The first meeting of the Local Mooring Strategy steering group for the western Kennet and Avon took place on 26 August in County Hall, Trowbridge. As you will see from the documents below which BW circulated before the meeting, most of the changes that BW want to make, that will have a big impact on our lives, will not be up for discussion in the local mooring strategy.
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News
As it happens, we will get it out to you.
BW say policy changes won’t be up for discussion in Local Mooring Strategy
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010Apply NOW to be a board member on the Kennet and Avon Canal Partnership!
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010The Kennet and Avon Canal Trust and British Waterways are asking local people and organisations to nominate interested individuals to become volunteer board members on the new Waterway Partnership Board. The deadline is very soon. It’s really important that as many boaters as possible volunteer to be on the board of the partnership so that we are properly represented. Contact administrator@katrust.org.uk by Friday 27 August 2010 to nominate yourself.
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Local Mooring Strategy Inquiry Panel to hold first meeting
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010A boater has been asked to represent unaffiliated boaters (ie those not represented by NABO or RBOA) on the Local Mooring Strategy Inquiry Panel. In February BW agreed to include them on the panel, then later went back on its commitment, but following pressure from NABO and RBOA as well as from other boaters, BW has now included one unaffiliated boater. The first meeting is on 26 August at County Hall, Trowbridge, at 10am.
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BANES Council to employ boat checker
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010From correspondence below, obtained via Freedom of Information from Bath and NE Somerset Council, it looks like BW and BANES are paying jointly for an extra boat checker. This appears to be instigated partly by Councillor Ian Dewey of Bathampton, who has been a key mover in efforts to move liveaboard boaters off the canal.
The “concerns” expressed take no account of the fact that the Mooring Guidance for Continuous Cruisers is not a legal requirement and clearly states that it does not have the force of law. Unlike the 14-day rule in Section 17 of the British Waterways Act, BW does not have the legal power to enforce it. In one of the emails, David Lawrence, BANES Deputy Director for Heritage Services, says he does not think there is a problem. It is not clear whether this extra staff appointment is going ahead permanently, as the original contract seems to have been for this summer. However, we do wonder whether this is a good use of a cash-strapped Local Authority’s money, as responsibility for enforcement on the canal lies with BW.
The information in these emails seems to imply that BW is bypassing whatever the local mooring strategy would decide – this has gone ahead before the local mooring strategy inquiry panel has even started meeting.
The emails are here. Banes enforcement 1 Banes enforcement 2 Banes enforcement 3 Banes enforcement 4 Banes enforcement 5 Banes enforcement 6 Banes enforcement 7 Banes enforcement 8
Hit and Run
Sunday, July 18th, 2010Following the severe dent put in Whimbrel by the drunken crew of the boat Warneford, owned by RNAS Yeovilton but managed by a hire boat company, on a weekend that featured many late night booze cruises by overloaded boats of drunk and frequently abusive young men we thought we would help.
So if you experience any anti-social bahaviour or collision from a hire boat out of office hours, please ring Steve Lewis, local enforcement officer on 07771 943152 at any time of day of night.
As enforcement officer it is, of course, Steve’s job to police such behaviour and we are certain he will welcome your call.
It goes without saying that all such incidents should be reported both to the hire boat company and British Waterways as soon as possible and a claim submitted for any damage involved.
We’ll keep you posted on the progress of the good ship Whimbrel’s claim for repair of what is substantial damage to the hull and immediate interior.
Bradford on Avon Area Board to discuss mooring strategy
Thursday, July 15th, 2010The local mooring strategy will be discussed at the Wiltshire Council Bradford on Avon Area Board on 21st July at Westwood Social Club, Leslie Rise, Lower Westwood. Please attend if you can. The venue is open from 6.30pm and the meeting starts at 7pm. The minutes and other information from the Bradford on Avon Area Board can be found at
http://cms.wiltshire.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=220&MId=799&Ver=4
See also http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityandliving/areaboards.htm for information about all the Area Boards.
Boaters attend Wiltshire Area Board meetings
Thursday, July 15th, 2010Boaters have attended the Wiltshire Council Area Board Meetings at Trowbridge and Pewsey recently. Here’s a report from the Trowbridge Area Board on 1st July.
Wiltshire Council’s canal officer Ken Oliver gave a brief update on the outcome of the recent meeting between BW, boaters and Wiltshire Council in Devizes on 1 June. He only spoke for about 5 minutes as Councillor Osborn had somewhat hijacked the meeting due to being unhappy about a £500,000 hole in library budgets.
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BW pledge to eliminate overstaying in two years
Thursday, July 15th, 2010An article in the August 2010 Waterways World quotes one of the BW Directors, Simon Salem, who said that in the past two years BW has more or less eliminated licence evasion and the task for BW enforcement now is to eliminate overstaying “within two years”.
Unfortunately Simon’s statement is contradicted by Sally “Foot in Mouth” Ash, who works in his department at BW HQ.
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B&NES Council include boat dwellers in traveller strategy
Thursday, July 8th, 2010We have heard recently that the group within Bath and NE Somerset Council which deals with travellers has got permission from the Strategic Directors to include boat dwellers in its work on Gypsies & Travellers. One of the B&NES officers responsible for its work with travellers says ”We will be making sure that this is reflected in our work as a group from now on”.