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Friday, 16 March 2012

C&RT Election

C&RT Election
March 2012

Its been a manic week and this is the first time I have had an opportunity to write about the outcome of the C&RT Council election.

First and foremost I would like to thank all of you who voted for me - it was much appreciated and I am just disappointed that I was unsuccessful and will not be able to represent you on the Council.

If I am absolutely honest, I don't think that any independents has a chance when the IWA rocked up with their five endorsed candidates, and whilst I have respect for their successful candidates as individuals, I am less than happy there will be no boaters voice at the table which is free from the agenda of a larger organisation.

Perhaps the thing that has given me reason to pause and reflect has been the vitriol and disaffection of so many boaters towards the IWA as an organisation. I don't really understand why such a large body of passionate boaters have such antipathy towards the most influential waterways body in the country. Maybe this is something they should think on.

As for me, the election process was fun and put me in contact with a lot of really interesting people, and I am sure I will find an appropriate slot where I can support the waterways I love. But the cruising season is upon us and in just two weeks we will be off on our watery travels once again. After that - I have a blog to maintain.

So thank you once again for your votes and support. Hopefully I will see many of you out there on the cut during the forthcoming season.

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5 comments:

  1. Nev Wells16 March 2012 at 21:04

    Hi Andy,

    Bad luck but against the IWA contenders you were up against it. I am one of the many that object to the IWA taking the seats. I am a IWA member but would have preferred they lobby from the outside and leave independent boaters to press within the new CaRT organisation - best of both worlds. I might have to consider my IWA membership now as why would I pay my license as well as my IWA if they are one of the same in a small way?

    Happy cruising

    Nev

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  2. No Direction17 March 2012 at 11:07

    I got fed up with the constant sniping at the IWA as well. Don’t think these people realise how involved the IWA are with every aspect of the waterways already, as with any large organisation you can’t please all of the people all of the time.
    Happy Boating

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  3. Unknown17 March 2012 at 11:22

    Andrew it was a valiant effort, unfortunately we now only have one voice for the council, and that a heavily biased one that will not represent the whole community, but haven't politics always been the same!
    Hope to see you around later in the year, we're off out to the Great Ouse System this summer.

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  4. Anonymous17 March 2012 at 17:32

    Hi Andy,

    There were lots of us who voted for you (out of those that did vote) & we're as disappointed as you with the outcome.

    H

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  5. Neil Corbett17 March 2012 at 20:11

    Andy
    Like you I am a bit bemused by the antipathy towards the IWA, although I didn't vote for any of theirs (Alan Fincher and yourself were my top two). The IWA can justifiably claim to have brought a lot of the system back to life.

    However, now its up to all of us to lobby the IWA reps whenever there is an issue we feel strongly about, making it clear that we expect them to listen to the rest of us.

    Neil

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