Chairs appointed for Canal & River Trust Waterway Partnerships

by • December 29, 2011 • Marina ReportsComments Off on Chairs appointed for Canal & River Trust Waterway Partnerships1109

Search broadened out to remaining waterways

Canal River Trust, the new waterways charity that will become the guardian of the canals and rivers in England and Wales in April next year, has appointed chairs to a number of the Waterway Partnerships that will play a role in the management of canals and rivers across the network.

Chairs have been appointed in Manchester Pennine, North Wales Borders, South Wales Severn and Kennet Avon. The chairs for the Partnerships in the West Midlands and North West, who have, to date, been trials, have been asked to and have agreed to continue. A chair has also been recruited for the Museums Partnership, which will be the successor to The Waterways Trust Museums Management Board.

Chairs are now being sought for the remaining Waterway Partnerships in the North East, Central Shires, East Midlands, South East and London and recruitment for the All Wales Partnership is continuing.

Canal River Trust is also calling on volunteers who want to actively support the two-century old canal network to join their local Partnership and get involved and advise on how the waterways are used and looked after. Each Partnership will consist of at least eight volunteers who will be drawn from the local community and who will collectively have a broad spectrum of expertise relevant to the development of the waterways. Experience in fundraising, volunteering, finance, planning and regeneration, boating, environment, heritage, engineering, community engagement, and working with partners in local government are all relevant.

Appointed chairs of Waterway Partnerships

Manchester Pennine: Professor Walter Menzies. Previously chief executive of the Mersey Basin Campaign, a third sector partnership dedicated to sustainable development through the improvement of waters, the regeneration of watersides and the engagement of communities and businesses. Walter has also held non-executive positions at Waterwise, Healthy Waterways Trust, Land Restoration Trust and Look 2011.

North Wales Borders:Jim Forrester. Jim is currently director at Imperial War Museum North in Manchester where he has delivered services to over 2,500,000 visitors over the last ten years and drawn in champions, stakeholders and potential funders, raising substantial capital and revenue funding each year. Previously a boatbuilder on the canals, Jim has spent the last 27 years working within charities in a variety of roles; from boat conservator to director of a new branch of a national museum in the region.

South Wales Severn: Jack Hegarty. Jack has been managing director of Wychavon District Council since 2004, where he leads a complex public sector organisation, builds relationships with Ministers, MPs and Councillors and deals with local communities and partner organisations at a national and local level. He was directly involved with the Droitwich Canal restoration for 11 years.

Kennet Avon: Fleur de Rhe Philipe. Fleur has been a member of Wiltshire Council since 1997, currently as cabinet member for economic development and strategic planning. As company secretary of The Kennet Avon Canal Trust for ten years Fleur was instrumental in setting up the partnership which achieved a grant of £25 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund to complete the restoration of the waterway.

North West: Professor Steven Broomhead. Currently professor of entrepreneurial education at Liverpool Hope University, Steven previously spent eight years as chief executive at Northwest Regional Development Agency, prior to which he was chief executive at Warrington Borough Council. He has held the position of chair at a number of private and public organisations.

West Midlands: Peter Mathews CMG. Peter is past chair of the Black Country Consortium, which works to coordinate regeneration in the Black Country area of the West Midlands, and chairman and managing director of Black Country Metals. A prominent business leader, Peter has held the position of chair at various national and international organisations including The World Recycling Conference, UKTI Advanced Engineering and the Midlands World Trade Forum.

Museums: Laurence Newman. Chairman, Epsom St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust. Previously, Laurence spent 20 years with KPMG where he was the partner responsible for their Leisure and Tourism Consulting Group. He is also a non-executive director of Grove End Housing Ltd, a trustee of Creativity, Culture and Education and a member of the Advisory Board of The Foundation, a growth and innovation consultancy.

Tony Hales, chair of Canal River Trust comments: “I am delighted that such a high calibre of people have come forward to chair these important positions of governance within the Canal River Trust. Each will prove to be well placed to champion the interests of their local waterways. The Waterways Partnerships are integral to the stewardship and development of the network, providing new perspectives and insights, opening up new resources and ideas, and giving local people a greater opportunity to support their local canals and rivers: something that is integral to the success of the Canal River Trust.”

A written record of all meetings will be publicly available on the web. All positions on the Partnerships will be un-remunerated, but agreed expenses will be reimbursed.

Those interested in joining a newly appointed chair on their local Waterway Partnership or in applying for one of the remaining positions of chair can find role descriptions and application details at: www.waterscape.com/trust from Thursday 1 December. Applications for membership open on Friday 9 December 2011.

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