You are not alone. We intend to publish any letters that you write to BW, to give you examples of what other people write, and to gauge the feelings abroad.
Please send us any letters you write to BW so that we can publish them. We will remove any personal details before publication.
Following formal complaints that the time was too short for responding to BW’s consultation on 2011 licence fees and changes to licence terms and conditions, BW has extended the deadline to 31 January. According to its own code of practice on consultations, BW should have allowed 12 weeks for responses, not 6 weeks.
This consultation is important because yet again, BW is proposing more unlawful changes to the licence terms and conditions.
A boater recently appealed against BW’s refusal to provide information and minutes of meetings which had taken place with the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust (see previous article on this web site “I don’t believe it” http://kanda.boatingcommunity.org.uk/wordpress/?p=831 ). This is the apology she received from Caroline Killeavy, BW’s Head of Customer Relations:
“Thank you for your email of 7th June requesting a formal review of the information we previously supplied to you. Your second email has been very helpful to us in that it now specifically identifies the meetings which you are interested in.
Chris Grey and I have reviewed the initial response we sent to you and we both agree that in the light of your most recent detailed request the original information supplied to you was insufficient. Please accept my apologies for this. I can reassure you that this was not intentional.
Two years ago, BW proposed in a previous consultation to increase the licence fee for boats without a home mooring by £150. This plan provoked enormous opposition from boaters. One of the responses to that 2008 consultation summed up how many of us feel. We decided it was time to share this inspiring and angry letter with other boaters. Here is an edited version.
18/10/2008
Dear Mr Salem
I have read British Waterways’ response to the BWAF report on boat licence fees and this is my response to that. I live on a boat and have done so for 18 years, I am an individual and speak for myself and do not subvert that right to user groups, whoever they might be.
The points I take exception to, which I believe are the main purpose of the exercise, are those relating to the so-called ‘continuous cruiser’ which is the absurd name and concept applied to people who live on boats who neither need nor want a permanent mooring.
A boater made this Freedom of Information request to BW recently:
“Further to the attached Press Release from British Waterways dated 25 May 2010, please could you send me the minutes of the discussions regarding setting up a Waterways Partnership Board for the Kennet and Avon canal, referred to in the press release as:
‘discussions, which also included representatives from the Inland Waterways Association (IWA), the KACT and BW will work together in setting up a Waterways Partnership Board for the canal. ‘
Please could you also send me a copy of the Waterways Partnership agreement between British Waterways, the Kennet and Avon canal trust, and any other parties which are formal partners in this agreement.”
This is what BW’s 25 May 2010 Press Release said:
The email correspondence below from Sarina Young of BW completely contradicts what Damian Kemp told the Kennet and Avon canal User Group meeting on 29 April. According to Damian, the consultation responses have been analysed. According to Sarina on 7 May, they have not been analysed. Draw your own conclusions!
One of our correspondents recently asked Robin for British Waterways reaction to the recent DCLG ruling that ‘bargee travellers’ were bona-fide (couldn’t resist that one) travellers as far as Section 225 of the Housing Act 2004 is concerned.
Our very own Final Solution replied in her usual compassionate vein and, displaying a political skill we rarely see in Ms Ash, completely avoids answering the question.
And we just love her attempt to define ‘traveller’. I think we’re stepping into deep water there, dear.
We thought it would be useful to have the whole of this sorry tale, told in installments on this site in one place.
if you want to know what causes congestion along the Kennet and Avon, read on, if you want to know how dismissively the chief executive treats genuine concerns from a large portion of his customers, read on….
Dear Robin,
thank you so much for your illuminating reply.
I think that the fact that BW have presided over a more than 100% increase in hire-boating between Devizes and Bath in 6 years goes a long way to explaining congestion at locks, and other perceived problems on our otherwise tranquil and beautiful canal.
Apologies for the delay in replying to your previous e-mail.
The 40% statistic is a national one. The K&A has gone against this trend and you are correct that there has been a significant increase here – a doubling in fact in the number of hireboats based between the bottom of Devizes locks and Bristol from 36 in 2003 to 78 this year.