Following a Freedom of Information request, CRT has published a list and an interactive map of kilometre lengths for all of the waterways that it owns or manages. This is important information because boaters can use it to avoid enforcement action. From 1st May 2015, CRT’s new enforcement procedure for boats without home moorings has included the assumption that if a boat is spotted in the same kilometre length on two dates more than 14 days apart, it is overstaying if it has not been sighted anywhere else in the mean time. Knowing where the kilometre length boundaries are means that boaters can choose to avoid this happening.
It also helps boaters to understand any boat sighting information that they obtain from CRT. The codes for the K&A are KA-001 to KA-139. Each structure is also coded, for example County Lock in Reading is KA-001-010. Something we have noted about the codes for the K&A is that the coding starts at the junction of the River Kennet with the Thames, but CRT’s jurisdiction does not begin until just before the traffic lights by Duke Street bridge (KA-001-007). The Kennet downstream of that point, including the Forbury Loop and Blake’s Lock, is under the jurisdiction of the Environment Agency (EA).
It is shameful that CRT only published this vital information in response to a Freedom of Information request, three months after the start of its new enforcement policy. It is completely unjust for CRT to take enforcement action without disclosing where the kilometre length boundaries are. Of course, being in the same kilometre length on two dates more than 14 days apart is not proof that the boat has overstayed. The boat could have travelled to another place and returned, or could have moved to a different place in accordance with Section 17 3 c ii of the British Waterways Act 1995 but still be in the same kilometre length.
This is also being applied to boats with home moorings even though the British Waterways Act 1995 does not require them to travel to a different place if they have stayed continuously in one place for 14 days.
You can download the spreadsheet of the code and location of each kilometre length here
The interactive map is online here
See also
http://kanda.boatingcommunity.org.uk/crt-publish-enforcement-letters/
Tags: 14 day rule, continuous cruising, enforcement, FOI request, kilometre lengths, Section 17, Waterways Act 1995