EA decide to rent out lock houses

[boatone]

I have received a copy of the following letter sent to the Waterway Working Group for the non-tidal Thames on Friday.

Following the discussion at the WWG meeting on the 3 August, where you discussed options for the vacant riverside houses on the River Thames with Matt and Angela, I have now decided on a course of action. It has been helpful to hear your views and concerns to help us make this decision.

We have spent some time this summer discussing the issues we are facing on the River Thames in our challenge to develop a sustainable waterway business. The main challenge is our Grant In Aid funding which has reduced by half this year. The challenges we all face mean that we have to make some difficult decisions now, rather than wait to see what happens with our budgets next year.

So, on Monday, we are instructing letting agents to market our houses at Grafton, Cleeve, Sunbury and Chertsey. When the houses at Goring, Whitchurch and Blakes become vacant later this year, we will also be renting them. We envisage renting all houses that become available over the next few years which is likely to be another two making nine in total by the end of 2013.

We are also freezing the vacant Resident posts associated with these houses for now.

I am fully aware that some of you feel very strongly that the Resident Lockkeepers on the Thames are at the heart of the waterway. I want to reassure you that I have not taken this decision lightly.


I don’t want to compromise the service we are providing, or let the assets fall into disrepair, so we must find ways of saving money and generating more income. In this case, each resident post that we freeze plus the net income from the house rental (on average) will generate around £47k per year. Once nine houses are rented, this will generate £416k pa.

This decision does not affect our existing employees and we will not be asking any employees to move house. We want to retain all riverside houses as the revenue they generate will make a significant contribution to our funding gap, which is £0.8m this year.

We have been managing Chertsey Lock site using other staff for some years now and we will take this approach at other sites where we rent the house. We are confident that because we will still have at least 36 residents, and over 20 relief lock keepers, plus other Waterway staff and Operations Delivery as back up, we will be able to operate the locks and weirs without any risks to safety or water level management.

We have briefed the unions and our staff today.

Howard Davidson
Director, South East

 

[oldgit]

Not sure what else they can do to raise money.It would appear Thames boaters are somewhat reluctant to cough up and pay more towards enjoying their hobby.
The public funds which pay the vast majority of the running costs of the waterway are being severely cut and things are going to change.

 

[Chris_d]

This was inevitable, but lets be honest probably most peoples biggest concern is who is going to live in these houses.

 

[Wavey]

So how long before lock keepers disappear completely. (A genuine belief expressed to me by a lock keeper this year).

 

[jimmcgee]

This was inevitable, but lets be honest probably most peoples biggest concern is who is going to live in these houses.

lol , anyone , and before you know it there will be nickers and bras on the washing line , and 3 years down the line , they will complain about all the noisey boaters out there back door , and then they will drain the lock and fill it in lol.

 

[boatone]

So who WOULD be prepared to pay significantly more to have the river managed the way we would like it to be?

I venture to suggest that the single most significant issue in this is whether we will still continue to receive an acceptable level of service from lock keeping staff.

 

[cereal tiller]

This was inevitable, but lets be honest probably most peoples biggest concern is who is going to live in these houses.

and will the occupiers of those lock houses enjoy being woken up in the early hours of the morning by hire and private boats passing through "their" lock?,now that 24 hour powered locking is available.

further revenue will be lost to the EA when visiting unlicensed boats slip through those locks at night,why would they bother paying for a visitors licence?

i do miss the thames conservancy methods of running the river.

 

[oldgit]

This was inevitable, but lets be honest probably most peoples biggest concern is who is going to live in these houses.

Am going to guess at the rent for a prime water front location with the prospect of a constant stream of happy go lucky forumites cruising past all day has got to be in the region of £ 1200-£1500.00 per calender month ?
If let on short holiday lets (preferable) not much short of £1000 knicker a week peak period ?

 

[teddington_lock]

And the rest ...

Teddington No.3 rents out for £1800+ per month so i am told.

Some of the houses in prettier locations could be big money , they are being let on 12 month contracts , not short term lets we are told.

 

[oldgit]

And the rest ...

Teddington No.3 rents out for £1800+ per month so i am told.

Some of the houses in prettier locations could be big money , they are being let on 12 month contracts , not short term lets we are told.

H,mm,wonder if I declare my self homeless the DHSS will stump up,always fancied living in one of those cottages and being able to educate any passing craft flying certain burgees with my opinions on fenders,sports boats and the blindlingly obvious fact that they get their boating on the cheap.
Each session will of course last for the entire passage through the lock.

 

[miket]

What goes around ....

