IWAC : Inland Waterways Advisory Council

Our Members

IWAC members at Lancaster Canal viaduct

John Edmonds - Chair
John Edmonds is a Board member of the Environment Agency; non-executive Director of the Carbon Trust and of Salix Finance; visiting Research Fellow of King's College, London; an Honorary Fellow of the Society for the Environment; and Vice President of the National Society for Clean Air.

He is a former General Secretary of GMB Trade Union; President of TUC; Co-Chair of the Trade Union Advisory Committee on Sustainable Development; Member of Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution; Member of Executive of European Trade Union Confederation; Forestry Commissioner; President of Unity Trust Bank; and Visiting Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford.
Fiona Willis - Vice-Chair
Marine Biologist. Ex-Vice Chair of the Scottish Council of Salmon and Trout Association.

Cathy Cooke
Area Manager for Derbyshire Countryside Service, Derbyshire County Council: Chair of the Technical Officers Group and an active Member of the Chesterfield Canal Partnership. Former navigation manager of the Chesterfield Canal.
David Dare
Director Cruise England Ltd and Heyford Wharf Ltd. Member BSS Advisory Committee.
Neil Edwards
Chief Executive of The Inland Waterways Association. Director and company secretary of Essex Waterways Ltd (which manages the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation) and Inland Waterways Enterprises Ltd (IWA’s main trading subsidiary company). Formerly a director of Waterway Recovery Group since 1986. Boated on the majority of navigable waterways in the UK and Ireland, and worked on many waterway restoration projects. Formerly an elected member of the Council and trustee of The National Trust for 15 years. Active leader of voluntary work parties for The National Trust (having worked on over 100 properties since 1977) and The National Trust for Scotland.
Martyn Heighton
Currently Director of National Historic Ships and has been involved in the regeneration of Bristol Docks and the Albert Dock in Liverpool.
Dr Christine Johnstone
Principal Cultural Officer [History] and senior museum professional at Wakefield Council. Fellow of the Museums Association, Chair of the Wakefield Carers Association, Chair of the Yorkshire Medium Museum Services network. Former President of the Federation of Yorkshire and Humberside Museums and Galleries.

Duncan McGhie
Has worked for Coopers and Lybrand/PricewaterhouseCoopers as Partner in Charge of Scottish Management Consultancy Practice; WM Collins PLC as Group Finance Director; British Steel Corporation as Scottish Division Board Member Finance.

Other appointments held include Chairman of Scottish Opera; Chairman of Scottish Ballet; Member of the Scottish Executive's Leadership Advisory Panel tasked with reviewing Scottish Local Government's Self Review of its political Management Structures; Vice Convener, The Israeli Centres Committee of the Church of Scotland's Board of World Mission; Acting Chief Executive, North British Steel Foundry; Director, Pan Books; and Chief Executive, Nationwide Book Service.
Wyndham Mitchell
Chartered Town Planner, Chartered Building Engineer. Currently Planning Services Manager at Newport City Council, managing Planning Policy, Conservation, Development Control and Building Control services. Member of the Executive of the Royal Town Planning Institute, Cymru and a Planning Advisor to the Welsh Local Government Association. Member of the Wales Planning Forum. Member of the Planning Portal Editorial Board. Involved in the regeneration of the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal.
John Pomfret
Technical Director, Planning and Environmental Appraisal, Entec UK Ltd; Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management and the Institute of Biology. Member of Council of the Inland Waterways Association and Chairman of the IWA Waterways Freight Group. Director of Essex Waterways Ltd. Former Head Biologist at Northumbrian Water.
Derek Scott
Currently Managing Consultant at Europe Economics and visiting professor at Cass Business School. He was Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, from May 1997 to December 2003, which was followed by two years as economic adviser to the international chairman of KPMG. Between 1984 and 1997 he was Director of European Economics at Barclays de Zoete Wedd (BZW) and has experience in the oil industry as chief economist at Shell UK and International Policy Adviser at Shell International.
Bob Watson MBE
Director of the charity ‘Sobriety’ Project Ltd. Former Chair of National Community Boats Association; Chair of Waterways Environmental Body; Board Member of Goole Development Trust; Secretary of the charity The Number 5 Compartment Boat Hoist Company Limited.
Michael Whitbread
Economist and Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute (Retired). Has worked in Government Departments, at The World Bank in Washington DC, policy research and as a consultant with Ove Arup and Partners and GHK International. Recently returned to the UK after living and working for some years in South and East Asia. Main interests are environmental economics and policy.
Alison Woodhams
Director of Finance at University College London. Previously Chief Operating Officer at BBC World Service following other roles at the BBC including Group Financial Controller; Head of Internal Audit and Head of Finance, English Regions. Before that worked for AT&T and Cadbury Typhoo. Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. School Governor and former PCC Treasurer. Regular user of inland waterways for holidays afloat and walking and member of narrow boat shared-ownership group.

Council Staff

John Manning
IWAC's Policy Adviser, providing professional input and advice to enable IWAC to maximise the quality and quantity of its output. He has previously worked for the Environment Agency and its predecessor local authority organisations as a waste regulation officer and a water quality officer. In 2000 he became a policy adviser for government within Defra and then the Department for Communities and Local Government. He worked in the area of diffuse water pollution, assisting in the implementation of the Nitrates Directive in England, as well as introducing secondary legislation to help fire and rescue services prepare for disruptive terrorist incidents.
Diana Wray
Office Manager, Website Administrator

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