame BW because my spare time has been pre-occupied with their latest musings on the future management of directly managed residential moorings.

What are their latest thoughts? Well that's the nub of it. BW have made it clear they don't want me to tell you!

This is of course a point I have made about BW's attitude to it's boating customers in the past: BW's preference seems to be to try to make changes to the terms and conditions of boating by whatever method that ensures boaters are the last people to hear about these changes.

What has been happening is that BW only grudgingly revealed their latest intentions over the future of Houseboat Certificates and directly managed residential moorings to me in the course of an Ombudsman complaint. It is only out of respect for the Ombudsman’s good offices that I am restraining the considerable urge to publish their correspondence with me and be damned!

I have in fact written to BW recently and proposed that actually they should go public with what they now have in mind and let all the boating customers that might be effected by what they are proposing have an opportunity to comment on the proposals in advance of the event. That suggestion has to date been studiously ignored! For the moment then you are going to have to be patient while the Ombudsman muses over how she wants to work through the situation.

However these events have found echoes in a couple of other things that have happened recently.

Report on 'Waterways For Everyone' consultation issued.

I would commend to readers DEFRA's report on its consultation which  from earlier in the year on 'Waterways for Everyone'. Full details from the DEFRA web page. A fair bit to read but I think worth the effort.

Feathering the nest?

BW Directors have had a good year even if the rest of the business has suffered. According to the Annual Accounts, last year the value of their pension funds increased by £1.8 million pounds. (Annual Accounts page 47).

Robins Evans pension fund increased by in excess of 33% in the year and spin master general, Simon Salem's pension pot increased by 43%, which the annual report claims will provide them with pensions of £78 000 and £63 000 a year respectively.

Now I don't how that increase I was achieved and maybe the directors had a result on their Lottery Syndicate? However it is curious that at a time when everyone else's pensions are reducing in value that the BW Directors pension funds did so well.

As predicted their property portfolio sucked money out of BW instead of providing net income. Page 50 of the annual reports suggests a net loss for the year of in excess of £12 million.

Can someone explain?

Spending our money on Spin

This week BW have been heralding how they have 'invested' half a million pound in new pontoons in Liverpool. Good news for boaters?

Of course as Victor on Narrowboat World has so accurately pointed out, getting to take your boat there to take advantage of the new moorings may prove a problem!

Robin Evans Pay

Thanks to the publication last week of the salary bands of the top earners in quangos etc, Robin Evans' salary is again in the public domain. Robin comes joint 14th place from the top of the 332 person list, (in the £230 000 - £235 000 salary range.)

I also saw Christoper Hope's comment on his telegraph blog pointing out that this is more than the heads of M15 and M16. He wonders what Robin (and others) do that is of so much more value than the security of the nation. Good question! Well I don't think it's that the heads of the Security Services are under-paid... See 23 April

The BW Board was due to meet on 17th June to approve the latest set of Annual Accounts*, which many of us await with interest, to see just how much money BW has lost this year and how much of their our commercial portfolio they have sold off to keep themselves afloat and maintain Mr Evans and his cronies at the salary levels they are used to!

Stop press! - the 2009/10 Annual Report and Accounts are now up on their website here.

New tactic to increase visitor numbers on the towpath?

A new shiny signpost has in the last week appeared opposite my mooring at Kensal Green, presumably funded by the latest tranche of money BW have taken from from London Government to improve the towpaths. It's right opposite the window I sit next to when issuing these missives, so I could hardly be expected not to comment.

At least after many years of making the point, the notice on the sign finally admits that pedestrians have priority over cyclists.

However as is too often the case, BW just can't seem to get the detail right!

Who can spot the deliberate mistake?

The truth about Moorings Tenders?

Senior British Waterways officers have apparently come to the view that they do not like mooring tenders as much as they used to.

• Is it because there has suddenly been an outbreak of reasonableness in their bit of Watford? 
• Or have they finally had a change of heart and accepted that selling chargeable services to the highest bidder might not be an appropriate way for a a public body to conduct itself?

No.  In the current climate it seems that the moorings tenders process is suggesting that they should reducing moorings fees.

Of course, they don't want to admit that to the rest of us!