Canal Trust cash crisis

The latest issue of the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust magazine, The Butty, is now on the news stands and it paints a desperately sorry picture of its Council's ability to organise itself and the Trust's finances.

The magazine reports that before Christmas they sacked the office manager in a desperate attempt to balance the books and they set up a committee who's sole aim it would seem was to get rid of The Butty (a magazine enjoyed and respected by users of the canal) to further this desperate quest to save money.

A committee was formed chaired by unelected Trustee, retired hack, Charles Reiss, diminutive general manager, Mike Rodd a paid member of staff and Terry Kemp, who's risible ramblings on his Vodafone blog are bemusing all who can be bothered to read it.

This terrible trio produced a report that managed to insult and alienate Trust members and Reiss justified their refusal to consult with Trust members by saying that the committee had decided what they were going to do and so any consultation with members would have been as he said, 'at best a pretence'.

So if you are a member of the K and A Canal Trust take note - the people on your Trust Council don't actually care what you think. They want your money but they don't want your opinion. Do not make the mistake of thinking that there is even the 'pretence' of democracy in the K&A Canal Trust.

Not many members of the K&A Canal Trust know that they now have a new chairman. Not before time some will say. But what a very, very strange choice they have made for this vital position.

After ousting the last chairman, Brian Poulton, a couple of years ago with a vote of no confidence they were unable to find a replacement from within their own ranks. An extremely well 'spun' story in the national press said that it was a deliberate decision to run the Trust without a Chairman but it seems clear that they were unable to find someone from within their own ranks who was able to take over the job - how sad is that?

After looking around for two years or so they finally found someone to take on the role — they parachuted in David Rees. I am reliably informed that he lives in Devon and he has absolutely no interest in the K&A Canal or any other canal for that matter.

So you would have to ask what his motivation is in taking on the Chairmanship of the K&A Canal Trust and why the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust Council is so desperate to get someone to take on the job with such a background.

I am looking into this man's background and connections and I will let you know what I find out. It all seems very odd.

Trust in the future?

The Kennet and Avon Canal is in a desperate state and the organisation that saved it from closure and dereliction and worked to restore it is now shaming the work done by those campaigners who saved the canal. The K&A Canal Trust should probably be given a decent burial - with the hope that a more principled organization can then be formed that is capable of looking after the interests of the users of the K&A Canal.