MORE than 60 boats and over 200 campaigners joined forces to protest against funding cuts of around £50m in the next five years.

Waterways users who gathered at Anderton - and their counterparts in Middlewich - sent a clear message to the Government: The cuts threaten the very survival of the UK's canal network.

Blockades in place over the country's 2,000-mile canal network during the Save Our Waterways Campaign event called on people to show their support by writing to MPs and signing petitions.

The cuts have been forced upon British Waterways after the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs, the government body responsible for maintaining waterways across Britain, was fined by Europe for problems surrounding payments of farm subsidies, so it slashed the budgets of organisations like BW that manage the country's canals and rivers. BW has already announced 180 job cuts.

Organiser John Robinson said: 'This campaign is all about saving our local heritage and ensuring that maintenance cuts do not put our canals in disrepair. At Anderton we have the boat lift, which is the vital link between the Trent and Mersey Canal and the Weaver - if this is threatened, it puts many local projects in the town in jeopardy.'

Barnton author John Hulme added: 'Our canals are in crisis. The network is the only one of its kind in the world which everybody envies. In Cheshire it is the source of much tourism revenue and it must be sustained.'

Malcolm Turner, chairman of the Trent and Mersey Canal Society, said: 'The threat of these cuts are a national disgrace. Remember our canals are the largest leisure park in the UK, the largest wildlife sanctuary and the biggest industrial heritage site.

'This campaign is not just about boaters, it is about all who enjoy our waterways.'

Bryan Munro, commodore of the Broken Cross Boat Club, said: 'I am here with our members to remind the government that it has a responsibility to support British Waterways. Please do not ask our members to pick up the costs, in increased licensing and mooring fees, because of an EU fine.'

Former Weaver trip boat operator John Tackley said: 'Over the years I have worked on many local heritage projects as a volunteer. We saved the Anderton Boat Lift from dereliction some years ago. Surely we are not going to let an administrative error in Whitehall ruin the development of this national asset?'

Stuart Gardiner, chairman of the Weaver Navigation Society, added: 'Already the cuts have suspended the repairs to Vale Royal Locks. Is it not ironic that a couple of weeks ago we launched The Weaver Way? These cuts could put that project back years.'

Boaters Anna and David Ledger who moor at Uplands Marina in Anderton said the cuts would affect not only boaters but also walkers, cyclists and anglers. 'We are all very concerned about what is happening,' said David. 'We are members of the Inland Waterways Association and over the last 60 years IWA members on a voluntary basis have been very instrumental in reclaiming a lot of our lost canals.'

And boater and historian Dave Hook feared that BW would no longer be able to maintain our heritage. He said: 'I can well see BW selling off more of its property to developers to fund this deficit. Inevitably they will be replaced by unsympathetic modern blocks and sprawls of housing.'

Winsford campaigner Keith Langston said: 'There'll be job losses, maintenance will be stopped and procedures reviewed. This will endanger the waterways as we know them. DEFRA found it had this £200m black hole and has cut funds to make up for it. But why should BW be dependant on the whim of a department like DEFRA? Surely it's a worthwhile asset and money must be found?'

Protest goes to Commons > > >

Protest goes to Commons

JUST days before canal barges blockaded waterways across Mid Cheshire in protest at reduced funding for British Waterways, tourism bosses lobbied the Government to secure extra cash.

Weaver Valley Management Board's chairman Mike Cooksley, of Visit Chester and Cheshire, spoke out at Thursday's Waterways Trust AGM, held at the House of Commons, questioning the Govern-ment's financial commitment to BW.

He said: 'The Government plans to reduce British Waterways' funding by 10% and myself, a couple of MPs and Winsford waterways campaigner Keith Lang-ston all spoke to express our concerns and to call to lobby for extra cash for the body.

'It is very difficult to understand the Govern-ment's position on this. It keeps talking about tourism and canals are absolutely central to that offer. We have the Capital of Culture in Liverpool in 2008 and the Olympics in 2012 in London, yet the Government is cutting funding from a central part of the offer.'

BW is already in negotiations with Visit Britain to attempt to secure funding to cover the shortfall, but Mr Cooksley believes more can be done.

He said: 'We need to talk to as many organ-isations as possible, lobby the Government and talk to MPs. The funding is necessary to the canals and waterways across the country and we need to do what we can to safeguard this part of our heritage.'

Canal armada's broadside over waterways funding > > >

Canal armada's broadside over waterways funding

HUNDREDS of people blockaded the Trent and Mersey canal in Middlewich with organiser Ron Evans called on those who 'care about their waterways' to lobby MPs.

Mr Evans, of the Chester and District Inland Waterways Association, oversaw the blockade of the canal by 26 boats and hundreds of people to protest against funding cuts.

He said: 'We were very pleased with the turnout. This was a message to the Government from protestors across the country. It isn't just one man on a street corner, it's thousands and thousands up and down the country.

'I hope it will have a real effect as the Government is interested in votes and these are voters out there showing that they care about the waterways.'

Mr Evans has been in direct contact with DEFRA, the Government body in charge of waterways funding. He said: 'It has written to say that this funding cut represents only a small amount of the money British Waterways receives, but it has missed the point.

'In the North West, BW money has been used to restore Anderton Boat Lift and reopen canals at Rochdale and Huddersfield. If it loses this funding we will be stepping back into the past and seeing canals and rivers fall back into rack and ruin. It will mean that all that money was wasted.

'The best thing people can do now is get in touch with their MPs and lobby them to change Government policy.'

Middlewich Narrowboats' manager Adam Foskett, who also took part, said: 'I had six boats out there as I feel strongly that this is a bad move. Already some stretches of our canals look destitute and reduced funding will only make that worse.'