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.
A boater recently made this Freedom of Information request to BW and got the answer below which suggests that most of the pending legal action against boaters is about licence evasion rather than overstaying, and that BW may be carrying out unlawful enforcement action against 8 boats without home moorings.
The local mooring strategy steering group met again on 8 November. We are able to provide notes of most of the discussion, taken by a volunteer, which are at the end of this article.
The most significant point that emerged at this meeting was the fact that there is a strong consensus among the different interest groups – liveaboard and other boaters, the hire boat industry, local authorities and parish councillors – around the table on the following points:
Photo: Bob Naylor KAcanalTIMES.co.uk
The Leader of BANES Council listens to the boaters Photo: Bob Naylor KAcanalTIMES.co.uk
The beautiful sundial constructed to commemorate the K&A 200th anniversary was unveiled on 30 October at lock 10 on the Widcombe flight in Bath. Boaters attended the ceremony in order to hand out leaflets informing the public that BW’s unlawful new policies will make liveaboard boaters homeless.
Following a Freedom of Information request we have obtained the deployment plan written by BW giving details of how the Canal Monitoring and Enforcement Officer post proposed to BANES by Councillor Ian Dewey of Bathampton would work. Written in March, this document shows that BANES was planning to patrol the canal 5 days a week between Bathampton and Bradford on Avon, and assumed it would gain Wiltshire’s support for patrolling the area within its boundary. However, Ken Oliver, Wiltshire Council’s Canal Officer stated at a meeting of the local mooring strategy steering group on 26 August that Wiltshire was not prepared to participate in this scheme.
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.
We have had another message from boaters in London, to let us know that apparently around six policemen worked their way down the River Lea from Tottenham checking licences and making notes on Saturday 11 September. They asked at least one person who had a licenced boat for their personal details, which they made a note of. This person did supply this information (there is no legal requirement for one to supply the police with personal information unless arrested). A London boater said “I had what I would describe as a fairly unpleasant encounter with two of these policemen .