Caution - moorings at Staines

boatone

boatone

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www.tmba.org.uk
Yet again I have had problems with shopping trolleys in the water alongside Spelthorne Council moorings at Staines. If stopping there exercise extreme caution and put gears in neutral before getting close and push off well clear before engaging when you leave.

I have asked both Spelthorne Council and the EA to ensure it is removed.

stainestrolleylocation.jpeg
 
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After continual complaints and claims against a well known local supermarket for damage to boats and removing the trolleys from the river the supermarket in question installed a system that sounds an alarm if the trolley leaves the site, with staff to collect and recover trolley's and police the system.

To date this seems to have been quite effective and the problem was getting so bad that regularly it virtually blocked the river.

I have not named them as there response was effective and it would not be fair, and it's a handy place to stock up with supplies.(cold beer!)
 
Tweeted EA with info and asked whether responsibility of EA or SPelthorne BC.
Just received tweet from EA:
"The mooring is the responsibility of @SpelthorneBC. We have contacted them about their licence obligations regarding their stage."

Guess thats some sort of a result!
 
It's good that the authorities are aware and asking questions of each other, but so far it's only involved someone in an EA office being paid to play with Tw@tter. The trolleys would move faster if someone pointed the pikeys in the direction of free scrap metal.
 
CJL said:
http://archive.defra.gov.uk/environ...oned/trolleys/documents/shopping-trolleys.pdf
It appears that there are 2 issues here;
1) blockage of the mooring
2) lost trolley by the retailer
CJL
Click to expand...
Blockage of the mooring is a very simplistic way of describing it when a trolley under the water can result in damaged props and lift and repair costs running into many hundreds of pounds and little to no recourse for the boat owner. Not that worried about loss to the retailer , they should be looking after their own interests better and ensuring trollies can't be removed from their environs.

I identified the problem and took immediate steps to ensure that other boats weren't at risk. I also managed to move the trolley to a place where any half competent local authority should be able to remove it completely with minimum cost and no need for a boat to be involved. If I had not been a 15 stone weakling I would have managed to hook it out altogether and leave it ashore but that would have carried a risk of scroats pushing it back into the river.

The Environment Agency simply cannot be held responsible for issues like this riverside - they have neither the resources or the funding and, if they did it would be coming out of our pockets as taxpayers or, more likely , licence holders.
If a tree grows out over the river and blocks the navigation it is primarily the landowners responsibility and, even if the EA take action they will endeavour to recover costs. The moorings in question are not EA moorings and are the responsibility of the local authority.
If nothing else I hope I may have avoided someone else finishing up with damaged props and I have made both the EA and the local authority aware of their obligations.

For the record, the original Thames Conservancy Act 1932 required all local authorities to contribute defined contributions to the Conservancy to assist with the cost of managing the river. In present day values that amounted to several hundred thousand pounds a year. Today they contribute nothing. I am content that , at the very least, they should do their share of protecting the river within their boundaries.
 
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Is it worth asking if they have checked the next mooring up by the fountains as well? I think the majority of boats use that mooring, have to say I have never stopped
at the Spelthorne one as it always looked a bit iffy!
 
boatone said:
As if you needed to ask !!!!
@thamesmobo: @SpelthorneBC @EnvAgencySE Thank you very much. Will you be inspecting mooring stage further upriver as well please?
Click to expand...

Should have known you were on the ball:)

What the EA need is someone in a little boat who patrols up and down reguarly and checks these sort of things, ummm...
 
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