Four boaters and two boating business representatives have been elected to a new advisory council which is being created to oversee and guide the work of the new Canal & River Trust.

The council will eventually be comprised of 35 members and will have the power to appoint or dismiss trustees from the trustee board.

While trustees are responsible for determining policy and strategy, the council will help to shape policy, raise and debate issues and provide guidance.

Votes were cast by 7,598 private boaters and 387 boating businesses; Clive Henderson, Ivor Henry Caplan, Keith Vaughan Welch and Ann Farrell were elected to represent the interests of boaters and Nigel Stevens and Anthony Matts to speak on behalf of boating businesses.

They join 13 chairs of regional waterways partnerships, 12 representatives nominated by organisations such as the Railway and Canal Historic Society, Sustrans and the Ramblers Association, and one member of the Trust’s staff, regeneration manager Chris Bailey.

The first meeting of the council will be held on 28 March in Birmingham. Council members will serve for four years, and all meeting minutes will be available online.