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Waterways for Everyone

This consultation closed on 26 March 2010.

Waterways for Everyone updates Waterways for Tomorrow, which when published in 2000 represented the first comprehensive Government statement on the inland waterways for 30 years and represented ‘a new charter for the waterways’.

Since 2000 considerable investment in the waterways has resulted in our waterways being in a better condition today than at any time since the Second World War. We now need to build on what has already been achieved.

While there are established examples of how our rivers and canals can improve the quality of our lives, disappointingly in many places the potential is still unrecognised. Our aim is therefore to widen interest and participation in our waterways through both traditional water based activities and developing new opportunities and new benefits.

Waterways for Everyone sets out how waterways and their surroundings can contribute to a wide range of public benefits. These include creating space for recreation and healthy activity both on the waterways and alongside, acting as a catalyst for regeneration, encouraging  more people to holiday at home,  encouraging green transport and creating green jobs and volunteering opportunities.

Waterways for Everyone seeks stakeholders views on, among other things: the relative importance of these benefits; whether we have in fact captured all the benefits; what needs to be done to encourage all those who benefit from the waterways to contribute to their upkeep and how we can work together to secure a sustainable future for the waterways.

Waterways for Everyone also welcomes views on the debate that British Waterways has started in their Twenty-Twenty Vision document about whether alternative models such as mutual or charitable sector status offer a more sustainable future for their waterways and if this would help us deliver the objectives of Waterways For Everyone. We will be working with British Waterways to look further at the options for alternative structures for British Waterways business as a whole.

British Waterways Twenty –Twenty vision is intended to start a debate about a possible move to the voluntary 'third' sector. For more information please see the British Waterways website. 

HM Government, Putting the Frontline First: Smarter Government - Operational Efficiency Programme : Asset Portfolio 2009 (PDF) 

Further information

Page last modified: 18 January 2010
Page published: 21 December 2009