Trotman barge below Hampton court

Actionmat said:
Yes, they were towed to the Pits at PH. I heard one of the EA blokes who was on the slumboat in the lock. After seeing the state of the toilet on board, he decided to use Teddingtons!
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According to this former 'resident' the 'landlord' himself found it easier to just use the carpets https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/23/london-houseboat-slum-rents-barge#comment-32336250

What with that and all the rat poison reportedly stuffed everywhere I'm surprised the EA weren't equipped with BioHazrd/ HazChem suits.
 
With the current rate of steel scrap,it is going to almost certainly going to cost the EA money to sort those boats.First the towage,then need to take into account some sort of survey for dangerous stuff aboard, labour to cut it up and get it transported away.
In addition bet they are going to need to hire a few skips and men to clear the internal rubbish.
Suspect they also need owner permission to dispose of boat. !
The lighter may be sellable as a houseboat hull, however RCC was recently offered one for nothing, probably due to the owner having trouble finding somewhere to keep it and virtually impossible to sell.
 
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Barges have been reclaimed , one is on the Queens promenade in Kingston , one is by the mouth of the Wey at Shepperton ( right near the waterways office )

The EA legally had to give them back for some reason.

Info is scarce at the moment
 
teddington_lock said:
Barges have been reclaimed , one is on the Queens promenade in Kingston , one is by the mouth of the Wey at Shepperton ( right near the waterways office )

The EA legally had to give them back for some reason.

Info is scarce at the moment
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FFS - It truly beggars belief that after so much time and effort to date, the EA's legal team could not prevent that.
If Trotman turned up with a court order how on earth did he get it so quickly?
If not, why on earth did they release the boats to him?

So depressing.
 
What an utterly ludicrous situation. Trotman is just laughing at the EA, the plod and all other agencies involved. Take these wrecks off him and destroy them ffs.
 
Could someone please explain to me why my boat that I spend a fortune on maintenance insurance, licence, mooring fees etc failed its BSS because of the angle of the Down hose from the immaculate gas locker was at slightly the wrong angle to drain completely! although I realise this is a problem even though my boat is not very old this is only it's second test and it's been established the it's a manufacturers design fault and I will correct it, My point is how on earth are these floating time bombs owned by mr Trotman allowed to be on the river and move around ( on occasion) with impunity ? Please don't tell me these wrecks are licensed insured etc!!! must go now and alter the angle of my hose other wise I could never expect my boat to pass the safety test.
 
Is there a Canal Ombudsman who could sack the EA board ?


This is turning into one of the biggest reputational disasters on the inland waterways I can remember.

When the Rural Payments AGency messed up the farm grants system about 10 years ago, the head of RPA was ditched.


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Somewhere in the possession or running of these slumboats, Trotman must have a chink in his armour which can be exploited to take these floating risks off the river.
 
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He'll be runnng his dosshouse in Kingston for a long time to come. Can you imagine Henley town council putting up with him? I don't know why Kingston are so toothless, it took them an age to shift the squatters from Ravens Ait and the same band of wronguns are still taking up the 24hr moorings. It can't be due to a lack of funds.
 
If the boats were towed to Penton Hook I wonder who has then towed them back down or did they actually never get to PH in the first place. Maybe the ea were simply looking to shift the problem away from teddington lock which they have now done by using their nice tug Falconbrook.
 
They did not reach Penton Hook.
I assume Trotman has found another loophole to slither through, one can only hope the E.A can find a way to regain and this time retain possession.
Chris
 
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ChrisHanley said:
They did not reach Penton Hook.
I assume Trotman has found another loophole to slither through, one can only hope the E.A can find a way to regain and this time retain possession.
Chris
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Allowing the EA to take and dispose of/destroy any boat they don't like the look of may not be a wholly desirable precedent to set.

That said, it beats the heck out of me how he can go on offering accommodation on these things. Are barges exempt from all the rules about HMOs, from the concept of "unfit for human habitation" and so on? It seems clear that he can keep his barges on the river for as long as he wants; the trick is to stop him wanting, and cutting off the money might do just that.
 
JumbleDuck said:
Allowing the EA to take and dispose of/destroy any boat they don't like the look of may not be a wholly desirable precedent to set.

That said, it beats the heck out of me how he can go on offering accommodation on these things. Are barges exempt from all the rules about HMOs, from the concept of "unfit for human habitation" and so on? It seems clear that he can keep his barges on the river for as long as he wants; the trick is to stop him wanting, and cutting off the money might do just that.
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Agree about removing and destroying boats being a bad principle specially such large vessels which are going to be expensive to dispose of. What I don't understand is why the council have not taken any action about the use of the boats as dwelling places. I suppose it is possible that they ate entirely legal and I think they may have BSS and insurance and licenses.

So it seems like a pass the parcel game gradually moving around different land owners who use various tactics to encourage the boats to leave. Nobody seems willing to find a way to atop it. Or maybe its all above board and not in fact a problem except to noisy nimbys??

I found them a bit offensive personally in visual terms they degrade the River somewhat but other than that no particular harm as such.

If there is waste going in the water thats an offence I believe but its been going on so long nobody wants to do anything.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if someone else copied the business model in the same area.
 
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