The survey, which ran on our website during the second half of last year, asked boaters to identify areas on the UK’s waterways where facilities are missing or are in poor condition.
Hundreds of comments were received about the facilities provided by nine different navigation authorities. We will follow up the results with each authority individually, with Canal & River Trust, the Environment Agency and the Middle Level Commissioners all saying that they will welcome the findings. Canal & River Trust has also said that IWA’s Gaptracker facilities survey results will contribute to their facilities review.
An overwhelming 84% of the responses were about water points, rubbish disposal or portable toilet emptying, indicating a strong demand for those basic facilities.
The report identifies a number of recommendations which we will be asking navigation authorities to adopt, including the general principle that the three basic facilities of drinking water, portable toilet emptying and rubbish disposal should continue to be provided by navigation authorities, without any additional cost to licence holders, at frequencies within 5 hours boating time.
Read the full GapTracker report giving more detail about the findings of the survey.
