Documents obtained by a Freedom of Information request to BaNES Council, and the response to a recent complaint about proposals to restrict mooring at Mead Lane, Saltford, show that BaNES and CRT are planning a mooring strategy for the River Avon and the K&A Canal between Hanham and Limpley Stoke.
The K&A boaters action group has obtained an assurance from CRT that it will not take enforcement action against boaters who are trapped between Lock 11 in Bath and Seend (Semington for 70′ boats) because of the stoppage at Seend Wharf Bridge. CRT has placed certain conditions on this assurance. The stoppage runs until 11th March. This is the letter from CRT Head of Boating Mike Grimes:
In a vindictive move reminiscent of the totalitarian regimes of Stalin and Pinochet, CRT is threatening to seize and destroy the belongings of boaters including bicycles and childrens’ toys if they have been left, however temporarily, on the towpath. This draconian act is typical of CRT’s harassment of liveaboard boaters, and it shows that CRT will go to any lengths to pressurise liveaboards without home moorings to leave the waterways.
Following a Freedom of Information request by Allan Richards, CRT has published all the enforcement letters referred to in the continuous cruising enforcement flow chart that Mr Richards obtained in June shortly before its publication by CRT. We provide some explanation of the letters here.