Please sign the petition to keep The Bike Boat trading on the Kennet & Avon Canal – see https://www.change.org/p/get-the-canal-river-trust-to-let-the-bike-boat-to-continue-trading-on-the-kennet-avon
For the last two and half years Ollie has operated The Bike Boat, a cycle repair business run from a narrowboat on the Kennet and Avon Canal. To continue doing so he needs CRT to change its recent decision to restrict his boat licence renewal to 6 months.
CRT has informed Ollie that he does not meet CRT’s licensing requirements. Paraphrasing CRT’s reasoning, “mileage is fine, but spend too much time in towns” – this is despite spending one third of his current licence period cruising in the countryside.
To trade effectively, The Bike Boat needs to spend most of its time in towns, particularly the only big one on the Kennet and Avon Canal, Bath. Therefore he can’t both meet CRT’s unlawful requirements and make a living. When The Bike Boat has traded in rural areas, on most days Ollie takes no proceeds at all.
If The Bike Boat was to continue its current trading and movement pattern and not meet CRT’s unlawful cruising requirements, in time, it would ultimately mean the threat of Ollie losing his boat which is also his home. Ollie is working on other options to continue bike repairs elsewhere, but unless CRT changes its position, The Bike Boat will be forced close. Please help Ollie to put pressure on CRT to drop its unlawful enforcement against his home and livelihood.
Tags: 6 month licence, continuous cruising, CRT continuous cruising policy, enforcement, liveaboards, The Bike Boat, trading boats