The EA / DE needs to get a grip on the moorings ?

[Scapegoat]

Travelling downriver last week there were lots of spaces on moorings -Egham towpath, Staines, Laleham, Shepperton, LL Lawn, Weybridge, Walton towpath.
The only “regular” moorers I noticed were Amadeus and Sexy Beast, both at Walton towpath and Bairns Pride on Desborough Island.
Really was quite good to see fewer abuses of short term moorings ?

Also noticed a few boats on the new private moorings at Doyle Carte Island

 

[Northern Star]

Indeed, it is great that Doyle Carte Island is being used again and hope that all those empty pontoons on the far side from Shepperton become available again.

Good to hear things are getting quieter as I have been away from the Thames for a few weeks and look forward to a cruise down to Laleham soon for lunch at the Three Horseshoes.

Amadeus was looking in splendid the last time I saw her and he has done a really nice job of the restoration over the past few years.

 

[Scapegoat]

Amadeus was looking in splendid the last time I saw her and he has done a really nice job of the restoration over the past few years.

Yes . I thought the same! She looks very smart and clean now

 

[Scapegoat]

Just seen on Twitter

Maria Herlihy EA

we carried out Registration checks on vessels moored at Cherry Orchard Gardens West Molesey.
35 vessels checked and 29 booked unregistered.
4 sect 16 notices served and
4 No Name Notices served.
2 vessels given advice and guidance for excessive wash

https://t.co/I28OjL03N1

 

[Parabordi]

and thats the last you will hear about it, too expensive to go to court and folks know it

 

[Gibeltarik]

Just seen on Twitter

Maria Herlihy EA

we carried out Registration checks on vessels moored at Cherry Orchard Gardens West Molesey.
35 vessels checked and 29 booked unregistered.
4 sect 16 notices served and
4 No Name Notices served.
2 vessels given advice and guidance for excessive wash

https://t.co/I28OjL03N1

Could be a turning of the screw!

That is a lot of boats booked for non-registration - not sure why they have been missed in the previous 10 months?

This is probably the first use of Section 16 of the 2010 IWO and is a small step forward (This allows EA to remove unregistered from the Thames)

No name - unmarked vessels are exceedingly difficult to enforce! A good step forward.

And just in case you think I am EA friendly I have attached the details of my recent complaint which EA are investigating - all are personal observations and not just reports.

 

[normskib]

Tip of the Iceberg on the Thames !

 

[ms1]

Travelling downriver last week there were lots of spaces on moorings -Egham towpath, Staines, Laleham, Shepperton, LL Lawn, Weybridge, Walton towpath.
The only “regular” moorers I noticed were Amadeus and Sexy Beast, both at Walton towpath and Bairns Pride on Desborough Island.
Really was quite good to see fewer abuses of short term moorings ?

Also noticed a few boats on the new private moorings at Doyle Carte Island

Bairns Pride, still there - February 2024.

 

[Scapegoat]

Saw this in Dominic Raab’s newsletter last week. Be interesting to see if there are any positive developments

“For too long, illegal moorings have been a blight along the Thames riverbank in Elmbridge and a key concern for local residents.

I have consistently favoured the removal of illegal moorings through a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO). In 2019, I formally requested that Elmbridge Borough Council pursue the implementation of a PSPO as soon as possible.

Despite four years of dither and delay, following pressure from myself and the Conservative group at Elmbridge Borough Council led by Cllr John Cope, the Council has now reversed its position and voted to accept my proposal to tackle illegal moorings properly with a PSPO. This is fantastic news for riverside residents and river users who can now expect to see proper enforcement against illegal moorings on council owned land.

As the Environment Agency also own a considerable stretch of the riverbank in Elmbridge, I will continue to work with both Elmbridge Borough Council and the Environment Agency to see both organisations taking a joined-up approach to enforcement.”

