61. 25-06-21 June FM&GP Meeting

Today I chaired the last Finance, Membership and General Purpose Committee of my term as Master. The new Master and Wardens Elect were also in attendance. We discuss articles for the forthcoming July edition of the Conservator and our Clerk gave us update on the Company finances which are in a healthy position from last year despite the pandemic. We also discussed future events and the need to bring members together again in the City as the social restrictions are eased.

Some time was also spent discussing the hiring of a new Beadle. Our current Beadle Tim Gutteridge has resigned as he has been offered a full-time position as a detective in the Metropolitan Police Force. We all wish Tim the very best for the future and thank him for the time he served us as Beadle.

Finally, I gave the committee an update on the Governance Review and Livery Climate Action Group. Work on the Governance Review is continuing well. It is planned to produce the Governance Review Paper for the Sept. FM&GP and Court. The draft Paper will be first shown to the Master/ Wardens Elect and the Clerk during July for comments. The main points arising from the consultation are: no changes to the Ordinances, modest changes to the Standing Orders, corrections to the Company Manual and Handbook to align with the governing documents, improving member orientation, a new task for the FM&GP in respect of external affairs, and a statement of Company values and code of conduct.

The Livery Climate Action Group, led by Alderman Alison Gowman, consists of around 50 volunteers from various livery companies, including 8 Water Conservators, in 4 working groups (Investment, Property, Education and General) to progress various aspects of the City’s Climate Action Strategy. The group is working on a charter that can be used by each livery company to produce their own climate action plan. We are currently advising other companies on water efficiency, wastewater and waste management/recycling, and will be looking to produce a draft action plan for the Water Conservators to put before the September Court meeting.

60. 16-06-21 Election Court Reconvened

As the Master Elect unfortunately stood down for next year, the Election Court was reconvened to elect a new Master. Past Master Peter Hall was duly elected on the basis of votes cast to be installed on 9^th July 2021 at the Installation Court. I would like to thank the candidates who put themselves forward at short notice and being prepared to give up their free time to take on the demanding role of Master to ensure this Company continues to prosper. My thanks also go to Past Master Roger North and our Clerk, Ralph Riley for putting together the election process in unique circumstances, and to Deputy Master Mark Lane for professionally conducting a “Meet The Candidate” session as part of the election. I thought these sessions were extremely useful in highlighting a number of very positive ideas for the future of the Company, and my thanks go to everyone who participated.

Peter Hall was previously Master in 2015/16 and has an extensive knowledge of the water sector. After spending 10 years with the National Water Council, Peter was appointed assistant secretary at the newly formed Water Authorities Association, where he dealt with finance and general policy matters, including industry-side logistics for water authority privatisation. Appointed deputy director at the Water Services Association in 1989, Peter spent several years coordinating views on policy issues.

My congratulations go to Peter on his election and as we hopefully come out of the pandemic and return to normal business we are all looking forward to working with Peter to create a very successful future for the Company.

59. 15-06-21 The Role of the Community in Protecting and Improving River Environments

It was a great pleasure to host this month’s Water Conservators webinar titled “The Role of the Community in Protecting and Improving River Environments” presented by Debbie Leach, Chief Executive of Thames21. Debbie began her talk by explaining how for centuries there has been a close connection between the River Thames and the communities it served. Right back to Roman times the river has been important for trade and transport, with London established a key trading port. Then with population growth the river became polluted in the 19^th century until the Bazalgette sewer system cleaned up the river. This has been followed up in the 21^st century by the Thames Tideway tunnel, preventing sewage overflows into the river.

However, in recent times a “disconnect” has grown between people and the river with many rivers becoming culverted and no longer looking like a natural river. So a key challenge for Thames21 is how do we engage people better with the issues we face, including climate change. Thames21 are supporting people to reconnect and help rescue our rivers via key projects such as Thames River Watch, a citizen science project in which volunteers collect data to help us better understand the health of the river.

Thames21 also has an established training programme and supports river action groups. The charity has also been involved in creating and protecting new wetland areas and has worked in catchment partnerships. Debbie explained how there is still so much to do to rescue our blue-green spaces, rebuild communities after the pandemic, tackle plastic pollution, and combat water scarcity. She urged everyone to help with funding to build Thames21’s core capacity, help to simply spread word, and introduce volunteers with technical expertise to support a growing organisation.

Debbie’s presentation was then followed by an excellent question and answer session which included how Thames21 and the Water Conservation Trust could work together to increase environmental learning about rivers in our schools, and possibilities to increase the links between City businesses and the River Thames, so that businesses understand more about the environmental challenges. On behalf of everyone I would again like to thank Debbie for an excellent presentation, and also give my thanks to everyone who attended making the webinar a great success.