BelleSerene
Active member
Peter Bruce writes about Kings Quay Creek in the September edition of YM. This is a beautiful tidal pool just east of Osborne Bay in the Solent, known to very few sailors (well until his article, anyway). It’s accessible by dinghy on the top half of the tide; you have to anchor a way off owing to the gently shelving shallows off the island.
As he observes, a scaffolding construction has been placed across the upper part of the creek to prevent vessels from entering the pool.
Peter Bruce is right to say that one is entitled to go where the sea level allows: this right of navigation in tidal waters has existed since Magna Carta and it would take a statute to constrain it. None has ever been passed by Parliament. It matters not that the land surrounding the pool is privately owned, nor that it's a Site of Special Scientific Interest, nor that the creek has been proposed as part of a Marine Conservation Zone.
He observes that most dinghies will be able to squeeze past the barrier into the idyllic upper pool. But plenty won’t.
With respect to land-based rights of way, the law permits you to remove enough of an obstruction for you to pass if you can reasonably do so and without going on to land of other ownership. I am not a lawyer, but I’m prepared to bet that the same remedy directly by the citizen is available with respect to the right of tidal navigation. In other words, to remove enough of the scaffolding barrier to pass without obstruction.
Any lawyer in the house like to comment?
As he observes, a scaffolding construction has been placed across the upper part of the creek to prevent vessels from entering the pool.
Peter Bruce is right to say that one is entitled to go where the sea level allows: this right of navigation in tidal waters has existed since Magna Carta and it would take a statute to constrain it. None has ever been passed by Parliament. It matters not that the land surrounding the pool is privately owned, nor that it's a Site of Special Scientific Interest, nor that the creek has been proposed as part of a Marine Conservation Zone.
He observes that most dinghies will be able to squeeze past the barrier into the idyllic upper pool. But plenty won’t.
With respect to land-based rights of way, the law permits you to remove enough of an obstruction for you to pass if you can reasonably do so and without going on to land of other ownership. I am not a lawyer, but I’m prepared to bet that the same remedy directly by the citizen is available with respect to the right of tidal navigation. In other words, to remove enough of the scaffolding barrier to pass without obstruction.
Any lawyer in the house like to comment?
