It is clear that moorings of all types are attracting the attention of cash-strapped councils. The position and advice, distilled and published by the RBOA and reported on this site in 2010 is being modified by the VOA (the Valuation Office Agency) as councils force case law judgement. It is clear that paying council tax is going to become a much more common component of mooring costs, whether levied through marinas passing on council imposed bills as is happening in Leicestershire or directly on CRT managed moorings.
At 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.