While debate and comment on all things related to the waterways is healthy and to be welcomed, I would like to take this opportunity, through the pages of Boating Business , to explain our policy on marinas.

BW holds a unique remit, combining guardianship of a national treasure with business innovation and urban and rural regeneration. As a public sector organisation our objectives are set by government who require us to take a commercial approach to unlock the full potential of the network as a public asset.

A decade ago, the waterways were dangerous liabilities; only five years ago they were burdened with a maintenance and safety backlog of £253 million.

Following increased levels of government funding, the network today is a valuable public asset with the potential to deliver significant social, environmental and economic benefits to the people of Britain.

The figures speak for themselves: over 200 miles of waterways restored or created; £2 billion of waterway regeneration; 54,000 jobs supported and 20,000 jobs created.

Last winter we invested £9 million in additional improvements for waterway users, and we plan to invest a further £6 million next winter.

Furthermore, we are on track to eliminate the safety arrears in 2004 and committed to removing the maintenance backlog by, at latest, the end of 2012.

Strong partnerships This success has been due also to strong partnerships with the public, private and voluntary sectors, which have produced considerable income for reinvestment in the network.

However, to keep the waterways safe, and to improve and develop the network sustainably, we need to spend about £200 million on it each and every year.

We have been diligent and creative in making full use of Lottery and European funding sources but now face a changing environment with significant restrictions on future public funding sources as government spending is cut back, Lottery funds shrink and European budgets are diverted to new EU countries.

To maintain the necessary level of investment in the waterways, we have to respond to this by becoming more self-reliant and grow our own income to the levels needed for future protection, improvement and growth.

Without this, we will not only see a halt to the programme of improvements that boaters, users and local communities have benefited from, but would not be able to sustain all that has been achieved so far.

Our main sources of commercial revenue currently are from ventures such as telecoms, water sales and property, which are already producing valuable returns for reinvestment in the network.

But this alone is not enough and, combined with cutbacks in public funding, mean that we must continue to look for new opportunities to fund the waterways to secure their long-term future.

We are also restricted by law to business opportunities that are within the vicinity of our waterways.

Four marinas Contrary to the figures quoted, we have acquired only four marinas since January 2000 that we operate - a leasehold interest in Bath Marina, plus Priory, Sawley and White Bear.

We have completed the building of three new marinas:

Packet Boat Marina at Cowley Peachey in Middlesex; King's Marina at Newark; and Apsley Basin in Hertfordshire, and we have expanded the number of berths at Sawley Marina in response to demand there.

By any standards, this is a modest rate of growth, and hardly 'nationalisation by stealth'.

In total we manage less than one quarter (about 6,000) of all berths for individual boats on our waterway network, and that figure includes those on linear moorings.

We have not, nor do we wish to have, a monopoly over moorings provision.

Furthermore, we want private sector marinas to succeed. Thriving businesses associated with the waterways help to bring economic renewal, underpin the success of the waterways to deliver widespread benefits to society, and provide the services and facilities that boaters and other waterway users want.

Two years ago, private marina operators told us that BW's method of setting mooring fees under the moorings matrix, with no index to market rates, was detrimental to their ability to operate profitably.

In response, we reviewed the basis of our charges and introduced market pricing. A proportion of BW's moorings prices rose as a consequence which was not always welcomed by boaters.

However, we believe the change was necessary to ensure that "a level playing field" exists and to maintain a healthy private sector in the marinas business.

Currently we are working with a range of prospective private sector marina developers at around 20 sites on the network.

We also helped Tim Coghlan in his application for a new marina near Napton, and we worked with him to develop the boat show at his Braunston Marina, which has since moved to the larger site at Crick.

In addition we work very hard to influence national, regional and local planning to accept new marinas.

I want to make it very clear that BW operates its marinas as normal commercial businesses, demanding commercial rates of return from them for our investment. This was confirmed by our external auditors in our 2001 audit.

We will also continue to do all we can in the future to demonstrate that we are committed to operating these businesses in a fair and open way.

It is simply not true that BW is seeking to repossess marinas at the end of leases or to force people out.

If existing operators elect to sell their businesses, British Waterways may choose to assess its potential for purchase and will operate like any other potential purchaser in an open market.

The future of the inland waterway network is at the very heart of our decisions and policies and we are determined to see the waterways protected, enhanced and thriving so that they deliver their full potential to benefit millions of lives.

For more on this subject, see the letters on page 29.

You can express your view by email: editor@boatingbusiness.co.uk