Slumboat at Hampton court with pics

[Outinthedinghy]

I passed it today and I would say it is a bit irritating but not actually an obstruction and I suspect that it has been deliberately moored in that particular spot.

I think this is the former site of Watercraft of Molesey who built some of the Thames police boats (smaller than the ones built by Toughs. "Douro Bar" at Henley is an example) and some lifeboats. They used the "banana skin" technique in fibreglass which was where you bolt together two separately moulded halves. This is what I was told anyway


But that's not that relevant to the hotel boat except possibly on a land ownership question.

I noticed the 24hr moor alongside sign had 'at your own risk" as well. If I had moored alongside I definitely would be blocking the lock approach.

 

[teddington_lock]

I suspect that Trotman has put them all on EA moorings to buy himself some time. The ones at teddington are not being charged, nor challenged to move on. The EA is a slow beast to react. While the agency gets its act together about what to do , time ticks on , and winter approaches ...

Once those yellow boards go out , remember that the agency advises 'unpowered craft' to moor up until the stream abates. Once the red boards go out , there's no chance of moving them.

He'll buy himself another six months at least on a mooring that is more secure and easier to access ( being a nice concrete lay by ) than he's ever had. Still coining it in and paying nothing.

Clever really.

 

[boatone]

I suspect that Trotman has put them all on EA moorings to buy himself some time. The ones at teddington are not being charged, nor challenged to move on. The EA is a slow beast to react. While the agency gets its act together about what to do , time ticks on , and winter approaches ...

Once those yellow boards go out , remember that the agency advises 'unpowered craft' to moor up until the stream abates. Once the red boards go out , there's no chance of moving them.

He'll buy himself another six months at least on a mooring that is more secure and easier to access ( being a nice concrete lay by ) than he's ever had. Still coining it in and paying nothing.

Clever really.

Regrettably, I fear you may be right.

Is this boat actually moored on the Molesey lay-by and obstructing access to the pump-out facilities? Or is it simple adjacent and taking up mooring space?

I can imagine many boaters being at least intimidated by its presence.

Incidentally, the notice re 24 hour mooring alongside has been on display since way back when.

 

[capnfishy]

Steve the lock keeper sent me a photo last week. The hulk is on the riverbank upstream of the end of the head layby, unless its moved since then. Technically, it's in the lock cut so a byelaw offence for the enforcers to pursue.

 

[Actionmat]

I've just passed it. I could see the river inspectors boat behind it and a Police boat. Action at last? No, of course not, they were only there to escort the Dunkirk little ships. As we went through the lock we were joined by 'Oliver's Dreams', an unlicensed NB with its engine running, pulling an unlicensed speedboat(which went through unchallenged by the Lock Keeper - not Steve).

I saw more unlicensed boats from Sunbury to Molesey than I've seen on my journey to Iffley and back.

 

[chuckaduck]

Where I am with this is that Mr Trotman is abusing the system to make money from renting rooms/accomodation while being a nuisance to the Ea and river users.

I think that maybe the ea are taking the wrong " tack " with him as he obviously knows how to abuse the system to his own advantage while costing the ea a lot of money.

Instead of trying to move him on etc, It might be better to enforce health and safety issues as it is blatantly a safety risk waiting to cause death or serious injury.

So... my message to the Ea is Get the relevant health and safety people to evaluate mr trotmans houseboats and Shut him down. ...

 

[Alan ashore]

I suspect that Trotman has put them all on EA moorings to buy himself some time. The ones at teddington are not being charged, nor challenged to move on. The EA is a slow beast to react. While the agency gets its act together about what to do , time ticks on , and winter approaches ...

Once those yellow boards go out , remember that the agency advises 'unpowered craft' to moor up until the stream abates. Once the red boards go out , there's no chance of moving them.

He'll buy himself another six months at least on a mooring that is more secure and easier to access ( being a nice concrete lay by ) than he's ever had. Still coining it in and paying nothing.

Clever really.

I think you have this spot on Howard, sadly.

I must say that, given the significant and protracted effort the EA went to to get the court order, I had hoped that there would have been some pro-active planning and preparedness for what would happen next.

Trottman now choosing to occupy, of all places, lock cuts, must surely give the EA, however slow a beast it tends to be, opportunity and cause to act immediately.

Howard, you say that the boats at Teddington are not being challenged - do you mean that the lock staff have not even walked up and called out "Sorry sir, You can't moor there" or words to that effect?

Cheers,
Alan

 

[Tintin]

Where I am with this is that Mr Trotman is abusing the system to make money from renting rooms/accomodation while being a nuisance to the Ea and river users.

I think that maybe the ea are taking the wrong " tack " with him as he obviously knows how to abuse the system to his own advantage while costing the ea a lot of money.

Instead of trying to move him on etc, It might be better to enforce health and safety issues as it is blatantly a safety risk waiting to cause death or serious injury.

So... my message to the Ea is Get the relevant health and safety people to evaluate mr trotmans houseboats and Shut him down. ...

Tax man and insurance are also very effective

 

[teddington_lock]

I think you have this spot on Howard, sadly.

I must say that, given the significant and protracted effort the EA went to to get the court order, I had hoped that there would have been some pro-active planning and preparedness for what would happen next.

Trottman now choosing to occupy, of all places, lock cuts, must surely give the EA, however slow a beast it tends to be, opportunity and cause to act immediately.

