The Chairman's Report
2008 was a pretty momentous year for many people and many organisations – invariably for all of the wrong reasons. As the blip of toxic debts in America at the end of 2007 developed into a massive worldwide recession, many companies have gone to the wall, and many thousands of people up and down the country have lost their jobs. The banks are reluctant to lend, both to businesses who are at any rate somewhat scared of investing for the future, and to individuals who need to re-finance the bricks and mortar over their heads. As a result, everyone is tightening their belts.
The inevitable consequence of this for canal restoration schemes in this country is that apart from monies already committed, there is little enthusiasm in private and public sector to embark on any new works programmes – schemes such as the Liverpool Link and the Droitwich Canals have moved on simply because the money had already been committed, but many others have been stalled. It is little surprise therefore that our own restoration scheme has seen little progress and the 'wait-and-see' philosophy that we have, almost by necessity, had to adopt for many years now has seen another year go by.
There is a touch of Groundhog Day about this review, since the past and the future seem eerily close to what we were talking about in March 2008. The low bridge over the canal at the St Helens lead-works site is still being debated. Many are wondering why, if health and safety made it so imperative, in order for the new office development to go ahead, the new offices are already in use, but the bridge is (at the time of writing this) unserviceable. Let us hope they do not need to get fire engines there urgently any time soon.
Our determination to try and make progress with Barmere continues to be thwarted by the inability to get agreement to a proper mooring from where we can safely work on her.
But on the positive side, we do remain optimistic that the spin-off from Widnes Waterfront will give us a fully navigable waterway between Spike Island and the Warrington boundary in under five years. The current physical obstacles to this are relatively minor, but psychologically it would be a massive boost.
Warrington's regeneration framework puts significant emphasis on the canal in particular and Sankey Valley Park in general, and we are doing are best to 'big up' the role that a rejuvenated canal could play in enhancing the park. In the short to medium term 'rejuvenated' may not mean 'fully restored' but it will certainly mean creating a momentum that can only take us in the direction of full restoration.
And in St Helens, the lottery-funded scheme to enhance the Blackbrook Visitor Centre and create a permanent outlet to the public for our vision for the canal, right alongside the canal, is still very much in progress, and we are part of the forum.
As others will mention elsewhere in this report, the talks programme and work parties have continued throughout the year and generally remain popular (including our new work party site at Stanley Basin), but it is an undeniable fact that the few who give their time and effort to ensure that such events happen – and that includes our AGM - do so in the hope that the 'big picture' moves on year-by-year, even if only slowly. It is hard to point to too many such advancements.
My pleas last spring for new blood did not fall entirely on deaf ears, but with people moving away and the retirement from the Committee (we hope only temporarily) of 'Sailing the Sankey' co-author Richard Chester-Browne on health grounds, we are fewer in number than a year ago.
Even if there were open doors to push at, we would struggle to push at them, and we do not want our scheme to go backwards. Please do not assume that the Society stalwarts will get there in the end. They are getting fewer, and the job is getting no easier. If the Sankey is to move significantly closer to being a proper amenity for the three boroughs, then others who live, work and play in those boroughs need to help to make it happen, and the sooner the better.
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