The State of the Old Canals
I live near the Paddington Arm of the Regent’s Canal. Over forty years I have used it ( and many other canals) for cycling, running and canoeing. What happens to them matters to me, and presumably others who enjoy ‘the quiet waters by’. (I had to get in my first ever quote from a hymn! Brownie point?). The waterways used to be under the wing the state, but were ‘privatised’ into the charitable arms of the CRT in 2012, with a dowry of land and old ancillary buildings. Because these didn’t produce much income, they were also given an annual grant to tide them over during what it was hoped would be a transition into a fully self-funded organisation. Now, the CRT is also able to negotiate contributions to improvements from firms developing adjacent land, through the Town Planning process. Some of the estate they inherited clearly has value, but a lot of it hasn't and I don't get the impression that the CRT are good at wringing cash out of it. Little Venice Over that period