Government Policy for Waterways
Notwithstanding the announcement made by the UK Government on 14 October 2010 with respect to moving British Waterways’ operations into civil society, Government policy for inland waterways in England and Wales remains the responsibility of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
In June 2010 following the General Election held in May and the subsequent change of Government, Defra terminated its Waterways for Everyone project which had been running since 2009 and which was intended to supersede the policy document, Waterways for Tomorrow published in 2000. Click here for further details of the Waterways for Everyone project and the Defra consultation exercise of late 2009/early 2010. Although discontinued, Defra and AINA recognise that a great deal of constructive thought and drafting was input into the Waterways for Everyone project and consultation exercise by a very wide range of waterway stakeholders, much of which could still usefully be applied to policy development by stakeholders in relation to inland waterways. It is therefore important to not lose sight of the valuable work that has been done.
Furthermore, important information supplementing that which went into the Waterways for Everyone project is housed on these pages of the AINA website as a useful resource for navigation authorities and other waterway stakeholders. This information is represented below in the form of maps, statistical data tables and case studies.