In direct contradiction of an undertaking given to the boating organisations, CRT has published a map of places in an attempt to define the word ‘place’ as used in Section 17 3 c ii of the 1995 British Waterways Act, deliberately left ambiguous by Parliament.
This document outlines the procedure
https://places.crtrust.org.uk/places-info/places_what_they_mean.pdf
including the passage: “If we see a continuous cruiser in the same place (as described in the maps) on two consecutive occasions 14 days apart, we’re likely to contact the licence holder by phone, text or email asking them to move on or to contact us. If after warning we see evidence from our sightings that the boat is not being used bona fide for navigation, we’ll have no option but to issue the first formal enforcement notification.”
and this webpage https://places.crtrust.org.uk/places is the interactive map of ‘places’.
The document “Places and what they mean for boaters” states that CRT will be “taking feedback on the place maps between now and the end of December 2014 and, if appropriate, we will revise the maps in the light of the feedback to take effect in Spring 2015. To log your feedback, send an email to places@canalrivertrust.org.uk, being sure to include the name of the canal or river, and the relevant place names that you’re proposing changes to”.
Given that CRT has, for example, unlawfully wiped most of the towns and villages in the Long Pound off the map completely, we encourage boaters to send their feedback to the email address above and also to make formal complaints about both the unlawfulness of defining ‘place’ and the places that CRT has unilaterally deleted from the map in defiance of hundreds of years of history.
The Guidance for Boaters Without a Home Mooring has been updated to include the necessity to conform to this map. Strangely, the file properties of this version show it to be dated 1st August 2014. Author: SALLY ASH. Sally Ash retired on 30th June 2014. Is this the ghost of Sally Ash, known to launch new initiatives in August each year in an attempt to catch people unawares while they are on holiday? We understand from a source within CRT that Ms Ash is staying on as a volunteer to train her replacement, but we cannot definitely confirm this. However it does look like the workaholic Ms Ash is still actively eroding boaters’ rights from within CRT.
See also http://kanda.boatingcommunity.org.uk/using-the-bw-complaints-process/
Tags: 14 day rule, continuous cruising, liveaboards, Sally Ash, Section 17, Waterways Act 1995
Tim Williams
Hi
Where can I see a map showing the boundaries between neighbourhoods so I know when I have cruised far enough to avoid being penalised?
Many thanks
Tim