Boats above Ryepeck Moorings moved on and a interesting night

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joejo

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Having not been downstream for a few weeks we did last evening. Once through Chertsey lock I was most suprised to see that the growing community of boats above the Ryepeck moorings have all gone. Some of these boats had been moored here for some years. It looked like a couple have made it to the other side, but no sign of the rest. We are now at Teddington and it does not look like they have joined rank there.
We then got the last mooring at Thames Court between a Barge and narrow boat with inches to spare [advantage of a shorter boat :)] and after a ok meal in the pub a number of Sewage sucking lorries arrived to clean out the drains. They advised us this may take some hours so as darkness was approaching we decided to move upstream approx. ½ mile to the next moorings. Got the last spot here as well behind a large barge which had a number of Police aboard. We were advised the Barge had been stolen at Staines earlier and that an arrest had been made.

Boating is never dull. Hoping for a quieter evening tonight
 
Stopped at Teddington Tuesday night, stunned by the huge number of live aboards beyond the lock layby, massive increase since our last visit in 2012. There are two unsavoury boats encroaching onto the layby and another right in the middle of the layby. Mentioned this to the lock keeper when I paid for our overnight stop - they are fully aware of the situation and the increasing number of boats that should not be there and said their enforcement officers do what they can but it is also an issue for Richmond council. There really must be something that can be done, none of these boats have a licence or a boat safety certificate, why are they still there ?
 
I am surprised by that, couldn't see any licences displayed and the condition of many looked to be almost derelict. However, willing to accept they are legal if they have been checked.
 
teddington_lock said:
Most of those boats have a licence and a BSS. :)
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Depressing you think it's a 'smiley' moment.wonderful sight for 1st time visitors to the thames to be confronted with,and with toilet paper between the boats and the bank....how much more do the EA need?

Maybe the EA shouldn't have helped them during the floods.....wonder if these are the same ones
Why are they on EA land in sight of the lock and are they paying?
 
They aren't on EA land , they are on Richmond council land. EA administered land ends at the end of the concrete layby.

What do you expect us to do when they come loose above the biggest weir on the thames running at full chat ? Let them go through ? , be sensible. You might not like them , but they are human beings too , and have families aboard those boats.
 
Thames mariner has said 2are encroaching on to the concrete and one is in the middle,no change from when I was last there.i believe you said on here it was temporary a while back and they were itching to get back to their spot.
I have no problem at all with liveaboards, I have many friends and family who are living aboard legit,abiding by the regs and not chucking anything in the river.
I think everyone would like a solution,v.difficult I know,will the EA be removing the unlicensed boats....OOPS,where the EA used to take scrap boats above sunbury lock is being developed I believe!
 
Flynnbarr said:
OOPS,where the EA used to take scrap boats above sunbury lock is being developed I believe!
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Not all of it only the bit on the main land. The island will remain intact and operational.

http://my.spelthorne.gov.uk/planning/?requesttype=parsetemplate&template=DCApplication.tmplt&Filter=^REFVAL^=%2709/00523/FUL%27&backurl=%3Fpageno%3D1%26pagerecs%3D10%26maxrecords%3D100%26template%3DDCResults.tmplt%26requestType%3DparseTemplate%26usesearch%3Dtrue%26order%3DDATEAPRECV%253ADESCENDING%26q%253ALIKE%3D09%252f00523%252fFUL%26backurl%3D%253F

CJL
 
And as I said Flynnbarr , I am on leave at the moment , however , when I went on leave ( last Friday ) Serendipity was not on our moorings.

All the ones that ended up on our moorings in the winter , left as soon as it was practicable ( ie within a few days of us going onto yellow boards from red )

At least one of the two he believes is encroaching is not actually on our moorings at all , take a closer look. The boat ( princess 32 type boat ) is not on our layby , we check it regularly as we believed it was initially. The other boat I'm afraid I have no knowledge off as I am not on site at the moment.

At the end of the day , the lock staff are doing the best we can. It's easy to sit on your high horse and start sniping when you have no real idea what goes on or the hoops we have to go through. I'm not going to be drawn into a discussion on this , suffice to say it's not always as clear cut as you all seem to think it is.
 
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The casual observer would think that nowt's going on,when it gets bigger year on year.

Hope you enjoy your hol's,you jammy bugger the weathers cracking:)
 
Flynnbarr said:
The casual observer would think that nowt's going on,when it gets bigger year on year.
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Been plenty of reports and comments on this forum in recent times concerning the Teddington boat farm - e.g. http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...es-used-as-slum-accomodation-Guardian-article

Its all a lot more complicated than it might seem. We do live in a democracy and legal process - even if a specific law is being broken - can be painfully slow. Also, as TedLock says human beings are involved, possibly with kids as well.
 
boatone said:
BeeAlso, as TedLock says human beings are involved, possibly with kids as well.
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With no sanitation facilities, I trust social services are involved. This group should be shown the same level of consideration that they have afforded all other river users in that area for years. None whatsoever.
 
Actionmat said:
With no sanitation facilities, I trust social services are involved. This group should be shown the same level of consideration that they have afforded all other river users in that area for years. None whatsoever.
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They are not occupying public or EA moorings, it's local authority land and, except for the boat licensing aspect which TedLock tells us they have, it's a local authority issue. Frankly, we can discuss it here as much as you like but there is nothing we can do to resolve the matter - unless, of course, you are a local ratepayer and wish to pursue it locally.

I suppose the EA could prosecute them for breaking the bye laws if they are caught discharging sewage into the river - but they'd have to catch them in the act so thats unlikely to happen.
 
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The EA, Richmond Council, the Police, the local MP and Ham Residents Association have been involved for years, so it looks like any part of the Thames is free long term moorings for all, just as long as the EA doesn't own the land.
Unless you're one of those mugs who pay their way in life, respect the river and consider how your actions affect others.
 
Because the crown estate would move them on , not the EA. Probably with police with machine guns in black range rovers.

Richmond council don't do things like that as far as I know.
 
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