We don’t normally lift from other websites but this, seen in the latest Towpath Talk letters page had me in stitches so I thought I’d share it with you all.
Has BRITISH WATERWAYS slipped its legal moorings?
WHAT in blue blazes was NABO’s legal affairs officer Geoffrey Robinson thinking of. By asserting that the very basis of the powers that British Waterways control of licensing and mooring are at odds with the law and possibly unenforceable he has given every druggie, alcoholic and general deadbeat on the canals carte blanche to moor anywhere, for as long as they want and without buying a licence.
At least that is the way that that the benefit scroungers will see it.
The line between ‘keeping the public informed’ and doing more harm than good has been well crossed here. Thanks to NABO the miles of red tape and expense that BW has to go through to remove an unlicensed or overstaying boat has now tripled to the detriment of the whole system and us law-abiding boaters. The irresponsibility of this action could be the biggest step backwards in keeping our canals navigable and safe in the history of the waterways. I hope this action will encourage BW, not only to try and get the weight of the law behind their Terms and Conditions, but to look for additional powers to rid us of the far too numerous unsavoury boaters that we have on the cut.
Bill de Leie
Witchcraft
Go Bill go. That’s the best bit of bigot rant I’ve seen in a long time.
For those of you who don’t know what he’s talking about (apart from us of course) here’s our report on the NABO legal challenge to BW’s abuse of powers.
Tags: NABO, NABO's Legal Challenge
Why do I get the feeling that Bill de Leie belongs to some far right Satanic society?
Well said Bill de Leie
Intelligent readers of your site might find BWs reply to the NABO ‘legal challenge’ illuminating. BW has published this along with the full text of NABO’s letter, downloadable from http://www.britishwaterways.co.uk/mooringconsultation09 . I’m curious as to how supporters of this website envisage the future of our canals, if anyone who feels like it is permitted to set up home along any stretch of towpath and claim that this is ‘reasonable’.
I want BW to spend their money maintaining our wonderful canal network and extending it where possible, not fighting silly law suits which inevitably cost a lot and often nobody “wins”.
We would be interested to see, Sue, exactly where BW’s response to NABO’s challenge is as the link you have provided goes only to documents related to the consultation.
I want BW to spend their money maintaining our wonderful canal network and extending it where possible, not fighting silly law suits which inevitably cost a lot and often nobody “wins”.
But that’s what we all want. So how about you mind your business and I’ll mind mine.
What a load of Bill de Bollox