Howard, you say that the boats at Teddington are not being challenged - do you mean that the lock staff have not even walked up and called out "Sorry sir, You can't moor there" or words to that effect?

Cheers,
Alan

As I understand it , they've been told not to approach the boats.

I think the big problem lies in what to do with them ... Even if the agency miraculously seize them ( good luck getting someone to put their signature to that ) where will they take them ?

Sunbury yard ! Oh no hang on , they sold that to developers. Blue sky thinking at its best. The PLA will not allow them onto their waters , so where will they go ?

The only way to go with this is to take possession , tow them ( carefully , remember they were built in situ , who knows if they will turn turtle under tow ) to the EA dry dock at Sunbury and chop them up. A million skips later and job done. There's nowhere else for them to go on the river.

Otherwise the byelaw, Agency, and Richmond Council are shown to be toothless despite the years of work getting it through the the courts. Make an example of it , and you might have half a chance with the others in future.

 

[Alan ashore]

The PLA will not allow them onto their water

That raises an interesting question though - would these vessels, in practice, be allowed passage through the lock?

so where will they go ?

And if you would let them through, then that has a potential answer, which God forbid.

Otherwise the byelaw, Agency, and Richmond Council are shown to be toothless despite the years of work getting it through the the courts. Make an example of it , and you might have half a chance with the others in future.

Hear Hear!!

 

[capnfishy]

The statutory public right of navigation permits any vessel to pass through any lock, it cannot be prevented. But, it does need to comply with all the regulations. I've mentioned that the local fire service, EHO and council officers for HMOs ought to take a close look at these hulks.

 

[ProDave]

So is this boat licensed? Does it have an engine and can move under it's own prepulsion, or is it licensed as a "non powered pleasure craft"?

A "solution" might be for the boat to mysteriously move to Richmond and let the toothless get at it?

On what basis is it "let" as individual rooms? As B&B? as one self catering unit? I doubt there is a lot the council could do about that. And re hmrc, what is to say he does not declare and pay tax on his income?

 

[teddington_lock]

It's already within the boundaries of richmond upon Thames.

As mentioned , the ea lock keepers cannot refuse it passage. However the port of London authority are a very different kettle of fish and can more or less do as they choose.

It's unlikely that he will find anyone to tow it down stream as all the tug operators are aware of the situation and the history of it. The tug operator who towed the hurst park boat upstream declined to get involved again due to the bad feeling created with the agency by his actions.

I was on duty when the hurst park boat was towed upstream ( at midnight as Trotman knew there was no chance of getting any enforcement guys out at night at short notice sneaky eh ? ) in fact the PLA escorted it to the lock as they had to report that it had left their waters. I told the tug operator that he had blotted his copybook for the future .

 

[Actionmat]

If you rent out rooms you need to be a licensed Landlord, so how does he get away with it? Trotman told the court that he was on the minimum wage, which smells of undeclared income.
No doubt he'll join the urban dictionary, when people remenis about 24hr free moorings, they'll say "Do you remember what the river was like before it was Trotman'd"

 

[Outinthedinghy]

That's sad that the Sunbury yard has gone to developers but predictable. I was in teddington today and there was a chalet on Trowlock island asking £1m wtf??

I think shepperton marina could deal with breaking up the vessels but they would need to be partly dismantled to get under Sunbury lock cut bridge I suspect.

Whoever towed the Hurst park boat should have more than his copy book blotted more like license removed !!

Ea can tow them with falconbrook or whatever.

They need to go asap because they are a stain on the River IMO

 

[ProDave]

If you rent out rooms you need to be a licensed Landlord, so how does he get away with it? Trotman told the court that he was on the minimum wage, which smells of undeclared income.
No doubt he'll join the urban dictionary, when people remenis about 24hr free moorings, they'll say "Do you remember what the river was like before it was Trotman'd"

No you don't

If you let a whole property, you have to be registered as a landlord. If you rent rooms in a House of Multiple occupancy, that has to be registered, but this is not a "house" so do the same rules apply?

If you rent rooms for B&B then so long as you only rent 2 rooms, you are exempt from needing planning permission to be a B&B, exempt from fire regulations other than what a normal dwelling needs, and exempt from any food hygiene requirements (so okay to use a domestic kitchen for the purpose.

Agreed if people see no action being taken, then the law becomes an ass and other will flout it.

 

[Actionmat]

So there was no tug at Hurst Park, but his Teddington Flotilla was commercially assisted?
A good story here:
http://www.friendsofhurstpark.org.uk/UnauthMooring.html
It sounds like an Ealing comedy. But no one's laughing.

Edit: the residents of the island towed it to the weir and a tug moved it to the lock cut?

 

[teddington_lock]

The teddington favela was ( almost unbelievably ) poled down with scaffold poles and pulled by hand from the bank.

Flow is very low at Tedders currently , about ten cumecs.

Going back to when the hurst park boat was first towed upriver , as they came through , the tug operator asked me if he could leave it on the lock moorings overnight as he'd had a long day. I politely enquired if he was taking the piss and told him absolutely not.

 

[nauticalnomad]

You can go outside you know witout being negative and whinging at everything you see..

 

[Actionmat]

You can go outside you know witout being negative and whinging at everything you see..

Thanks, I'll bear that in mind. Would you like to declare an interest?