An A.R.M. supporter has sent the letter below to the British Waterways Board. The reply form BWB will be posted up here when the Council of A.R.M. receives notice of it:
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From: [A.R.M. Supporter]
Friday 4 November 2005
Freedom of Information Act Officer
British Waterways Board
Dear [name withheld]
re: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 REQUEST: Bollards on Birmingham Canal Network - Cost and Policy
I write further to telephone calls that I made recently to your HQ enquiring about towpath signage on the Birmingham Canal Network. Please answer the following list of written questions which require straightforward factual information and can easily be answered within the 20-day statutory period:
1. When were the black-and-white bollards giving distances to various points along the Birmingham Canal Network in kilometres and metres erected? (please give the dates of the start and finish of the project)
2. How many bollards are there?
3. Who i.e. which person or persons - took the final decision to sign these bollards in kilometres and metres instead of miles and yards?
4. Why?
5. What evidence was sought about consumer preference before deciding to sign the Birmingham Canal Network in metric?
6. Why do the signs not comply with Schedule 7 of the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 1994, as amended in 2002?
7. What was the total cost (a) of the project as a whole and (b) to the British Waterways Board, including labour and preparation costs including officer time?
8. What other organisation or agencies contributed to the cost?
9. What amounts did they contribute? [please supply any reasonable quantity of documentation to confirm the answers to these questions]
10. Did any European Union institution contribute to the cost?
11. Why does the British Waterways Board pursue inconsistent policies in its signage e.g. your Midlands Office signing the Birmingham Canal Network in metric several years ago and your London Office signing the River Stort Navigation only in miles last year?
12. Who i.e. which persons or which committee(s) in the British Waterways Board determine national policies on signage?
13. What policy documents do you have on towpath signage? - please supply copies of them
14. Are there any plans to convert the Birmingham Canal Network signage to miles and yards instead of kilometres and metres?
15. Which parts of the British canal network are now signed in metric speed limits (like 8 or 11.2 kilometres per hour) and which are still signed in m.p.h. or knots?
16. What plans are there, if any, by the British Waterways Board, to convert the signage for boats on those canals which do not at present have metric speed limits for boats?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
[A.R.M. Supporter]
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