Three cheers for the chairman of the IWA

Clive Henderson, the National Chairman of the Inland Waterways Association, has written to The Times following its focus reports on our inland waterways. In a letter published on Saturday 31st January 2009 he objects to a potential sell-off of British Waterways' property assets. The letter is given prime position in the printed version of the paper, and is accompanied by a photograph of a group of people standing and sitting precariously on a partly built canal bridge.

Mr. Henderson argues that income from BW's property portfolio offsets the need for government grants; and that selling off property following the Treasury's Operational Efficiency Programme would result in a doubling of BW's current shortfall in income of £30 million.