The next meeting of the K and A boaters’ action group will be on Monday 12th November at 7.30pm in a pub in Devizes. If you have time to do some work over the next few months (or longer) defending our rights as liveaboards; doing constructive things like towpath tidies; engaging in dialogue with CRT etc, then we would like you to be in the group.
There will be a towpath tidy this Saturday 10th November, organised by boaters. Please meet at Dundas wharf at 9.45am for a 10am start. The Kennet and Avon Canal Trust volunteers are also helping with this, and we will be using their work boat Vale of Pewsey to move the rubbish. Bring warm clothes, and work gloves if you have them – we have some gloves to lend as well. Rubbish bags will be provided.
There’s a pile of wood left over from a house renovation on the towpath near Limpley Stoke. It needs to be cleared so please take it for firewood! It’s in the wooded stretch between Limpley Stoke bridge and Sunset Strip.
Between September and December this year a team of trained Gypsy, Traveller, Boater and Showmen interviewers will be carrying out a study of the health needs of members of their communities living in the Bath and North East Somerset and North Somerset areas. The survey aims to interview 50 Boaters. If you are interested in taking part please contact one of the people listed at the end of this article. Three Boaters will be trained to act as interviewers.
If you live on your boat, and your income and savings are low, you are eligible for Housing Benefit. You can claim Housing Benefit to cover the cost of the boat licence, boat safety certificate and third-party insurance. If you have a mooring and/or if you rent your boat, Housing Benefit will cover the cost of the mooring fee and rent up to certain limits.
This week Wiltshire Council tried to close the Housing Benefit claims of a number of boaters who live on non-residential moorings. The Council officers in question were unaware of case law from 2006 that confirms that Housing Benefit is payable even when the claimant’s occupation of their home is unlawful or does not have planning permission for residential use.
