Our Better Boating Plan 2026-2028

Building on our 2025 Better Boating Plan, we’ve listened to your feedback and set out an ambitious three year programme to continue improving the experience for boaters.

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Across 2,000 miles of canals and rivers, the Better Boating Plan is delivering real progress. We're focused on improving navigation, reliability, and the everyday experience of boating. Boaters and boating will always be a priority. A new boating committee at board level is now in place, guiding strategy and driving improvements that support more reliable navigation.
The Better Boating Plan has been developed in response to your feedback and through its delivery, we aim to increase boater satisfaction through direct action. We know it's important to get the basics right. We're focused on repairing paddles promptly with 88% of paddle faults fixed within four weeks in 2025. We've completed an increased planned preventative maintenance program on locks and moving bridges. We've committed to an ambitious grass cutting program, ensuring grass is cut regularly at locks and mooring sites and that more towpath grass is cut to the water's edge.
Delivering an enhanced tree management program, we've cleared 1,052 trees in 2025 and continue to remove trees blocking navigation as quickly as possible. This wouldn't have been achieved without the support of our Trust colleagues and our brilliant volunteers. We're continuing to improve the standard and reliability of boater facilities, repairing water points and pump outs swiftly and rolling out new, simpler recycling legislation at all waste sites across the network.
We know communication is key. We've made enhancements to our stoppage notification system and we are continually improving the information provided to make it clear and timely. We're also developing a boater app, which will allow you to report faults whilst on the move and we're reviewing all of our boating communication touch points to improve content and make it more relevant to boaters needs, including boaters' updates and our dedicated boating social media channels, which have seen great growth and engagement across 2025.
Together we're delivering improvements that matter and as we move into 2026, we will continue to focus and improve on the things that you've told us matter the most. With an updated three-year plan from 2026, building on the essentials you need to boat with confidence. This is the Better Boating Plan in action.

We know the basics of navigation are important. With our focus on paddle repairs and keeping our locks and moving bridges better maintained, boating should feel easier for you.

We’ll continue to repair any new paddle faults as soon as possible (but no longer than four weeks).
We'll continue to target more resources on planned preventative maintenance (PPM), prioritising re-greasing and clearing vegetation at locks and swing/lift bridges in the spring and early summer ahead of the busier boating months.
We'll continue to spend more delivering improved grass-cutting in 2026 and beyond, from our programme success and challenges in 2025. We will continue to ensure grass is cut at locks and mooring sites and cut more towpaths to the water's edge.
With our tree management standards updated and surveys increased, we will complete more winter tree works and assign higher priority to the clearance of fallen trees blocking navigation and towpaths.
New for 2026, we will start a dedicated and transparent programme of work to remove sunken boats across the network.

Stay up to date with our progress

Find out what we’re doing to ensure our historic infrastructure is maintained for navigation

Journey essentials

We’re making sure your journey essentials are reliable, accessible and kept to a high standard. We’re standardising essential facilities, combatting overflowing bins and fly-tipping and improving mooring accessibility across the network, helping you cruise with confidence.

If our water, Elsan or pump-out boater facilities break, we'll fix them promptly.
We will invest £4.5m over the next five years to standardise water points, Elsan and pump-out, replacing obsolete parts and standardising fixtures and fittings for swifter repair when things go wrong and for ease of use.
With Simpler Recycling legislation rolled-out across our network, we'll focus on the review of refuse collections at our busiest sites to reduce overflowing bins and take measures to help tackle fly-tipping.
We’ll review our current management standards for short-stay visitor moorings and trial different ways of working to ensure short stay visitor moorings are used fairly across the network, so that you can cruise with confidence.

Stay up to date with our progress

Find out what we’re doing to keep you journey essentials reliable and accessible

Communication & customer service

Being able to find up-to-date information is important, so we'll continue to improve the communication and customer service you receive and provide more opportunities to meet and talk with us. We’re still working on a Boater App that will make it easier for you to access our online services and hope to launch the first version by the end of 2026.