This is the link from the newsletter

Tackling Illegal Moorings

 

[Outinthedinghy]

PSPO is an interesting tool. I could see a few Boats being abandoned and ending up on Sunbury weir. Its already got 2 or 3 on there. Displacement is another interesting question in this story.

In the image it looks a bit like a Trotman slumboat but they have proved quite awkward to shift over the years so enforcement will have to be quite strong.

Richmond got him off their land using byelaws but Elmbridge are declining to pursue this route.

Interesting to see what happens here.

Neither the EA nor councils want the hassle of dealing with this problem.

 

[Scapegoat]

Another newsletter update


Link: Tackling Illegal Moorings

 

[oldgit]

This is still on going on the Medway.
'Monstrosity’ houseboat blighting village's river views
Court has ordered removal of the barge and all the structural works around it.
Piles must be drawn and the landing stage removed.
The owner has of course appealed the judgement.
Now awaiting the appeal date, when this little horror is sorted, attention will be on sorting something else a bit further upstream.

 

[Scapegoat]

Seems the EA have won a court case against overstayers on public short term moorings at West Moseley.

Judge rules against boat-owners flouting Thames mooring rules

 

[ms1]

Bairns Pride, still there - February 2024.

Bairns Pride, still there - October 2024.
That's now five years of free moorings for this boat on the Thames. (Desborough Island EA, 24 hour moorings )

 

[alfaman155]

Bairns Pride, still there - October 2024.
That's now five years of free moorings for this boat on the Thames. (Desborough Island EA, 24 hour moorings )

Yes, but abandoned. I can't see it remaining afloat for much longer.

 

[Outinthedinghy]

The Bairns Pride (Scottish ex MFV) has been sunk for several months on the EA public mooring on Desborough island. To a casual observer it may seem afloat but it is on the bottom (deep draughted Boat). I can't recall exactly when it went down (and it is definitely not coming up again) but I think it was last winter which did it. Bit of a risk this winter of it becoming buoyant and floating in a flood. EA don't do much any more. There is still a sunk canal Boat on Sunbury weir which indirectly caused a fatal rowing accident recently.

The flood alleviation roller sluices (installed when the Desborough cut was excavated in the 1930s) has been used as a weir because the tumbling bay weir is defunct and the main weir is partly blocked. The result of opening flood gates is a vacuum cleaner effect which in this case sucked in a rowing 4, broke the Boat in half and ejected all the rowers with the loss of one life.

Yes... It was red boards. However this is directly attributable to EA failures and it is an indicator of serious problems and accelerating decline.

Why are the weirs which were built for managing levels not working properly?

Do the EA understand the assets and infrastructure they are dealing with ?

Does anyone at the EA know that the Sunbury roller sluices are connected to a profiled hydraulic channel downstream and that they are not a weir for managing levels until every other piece of tackle is out? If they don't know this then what else don't they know about how the Thames functions as a navigation and a land drain ?

 

[oldgit]

Via messages from ATYC it would appear the tide has finally turned regards action against non licenced boats and those mooring without let or leave on the banks of the Thames.
On the Merdeway.
Rochester Pier had its collapsed brow removed recently and no longer provides any access to shore.
The remaining substantial floating pontoon has recently aquired 3 or four long stay boats, council has been made aware and has started proceedings to shift them.
A number of leisure moorings in Chatham Bight were removed by Peel Ports due to lack of use and suspect several half submerged commercial buoys in the river will be lifted and not replaced in the not to distant future.
Above Allington Lock on the last trip up a noticable absence of livaboards and abandoned heaps.

 

[Outinthedinghy]

To be fair the EA are getting onto the situation with the slums down the bottom end of the non tidal Thames.

Various court cases have revealed a more valuable understanding of the land ownership questions and provided some answers.

Things may change at some stage but the official line seems to be that the EA do not have the resources to deliver the desired outcomes.

Obviously with continued funding cuts DEFRA becomes an interesting question and the allocation of funding to the EA.

Things can only be done within budget. Slum housing existing on Boats is an interesting problem to attempt to solve. Something tells me it will not be easy.