Wasn't it 12 months ago we all got up in arms about selling off the lock houses? Well if it isn't being occupied by a lock keeper under this scheme, where is the difference?

I do sympathize with EA over the loss of grant in aid but it seems a touch too easy to dump the shortfall on the boaters every time.

What about water extraction?
Presumably licence revenue has increased enormously this year from boats in marinas, not previously licenced but now enforced.

What happens when the 1st happy camper's kids fall into the lock?

 

[boatone]

Presumably licence revenue has increased enormously this year from boats in marinas, not previously licensed but now enforced.

Unfortunately I understand it will be at least twelve months before the EA enforcement team will have targeted the whole river to identify unlicensed craft. They appear to be extremely stretched for staff authorised/qualified to undertake this work.
As far as I am aware they have not yet actually looked at boats in marinas and have only addressed certain stretches of the river itself.
There may well be craft that will get away without paying for 2011 in spite of the new legislation.

 

[Wavey]

I would have thought marinas would have been their first port of call. Penton Hook has 575 berths all neatly lined up ready to be checked.

 

[Seajet]

Another golden resource in terms of looking after the river, boat / people safety and history sold off for short term profit, thinking only of 'the books must look good during my very brief tenure'.

Once lost, they ain't coming back.

 

[dash300]

I realise the EA and it's vast remit requires income streams and the loss of grant income is hitting hard. Unfortunatelly just like the motorist we river users are an easy cash cow from whom to raise money. I for one am willing to pay more if it goes directly to benefit river users such as resident lock keepers. However the benficiaries of the EA remit is far wider than boaters, and all should pay their share.
I would be interested to see where those in the glorious riverside EA Towers in Reading might be wielding the knife in the interest of cost cutting. It would'nt be senior management would it?

 

[Seajet]

I realise the EA and it's vast remit requires income streams and the loss of grant income is hitting hard. Unfortunatelly just like the motorist we river users are an easy cash cow from whom to raise money. I for one am willing to pay more if it goes directly to benefit river users such as resident lock keepers. However the benficiaries of the EA remit is far wider than boaters, and all should pay their share.
I would be interested to see where those in the glorious riverside EA Towers in Reading might be wielding the knife in the interest of cost cutting. It would'nt be senior management would it?

I once had a job photographing the little hut with a river flow sensor display on the other side of the bridge at Reading, for the sensor makers; I was amazed by the size of the EA place, how exactly do they justify that ?!

 

[oldgit]

"Another golden resource in terms of looking after the river, boat / people safety and history sold off for short term profit"


Err.... the cottages are being rented out,not sold off !


EA employees...the wonder of Google ..eh

EA Staff on a Permanent Contract = 11875 of these (there are 1034 on
Temporary Assignment)

EA Staff on Temporary Contract = 369 of these (there are 26 on Temporary
Assignment)

Consultants and Reed Temps working in the EA = 1005 (of which 321 have
been working in the same department for more than a year)

Numbers are couple of years old. FOI.

Worth a glance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_Agency

 

[teddington_lock]

You're quoting total figures for the Agency , not for Waterways.

Remember the EA has a huge remit , from Nuclear Regulation to Fisheries to Tidal Defence , to little ol' Waterways. That's why so many people work for them. Or do you think a couple of hundred people could do everything ?

 

[oldgit]

You're quoting total figures for the Agency , not for Waterways.

Remember the EA has a huge remit , from Nuclear Regulation to Fisheries to Tidal Defence , to little ol' Waterways. That's why so many people work for them. Or do you think a couple of hundred people could do everything ?

Agreed,The numbers cover just about eveything,from up in the sky to down underground and everything in between,hence my suggestion that folks take at peek at the suggested website to grasp just what a wide area the EA has to regulate.From previous posters comments there seems a suspicion that EA staff sit round all day playing cards or short selling shares on the stock market while idling away time in palacial offices waiting for their retirement clock..
Hopefully this just might(but I doubt it) prevent people going off on Daily Mail style rants,which normally tend to have a very casual relationship with actual facts.
Would like to compliment our gallant band of EA stalwarts down here for an excellent job.

 

[captain tomas]

I read with interest the latest twist to the housing saga.
My opinion is, that it is just a red herring, the E.A. are hell bent on
selling the properties as shown by their recent history.
I don't believe the management, it has been shown that that cannot be trusted. Cast your mind back to the rebuilding of Bray & Boveny locks,
We the licence payers had monies extracted from us under false pretences.

Many people fought to retain Lock Keepers in the houses on a permenent basis two years ago. What has changed ?
If money needs to be generated let management down size the Waterways team. If they rent out houses it will encourage another excuse for extra staff just like the volunteer debarcle.