More family silver........

mmmmmmmmmm I'm sure Eileen McKeever said only about three would be sold, maybe she meant this year. She did say she would rather rent them out and keep the income but DEFRA weren't keen on that idea.
No wonder there are no lockkeepers to be seen, they're probably building barricades!
 
I seem to remember they also said registrations went up last year !! The article says 2007 was a 5 year low !

With all you lovely cruisers at Henley in a few weeks time I am minded to ask if you feel like making a very public gesture - hands off our river sort of thing? Certainly wont be that many boats in one place again for a while and particularly as an organised bunch. Maybe even invite Boris along as the local MP, either to celebrate or commisserate re his mayoral ambitions.
 
Well they have to fund that crappy little mag they send out in some way and of course pay all the people involved in it . Also pay the people that are employed to decide what needs to stay and go , of course thier job has to stay !
I vote we go down and wind the lock handle at every viewing /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Why are those handles so noisy /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

So the lock keeper knows someone is using the lock maybe /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
It's all so wrong.

A good sound infrastructure which enabled Lockeepers to reliably live and serve on site, offering security too, and it's all being flushed down the swannee by a bunch of incompetent cretins.

They will never be able to recreate the original function of the system. Idiots /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
 
Oh well, the increase in the Boat license fee isn't making a difference as usual. Do we get a rebate "EA" for operating the locks ourselves? /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
 
Flash bankers

Yes, "B"!!
All the cottages will be bought as holiday homes and in short shift the new non boating owners will be complaining about noisy smelly boats disturbing them and we will then be limited to week day movement only and between 10.00 and 16.00 only.
What a bloody shambles.
 
Re: Flash bankers

"As a Government organisation, the EA is required to dispose of any property for which it no longer has an operational need. As part of this, we have been reviewing the operational need for each of the lock houses."


On the that basis of thinking I guess we will soon see No's 10 & 11 Downing street up for sale, with current performance they can hardly call them operational lol
 
Re: Flash bankers

[ QUOTE ]
Yes, "B"!!
All the cottages will be bought as holiday homes and in short shift the new non boating owners will be complaining about noisy smelly boats disturbing them and we will then be limited to week day movement only and between 10.00 and 16.00 only.
What a bloody shambles.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh dear, do you really think so? Nah, they wouldnt do that would they..... /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
Re: Flash bankers

[ QUOTE ]
Yes, "B"!!
All the cottages will be bought as holiday homes and in short shift the new non boating owners will be complaining about noisy smelly boats disturbing them and we will then be limited to week day movement only and between 10.00 and 16.00 only.
What a bloody shambles.

[/ QUOTE ]

You paint a frightening but all too realistic observation Mike. If city people can move into the country and complain about Cows mooing and Cockerals crowing and get the council to take action. Then restricting boat movements is well on the cards.
 
Re: Flash bankers

'tis a scarey thought indeed, but there are some pretty ancient laws giving rights for the free movement of craft; I could be wrong but it is my understanding that even closing the locks for essential maintenance had to go to parliament, and whilst restricted, navigation is never cut off for regattas etc.
 
Re: Flash bankers

Except for the Windsor Triathlon - and just wait to see what happens around Olympics time - there are some real concerns about the river adjacent to the Dorney Rowing Lake.
 
Re: Flash bankers

I had to check this out for local canal interests as I work in the Planning Dept (although not a Planner) at Hillingdon. BWB were going to sell the freehold of a timber factory (Goldburgs) next to the Uxbridge Boat Centre, for flat development. The worry was the work in the barge dry dock would affect the resisdents. The Environmental Health Section confirmed that if Planning Permission was given for the flats, and a complaint was received by a new flat owner about the noise from the dry dock (which has been in operation for decades since it was Fellows Morton etc site) they would serve a noise abatement notice.

To give the planners their due they took this into consideration when representations were made to them (I believe by Julian of Parglena who sometimes contributes here).

regards

IanC
 
Heard a lockie chatting about this today, to go are Shifford, Godstow, Sandford, Days, Culham, Bell Weir, about 12 in total, can't remember the rest.
 
Strewth, that's quite a lot already.
We need to keep close to the lockies.
It may be that these are unoccupied at the moment, I don't really know those locks that much, although I wonder if there are spare houses at Days and Culham, can't say I have noticed.
 
How come British Waterways are allowed to buy and maintain property, and enter into property development deals, using the proceeds to fund their operations, if EA are not?

DEFRA used this as part of their reasoning for cutting the BW grant - yet ban it for EA?
 
Some of those cottages are set well back from the locks, so not too bad I guess, the cottage at Days is on the downstream Island which I assumed wasn't EA owned anymore as the lockie doesn't live there anyway, but it seems it is.

Have to say the river felt very neglected this week as I pottered up after my lift out, lots of scruffy dirty sided locks. The yellow disk thing seems to be being ignored, at two locks we arrived with a yellow disk and got off to operate the lock, then the lockie appeared and took over, didn't bother changing the sign when we left either. They aren't a happy bunch in their £2.99 Primark fleeces and now compulsary lifejacket, they look like scruffy novices /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
Hi all - this is a sensitive subject and I'm not surprised there is a lot of interest. This week and early next week, the managers of each lockkeeper who has a house on the list identified for disposal (over the next five years) are meeting each individual to explain what's happening and why. Out of respect for the individuals concerned, we do not want to publicise the information until everyone who is affected has been told. We have asked everyone to keep the information confidential until the meetings have happened. I will put more detailed info on here on Tuesday which is when we should be able to share info with the media.
 
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