Partnership Chair resigns

摘要

A new partnership Chair for the Kennet & Avon Waterways Partnership is being sought by the Canal & River Trust after Fleur de Rhe-Philipe stood down as a result of her professional commitments. Ms de Rhe-Philipe was one of the three Partnership Chairs to be appointed in 2011 to head up 'trial partnerships' in advance of the establishment of the fully-fledged regional partnerships in early 2012. She said it was "with some regret" that she was stepping down, but that it was becoming "difficult to give the role the level of attention I feel it deserves". Launching the recruitment of a successor, CRT Head of Governance Services Roger Hanbury called it "an exciting role in a new charity". CRT said the Partnership, which covers the Bridgwater & Taunton as well as the K&A, played a "key part in shaping" how the canals were run, and was "helping to give people a greater role in looking after their local waterways". The Full T&M reopening put back until May THE BREACH AT Dutton which closed the north end of the Trent & Mersey Canal last September is now expected to take until May to repair. Although major engineering work got under way in January following planning and access road construction, the nature of the material used for construction of the embankment proved to be less suitable for re-use than had been hoped. This has meant an increased amount of stone has needed to be brought in - several thousand tons in all - in order for the embankment to be rebuilt to a standard which will make it sufficiently self-draining to prevent a recurrence of the waterlogged ground which led to the failure. The extra time taken to lay this stone means that the hoped-for Easter opening date (which CRT says was always "aspirational" rather than a formal plan) has now slipped back, and the canal is likely to open in late May.