> Sent: Friday, May 23, 2008 10:57 PM
> Subject: LOCKKEEPERS COTTAGES - FROM BBC NEWS CHANNEL
>
>
>> Meeting in keeper's cottages row
>> A Reading MP will meet with lock keepers and the Environment
>> Agency over a plan to sell a third of keeper's cottages along the
>> River Thames.
>>
>> The Environment Agency said it would sell 10 of its 57
>> properties along the river as part of efficiency savings.
>>
>> Martin Salter MP says the decision was a fundamental mistake. He
>> will
>> meet all sides in June to ask the Environment Agency to reverse its
>> decision.
>>
>> The agency said it needed to make sure public money was being
>> spent wisely.
>>
>> "I believe that the Environment Agency is making a fundamental
>> mistake in flogging off 10 lock houses and decommissioning another
>> 12," Mr Salter said.
>>
>> "These are public assets and should remain in the public sector.
>>
>> "The existence of an on-site presence at weirs and locks
>> prevents vandalism and enhances safety."
>>
>> A further 12 properties will be rented out privately as they are
>> no longer needed for "operational reasons", under the plans.
>>
>> The agency said lock keepers will remain in work. But some
>> people have expressed concerns that a presence will not be maintained
>> 24 hours a day.
>>
>> Of those lock house that will be sold, one is in Oxford, two in
>> Maidenhead, five in Surrey and two in Buckinghamshire.
>>
>> The meeting will take place in the House of Commons on 2 June.
>>