14 C O N T E X T 1 2 4 : M A Y 2 0 1 2 Nigel Crowe is head of heritage, BritishWaterways Engineering and built structures combined: the NationalWaterways Museum, Ellesmere Port Gloucester Docks: the waterways are still a real working historic environment. customs, past usage and oral history.They can research historic boats and artefacts, and record the minor heritage assets that give the waterways so much intrinsic character. Waterways heritage is increasingly publicised through open days (7,300 people visited Bingley Five Rise locks inYorkshire in January 2012).There is little doubt that it strikes a chord with many people and is a source of pride for local communities.The waterway partnerships that are being formed to help the work of CRT will put in place localism strategies and will include heritage enthusiasts among the people elected to sit on them. Volunteers, training, awareness-raising campaigns, open days: these are all important approaches to conserving heritage. CRT will also explore a Big Idea for saving more heritage assets, increasing efficiency and saving costs for itself and local authorities alike. Although they are not yet enshrined in law, heritage partnership agreements (HPAs) have been developed and trialled since 2005 at a number of waterways sites. There are now four HPAs up and running (Foxton Locks, Lancaster Canal, Pocklington Canal and Greater Manchester Canals). Others are in the pipeline.An HPA is an agreement between an owner and the authorities and other stakeholders (where applicable) that sets out how certain designated heritage assets will be managed, repaired and developed over time. It sets out accountabilities, and how these and the performance of the HPA will be monitored. Central to the waterways HPAs is a traffic light system of works and actions that are either red (requiring consent), amber (notifiable to the authority for ‘clearance’) or green (pre-agreed works). For the CRT estate, which has large numbers of similar structures requiring common repairs and renewal of components, an HPA can be an efficient management tool. The CRT’s Big Idea will be, in partnership with English Heritage and local authorities, to develop an England-wide (and hopefully a separate Wales-wide) HPA. This would give greater certainty about what can or can not be done to designated assets. It would obviate the need for repeat consents for common tasks, decrease planning and lead-in times for jobs, increase accountability and save money. In 2010/11 repair works were carried out to 353 designated waterways heritage assets. Of these, 164 required consent applications and 189 required negotiation and ‘clearance’ from the authorities. Preparing and submitting a typical consent application costs around £1,520, so in 2010/11 £249,280 would have been spent by waterways offices on making these applications. Local authority figures vary from£350 to £1,163 for processing a consent application. Some consents will always be necessary, but if CRT could save up to £0.25 million a year, that money could be ploughed back into repairing yet more historic structures. Our inland waterways incorporate world-class heritage assets.There is much to do to keep them that way. In 2012 CRT will arise, Neptune-like, as a new national trust of the waterways.The government’s historic settlement of long-term funding of CRT until 2027 ensures that the future of the inland waterways in England and Wales will be secured in ways that it never could have been before. There is great potential for CRT to access new income streams from voluntary sources, gather greater support, and develop with partners and stakeholders a new style of managing, among other things, its national treasure of heritage assets. As the canals and rivers of BritishWaterways leave the public sector for good, there is much to hope for and much to look forward to. Farmer’s Bridge Locks: historic waterway engineering in the heart of Birmingham
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