The original reason this website was set up, the campaign by British Waterways to remove all liveaboard boaters from the Kennet and Avon who have no permanent mooring. The so-called continuous cruisers.
BW directors and members of the public attending the BW AGM on 13 October were greeted by a group of BW employees condemning the “already overpaid directors” £15,000 inflation-busting bonuses as a disgrace while employees pay was not increased. The staff handed out a leaflet asking “are these the people you want to run your charity in future?”.
Graphic designer Simon Greer's take on the new logo
The tenth meeting of the Local Mooring Strategy Steering Group took place on 11th October at Wiltshire Council offices, Chippenham. Brian has taken over from Kev as one of the representatives of unaffiliated boaters. The agenda was as follows: finalising maps; enforcement and defining neighbourhoods. K and A Manager Mark Stephens chaired the meeting in the absence of Project Manager Damian Kemp. Sally Ash, the original BW Chair, had already informed the group that her presence appeared to be “not conducive to progress”.
BW claimed in its reply to the River Lea mooring plan consultation responses that it had case law to support its statement that its draconian proposals for mooring restrictions did not threaten boat dwellers’ human rights. Boater Simon Robbins made a Freedom of Information request to BW in September asking for copies of the relevant judgements. BW refused Simon’s FOI request. You can read the correspondence here.
BW have recently amended their Guidance for Continuous Cruisers
and published here
BW’s covering statement in the press release;
“The existing 2004 ‘mooring guidance for continuous cruisers’ has been refined to be more easily understood and to reflect the Judgment in the case of British Waterways v Davies, in which the Court found that moving up and down within a 10 mile stretch of the Kennet & Avon Canal with no home mooring did not amount to bona fide navigation.”
Seems to be a malicious, though not unexpected, rewriting of Judge O’Malley’s judgement which specifically states that this is not the case.
Kennet and Avon boaters have published an interim report on the moorings impact assessment survey that was carried out in May and June. The final report will be ready by November. The interim results show that there will be a significant adverse impact on boat dwellers without moorings if the Local Mooring Strategy proposals go ahead.
You can read or download the report in PDF format here K&A boaters survey interim report
A boat without a home mooring may stay for longer than 14 continuous days in one place if it is reasonable in the circumstances, according to the 1995 British Waterways Act. It is advisable to inform BW if you need to do this, and keep them updated of your circumstances and when you expect to leave.