Punt boss says lock failures could be 'catastrophic'

Cambridge is famed for its punting, where boats can be hired for trips along the backs of the university colleges

Any failure of the locks on a city's river would be "catastrophic" for its famed punting industry, a businessman says.

Some locks on the River Cam in and around Cambridge have been closed by the body in charge of keeping navigation open, citing a need for maintenance work.

The Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, Conservative Paul Bristow, recently proposed paying £500,000 towards stabilising the Baits Bite Lock at Milton.

Rod Ingersent, of Scudamore's Punting Company, said: "In business terms [a lock failure] would be catastrophic for anybody involved in punting and all the people employed on the river."

The Baits Bite lock at Milton on the River Cam has been closed since May 2024

The Conservators of the River Cam have a statutory responsibility to keep the waterway open to river traffic between Bottisham Lock, at Waterbeach, and the Mill Pond in Cambridge city centre.

Earlier this year, the Conservators issued an "organisation in crisis" update, setting out problems it faced getting the funding needed to maintain ageing infrastructure.

'Little trickle'

Mr Ingersent, who has been involved in punting on the river since 1991, said that if there was a "sudden catastrophic failure" of the locks, then they would not be able to keep the river at the level it currently is.

If the locks failed, meaning the waters were not maintained at their artificially high level, "the natural level would be a little trickle, or a little creek," he said.

"In time things slowly wither or age, and that can be all manner of structures; it also applies to railings near to the river and the upkeep of certain areas around the river," he added.

"From a purely selfish perspective, punting would not happen."

Paul Bristow said a failure at Baits Bite Lock would harm Cambridge as a place to visit

Baits Bite Lock has been closed since May 2024 after a survey revealed structural issues and it has been shut ever since.

The mayor's proposal, if approved at a Combined Authority meeting on 1 September, would mean the money would contribute towards stabilisation costs but a longer term solution, previously reported as costing up to £25m, would still need to be found.

Mr Ingersent said he did not believe one group or organisation would be able to fund and take on the project to complete the repairs needed.

However, he said he had written to Daniel Zeichner, Labour MP for Cambridge, to ask the question of the possibility of a coalition of groups working together to "work out the financial and practical implications" of what needs to be done.