River gets cleaner so Environment Agency needs more money.

According to a recent report by the Environment Agency, boat registrations on the Thames have been falling steadily since the 1970s. Actually boat numbers have been falling for a lot longer than that, but no matter. Since most registrations are for motor launches you might think the Environment Agency would be pleased, but not a bit of it. The Environment Agency employed an independent research company to find out why, "before it can start planning a campaign to woo people back to the river." They used telephone surveys and focus groups and talked to current, lapsed and potential boaters, as well as councils, national organisations and businesses. At the end of it all, the reasons for the decline remain unclear, although some people mentioned lack of moorings and public slipways. However most respondents felt the river had improved in recent years. It looks to me like people are taking up more environmentally pursuits than motor boating, and as a result the river is improving in aesthetic quality, and getting cleaner and less busy.

You might think this was a good time to cut the Environment Agency’s budget, but you’d be wrong. It is joining forces with The Waterways Trust, an independent charity, to target funding [read chase government and EU grants] to boost navigation on the non-tidal Thames. It’s working too. Lord Whitty the Inland Waterways minister just gave them an extra two £1million grants, loudly trumpeted in "River Views" their free newspaper. Now I like boating as much as anyone, but should the poor nature loving taxpayer be paying to encourage the dying pastime of motor boating? I wonder what Lord Whitty would do if the river were getting more crowded and polluted from motor boats. Bung them another couple of million to widen it I suppose!