Liveaboards ousted?!!

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miket

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Came through Teddington on Bank Holiday Monday, after ATYC. Thanks to all the EA staff there. Worked really hard to clear boats through very efficiently and quickly.

After all the hoo that EA have made about prosecuting liveaboards (Teddington group specifically named) we were very taken aback to find more liveaboards than ever there!!
Also seemed to be many more in many areas from here to Maidenhead.

I am sure it is difficult for EA, but if they have successfully prosecuted, why have they not enforced their movement?
 
miket said:
After all the hoo that EA have made about prosecuting liveaboards (Teddington group specifically named) we were very taken aback to find more liveaboards than ever there!!
Also seemed to be many more in many areas from here to Maidenhead.
I am sure it is difficult for EA, but if they have successfully prosecuted, why have they not enforced their movement?
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I presume you are referring to this little congregation?
aboveteddington.jpg


They are moored on local authority land, I believe, so the only action the EA can take is in relation to licenses which includes boat safety. Don't know what the current position is but Richmond council were pushing through new bye laws regarding the mooring situation.
 
When's the last time you saw one of those on a pump out? Where does the EA think all that waste goes? I use to moor there regularly, it was a lovely spot years ago where you could watch out for bats and enjoy a quiet drink on the back of the boat. Nowadays we have to pay the lock keeper to moor up for the night and it's noisier than ham lands because of the weir. I thought the EA were meant to protect the river from pollution, or do they think they all use the Hawker centre for a shower, sh*t and a shave?
 
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Not sure if that's Richmond or kingstons land. Almost on the middle. Either way it disgusts me every time I run past.

It started with a good crowd no they block the tow path smoking and drinking.

Live aboard by all means but play by the rules.
 
Nice try!
I don't care on whose land they are, EA should "encourage" the riparian owners to sort it.
A total eyesore from a load of total wasters.

Scenario;
You are a visting Dutch yachtsman who has been promising themselves a visit to the "Royal Thames". You go through London and are confronted with a load of gypsies. Not a great start?
 
miket said:
Nice try!
I don't care on whose land they are, EA should "encourage" the riparian owners to sort it.
A total eyesore from a load of total wasters.

Scenario;
You are a visting Dutch yachtsman who has been promising themselves a visit to the "Royal Thames". You go through London and are confronted with a load of gypsies. Not a great start?
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Simples you look to the right and enjoy the Lensbury !

Although joking aside its probably better than the view coming into town from LHR by road and train !
 
miket said:
Nice try!
I don't care on whose land they are, EA should "encourage" the riparian owners to sort it.
A total eyesore from a load of total wasters.
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I suggest you go to the next RUG 8 meeting at the TMYC and listen to, perhaps question, the EA staff, local authority representative and police who will undoubtedly be there. I have been more than once and agree that it seems little is happening but there are wider issues than a simple "get rid of 'em". This is not simply an "EA should solve it" river issue.

http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/...law_application_approved_by_Richmond_Council/
 
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As a matter of interest, how many people on this forum have actually made a complaint to the EA about illegal or overstay mooring? I have a feeling there are far more complaints from residential folk who consider boats an eyesore. The real problem for us, of course, is that there are simply not enough moorings and this is exacerbated by the number of visiting narrow boats that take up so much space. However, these visitors are coughing up a significant contribution to revenue which should not be ignored.

Oh dear, back to money again which no-one wants to talk about ……..
 
boatone said:
However, these visitors are coughing up a significant contribution to revenue which should not be ignored.

Oh dear, back to money again which no-one wants to talk about ……..
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When the moorings are taken by huge long boats with one or two people on board, the local towns are missing out on revenue. We would have eaten out every night, but with an elderly passenger on board who couldn't scramble up a grass bank and walk into town, no moorings meant dining in and each time a restaurant missed out on a table for four and a large drinks bill:rolleyes:
 
Actionmat said:
When the moorings are taken by huge long boats with one or two people on board, the local towns are missing out on revenue. We would have eaten out every night, but with an elderly passenger on board who couldn't scramble up a grass bank and walk into town, no moorings meant dining in and each time a restaurant missed out on a table for four and a large drinks bill:rolleyes:
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How would you suggest that this problem is overcome? Serious question and no easy answer. A few years ago the EA tried to promote a "Welcome to Moor Alongside" attitude amongst boaters but met with little success. Just making sure boats are moved on doesn't solve the problem as the space is quickly taken by new boats so there is still no space when you arrive.
 
