Around 12 liveaboard boaters attended the meeting of Wilcot Parish Council on 9th January 2024. There was discussion of a letter from a boater to Wiltshire Councillor Paul Oatway objecting that the rubble and earth banks in the lane by the canal were constructed without planning consent and were an unauthorised waste disposition. Two boaters spoke in the public question time.
The lane where boaters park their vehicles in Wilcot has been ‘landscaped’ to make parking impossible, according to boaters who are moored there. On 24th October, rubble and earth was piled up along the whole length of the lane on both sides, making a steep bank as shown in the photographs below. This was done even though there were some boaters’ cars parked in the lane at the time.
Wilcot Parish Council has proposed installing bollards in the lane by the canal to prevent vehicles parking. This is the latest idea by the parish council to stop boaters parking their cars in the lane. It is not clear at present whether the proposal is to prevent parking throughout the lane.
There will be a Canal Forum meeting between local residents and Parish Councils in the Pewsey area and boaters next Wednesday 23rd November 2016 at Stanton St Bernard Village Hall at 5.30pm for a 6pm start. This is a continuation of the previous meetings in 2014 and 2015 chaired by CRT in the Pewsey Vale to resolve issues between local residents and canal users, especially liveaboard boaters. Please come to this meeting, especially if you regularly moor your boat in the Long Pound.