The first two meetings of the Local Mooring Strategy Steering Group took place on 26 August and 21 September. Boaters attended both meetings, and there were also representatives from NABO and the RBOA. Much of the discussion in both meetings focused on whether BW had the legal powers to impose the restrictions they wish, which they have set out in their new policies (see our previous articles on BW’s new policies http://kanda.boatingcommunity.org.uk/wordpress/?p=1014 and http://kanda.boatingcommunity.org.uk/wordpress/?p=1001 ). The Local Mooring Strategy has a very limited remit, basically being about where geographically to impose the new restrictions between Bath and Foxhangers. According to BW, the new policies are not up for discussion. Despite attempts to convince BW that the restrictions they want to impose will be unenforceable if they are not legal, the Chair, BW’s Sally Ash, said at the last meeting that she was not concerned with the law.
CRT
Local Mooring Strategy destroys trees
Tuesday, September 28th, 2010Boaters respond to BW’s new policies
Wednesday, September 8th, 2010We have just sent BW the message below in response to its draft policies for mooring along the banks of BW waterways.
General Comments
The rationale behind the policies on short-term towpath mooring is to force boaters without moorings to pay more. BW makes this clear in its response to proposals by BWAF on revenue generation dated August 2010. In response to BWAF’s proposal for “Continuous Cruisers to pay more”, BW replied “The new approach to local mooring strategies is the beginning of this process. It is a top priority to develop this and the involvement of user groups including those represented on BWAF is vital”.
The fact that most of the proposed changes are not included in the local mooring strategy but in the national policies means that the local strategy will not be local but imposed from above. If implemented, the new policies affecting liveaboard boaters without moorings will result in large-scale homelessness.
BW say policy changes won’t be up for discussion in Local Mooring Strategy
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010The first meeting of the Local Mooring Strategy steering group for the western Kennet and Avon took place on 26 August in County Hall, Trowbridge. As you will see from the documents below which BW circulated before the meeting, most of the changes that BW want to make, that will have a big impact on our lives, will not be up for discussion in the local mooring strategy.
Apply NOW to be a board member on the Kennet and Avon Canal Partnership!
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010The Kennet and Avon Canal Trust and British Waterways are asking local people and organisations to nominate interested individuals to become volunteer board members on the new Waterway Partnership Board. The deadline is very soon. It’s really important that as many boaters as possible volunteer to be on the board of the partnership so that we are properly represented. Contact administrator@katrust.org.uk by Friday 27 August 2010 to nominate yourself.
Local Mooring Strategy Inquiry Panel to hold first meeting
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010A boater has been asked to represent unaffiliated boaters (ie those not represented by NABO or RBOA) on the Local Mooring Strategy Inquiry Panel. In February BW agreed to include them on the panel, then later went back on its commitment, but following pressure from NABO and RBOA as well as from other boaters, BW has now included one unaffiliated boater. The first meeting is on 26 August at County Hall, Trowbridge, at 10am.
BANES Council to employ boat checker
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010From correspondence below, obtained via Freedom of Information from Bath and NE Somerset Council, it looks like BW and BANES are paying jointly for an extra boat checker. This appears to be instigated partly by Councillor Ian Dewey of Bathampton, who has been a key mover in efforts to move liveaboard boaters off the canal.
The “concerns” expressed take no account of the fact that the Mooring Guidance for Continuous Cruisers is not a legal requirement and clearly states that it does not have the force of law. Unlike the 14-day rule in Section 17 of the British Waterways Act, BW does not have the legal power to enforce it. In one of the emails, David Lawrence, BANES Deputy Director for Heritage Services, says he does not think there is a problem. It is not clear whether this extra staff appointment is going ahead permanently, as the original contract seems to have been for this summer. However, we do wonder whether this is a good use of a cash-strapped Local Authority’s money, as responsibility for enforcement on the canal lies with BW.
The information in these emails seems to imply that BW is bypassing whatever the local mooring strategy would decide – this has gone ahead before the local mooring strategy inquiry panel has even started meeting.
The emails are here. Banes enforcement 1 Banes enforcement 2 Banes enforcement 3 Banes enforcement 4 Banes enforcement 5 Banes enforcement 6 Banes enforcement 7 Banes enforcement 8
Mark Stephens’ emails
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010Following our incomplete story, BW and the K and A Trust: After the apology, the answers! (July 2010 posts), we have received the emails between Mark Stephens, K&A Manager, and the Trust, requested using Freedom of Information. These emails include the draft minutes of the User Group meeting on 29 April. They also show Mark talking about the boaters’ towpath tidy, saying how pleased he is that people are volunteering without being asked, but also saying that some control is needed. Mark, if you’re reading this, one of the people organising the clean-up tried many times to talk to you on the phone to ask permission to do this, with no joy. So we went ahead and tidied the towpath anyway.
The emails also show that the main focus of the Trust’s partnership with BW is the use of volunteers to carry out maintenance of the canal. A good reason to get involved methinks. It doesn’t look like the Trust will be involved with enforcement, but we still don’t know what the partnership agreement actually says. At the last request for it, we were told it hadn’t yet been drawn up.
The emails are here. Mark Stephens emails 1 Mark Stephens emails 2 Mark Stephens emails 3 Mark Stephens emails 4 Mark Stephens emails 5 Mark Stephens emails 6
Payments from Local Councils to BW amount to £550,000
Thursday, July 15th, 2010At one of the meetings between boaters, BW and Wiltshire Council Ken Oliver, Wiltshire Council’s Canal Officer, made a comment about the amount of money that Councils pay each year to BW. Wanting to know the amounts and what this money was for I made FOI requests to BW, Wiltshire Council, B&NES and West Berkshire Council, asking for amounts that they had paid to or received from BW in the last five years.
As usual, the figures received from the Councils and from BW don’t match, but judging from the recent totally inaccurate FOI replies from BW I feel it is more likely the Council ones are accurate. The amounts in total come to a massive £552,955 paid to BW over a five-year period.
Kennet and Avon Canal Trust AGM decisions made by only 50 members
Thursday, July 15th, 2010A boater recently obtained the last 3 years AGM minutes from the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust, which is going to be working with BW in the management of the canal in a pilot project to try out BW’s proposed new charitable status. An average of only about 50 people voted and attended so if a lot of boaters joined up we could affect the Trust’s decisions. See our previous articles about the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust for the full details.
The minutes can be found here k & a trust minutes 2007-2009
BW pledge to eliminate overstaying in two years
Thursday, July 15th, 2010An article in the August 2010 Waterways World quotes one of the BW Directors, Simon Salem, who said that in the past two years BW has more or less eliminated licence evasion and the task for BW enforcement now is to eliminate overstaying “within two years”.
Unfortunately Simon’s statement is contradicted by Sally “Foot in Mouth” Ash, who works in his department at BW HQ.