They could start by dredging. Wallingford is like a mini Abingdon, but most of it is only deep enough for canal craft downstream of the bridge. Kingston could also reinstate its pontoons.

As a quick fix, anywhere too shallow for river craft should become dedicated 24hr NB moorings, leaving anything with 1m + for the rest of us. It would certainly free up Hampton court if they could moor on the opposite side of the river.
 
Actionmat said:
They could start by dredging. Wallingford is like a mini Abingdon, but most of it is only deep enough for canal craft downstream of the bridge. Kingston could also reinstate its pontoons.
As a quick fix, anywhere too shallow for river craft should become dedicated 24hr NB moorings, leaving anything with 1m + for the rest of us. It would certainly free up Hampton court if they could moor on the opposite side of the river.
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Agree with the sentiments but it ain't going to happen. It will all cost and everyone is strapped for cash, especially the EA and local authorities.
 
They do have the cash, they just don't want to spend it. Millions is being spent on cycling, I'd like to see some of it spent on my hobby please.
 
For years human waste and toilet roll has washed past our moorings at taplow.if you flag down an EA launch this is what you get told 'we know it happens,you know it happens but unless we catch them in the act there is nothing we can do'.for Pete's sake the largest barge in the reach,POET,moored outside skindles ,has no engine,it was towed up many years ago.
Does the EA not own the 24hr moorings just below chertsey meads meadow on the bend,just in front of the legal houseboats??There are no moorings for normal folk,they are all taken by illegals,why has no action been taken??
P.S. I am not anti liveaboards,my parents do it,my grandfather did it and I hope to one day,All above board and LEGAL.
The EA are a massive organisation who don't give a monkeys as long as you've got a licence.
 
Actionmat said:
They do have the cash, they just don't want to spend it. Millions is being spent on cycling, I'd like to see some of it spent on my hobby please.
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OK, "they" do have the cash, and "they" actually contribute several millions of taxpayers money in Grant in Aid towards the cost of maintaining and supporting the waterway, but they don't want to spend as much on the Thames as they have been doing. Trouble is walking and cycling are seen as "good" hobbies, full of fitness and health benefits, whereas boating, and particularly motor boating, is seen as a rich mans pastime.
At the risk of sounding contentious, why should we expect the taxpayer to subsidise our hobby?

No use bashing the folk that manage the Thames, need to get at the bureaucrats further up the food chain that decide how to divvy up the largesse that is distributed from the public purse. Can't see strapped local authorities embarking on expensive projects to provide new moorings or dredging banksides when they are cutting back on local services to ratepayers, can you?

We boaters could do a lot to alleviate the mooring issue by being prepared to raft alongside each other at busy locations and making sure we don't leave big gaps between boats. More than once this year I've been told to "go away" (not politely) after asking someone (very politely) to move up or down a bit to let me get in.
 
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One cash strapped local authority (Kingston upon Thames) spent £100,000 on cycle training and a further £20,000 on residential cycle parking while the pontoons were crumbling away. Rather than repair them they removed them.
And local authorities along the river are now dipping into the 100 million pound 'mini Holland' cycling pot, so there's plenty of money.
Unless your talking 45 footers, is motor boating really viewed as a rich mans pastime? Static caravan owners pay more than I do for 31ft on the Thames. Think how much they could save if they switched to a static narrow boat ;)
 
Actionmat said:
When the moorings are taken by huge long boats with one or two people on board, the local towns are missing out on revenue. We would have eaten out every night, but with an elderly passenger on board who couldn't scramble up a grass bank and walk into town, no moorings meant dining in and each time a restaurant missed out on a table for four and a large drinks bill:rolleyes:
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IF they are paying their due fees then what is the problem(apart from the look of them)
It's like people compalining when someone else parks their car outside their house
 
I see where you're coming from, but if it was a stretched limo covered in logs and flowerpots and didn't appear to be going anywhere, would you be as happy about it? And if the same vehicle paid the same as you to occupy 2 to 3 spaces in the same car park, how fair would that sound?
 
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"You are a visting Dutch yachtsman"

Will they be reinstalling all the bridges between Tower and at Richmond anytime soon,suspect the traffic is backing up a bit. :)
 
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