Memorandum submitted by John Keyes (BW
79)
Following on from our recent telephone conversations,
I am writing to confirm my wish to participate in the forthcoming
public hearing at the National Waterways Museum on 16 April 2007.
In addition to the submission that I have made on behalf of my
community (Jericho Community Boatyard Ltd (BW 51)) on 15 January,
I would like to provide further comment in a personal capacity.
As discussed I will follow on with this in the very near future.
I have no objections to either of these submissions
coming into the public domain, and would welcome the opportunity
to make a personal appearance before the Committee, in public
and on the record.
1. BACKGROUND
AND EXPERIENCE
I first came to living full time on board a
boat in 1975 when I went to sea aged 19, to work on a 50s timber
prawn trawler working out of Port St Mary in the Isle of Man.
Within the twelve months that I was working as a fisherman, I
came to see the collapse of the fishing industry as far as it
involved small independent operators. This resulted in the simultaneous
disintegration of whole communities, especially those that were
largely dependant on the fisheries. The cause of this demise was
a change in government policy that sought to rationalise the fishing
industry in favour of the larger more industrial vessels operated
by large companies, and for reasons that have never become clear,
foreign competitors.
It occurred to me only recently, that my concern
for the welfare of the residential boating community on the inland
waterways, might stem at least in part, from having witnessed
first hand how small specialised communities can be profoundly
threatened by the commercial interests of the government department
responsible for the industry associated with their way of life.
I then read mechanical engineering at Birmingham
University, and have worked for most of my professional life as
a landscape architect, building contractor, and set and stage
designer. Five and a half years ago I purchased a narrowboat,
and have lived in or near to Oxford ever since, both on the canal,
and on the River Thames.
2. ISSUES THAT
I WOULD LIKE
TO RAISE,
ARE BROADLY
(i) The future security of the residential
boating community on the inland waterways.
(ii) Some observations on the conflict between
BW's stewardship role with its aim to be financially self-sufficient,
and BW's accountability deficit and PR machinery, so often used
to conceal this schism.
John Keyes
March 2007
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