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An evening with the Waterways Minister
- The Labour MP for Chatham & Aylesford
Jonathan Shaw MP, the Government Minister with responsibility for Waterways
was an official visitor and special guest at a fund raising and awareness raising
evening hosted by Bedford MP Patrick Hall to highlight and promote the work of
Bedford & Milton
Keynes Waterway Trust
‘I’m still fizzing’ and ‘What an inspiring evening’ were
just some of the comments of guests in aid of Bedford and Milton Keynes Waterway
Trust on 17 July. Patrick Hall had invited Waterways Minister Jonathan
Shaw,
the Mayors of Bedford and Kempston, other local dignitaries and senior staff
in private and public bodies, such as British Waterways, Renaissance Bedford
and Nirah*, and Trust volunteers, to hear the latest news about the Bedford & Milton
Keynes Waterway.
Patrick Hall’s support in holding the event for the Trust
and the level of attendance at the meeting was evidence for the Waterways Minister
of fervent local support for the project. In his talk Jonathan
Shaw defended
the government’s
record on the waterways and assured the meeting of his personal support. He spoke
of the need for co-ordination between organisations including government departments.
He himself chairs a new interdepartmental committee where he will be pressing
for support for inspirational national projects that cross departmental and organisational
boundaries, such as the proposed Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway.
On behalf
of the Trust, the Chair Jane Wolfson, presented a DVD narrated by Kevin Whately.
This showed the project’s enticing vision for the transformation
by water of a landscape blighted by landfill, clay pit and the embers of the
brick industry.
Jane used the example of the Trust, driven by the commitment of volunteers and
working in partnership with many organisations as one to be supported by government.
Every 1% of public funding would pay dividends backed by the strength of volunteers
and project partners and supporters.
The meeting closed with the compliments of
the Minister for the inspiring presentation, endorsed by those present.
*Nirah is an ambitious new project that aims to promote understanding of the
connection between freshwater and life.
At its heart will be the world’s first freshwater sanctuary, a unique
resource for conservation, education and science as much as for entertainment
and inspiration.
