Unsightly houseboat in Lower Upnor on the Medway

[ROBMH]

Oi

The Medeway has always been a working river, thankfully without hordes of Hooray Henries and even worse their wannabe clones in worrying shades of "Technical Gear " infesting the place with Regattas.
Admittedly we do have a surplus of mud, but for few moments either side of high tide , the place can look quite nice .....after a couple of pints and if you squint a bit. ?
And the Dutch though us quite an attractive sailing area not that long ago ?

As for whacking piles into the riverbed suspect that ROFF might take a bigger interest than PEEL PORTS or MMO.
In the past they have extracted money from The Crown, no less, for loss of riverbed when the Dockyard was built.

A little more recent perhaps..

Various other outfits have been bought to heel, who have driven piles/moorings in the river bed big and small, , including boatyard not a million miles away from Cuxton.
A real showdown came when Waterboards were privatised in the 1970s. Cannot remember whos idea that was.
Southern Water made some assumptions and started flogging commercial Medway fishing licences to all and sundry, presumably in an effort to captitalise on their highly leveraged assets.?
They were told to pack it in by ROFF.
ROFF were told, get lost by Southern Water.
It went all the way up to the House of Lords.
Their Lordships told SW that the House of Lords were not in the habit of striking down Royal Charters which had been in place since time time immemorial and perhaps they would like to rescind any illegal licences they had issued and by the way pay for all the court costs entailed .
ROFF decided to take no action against the errant fishermen who knew full well they were breaking the law.

Roff are aware of the situation

 

[Concerto]

Well looking to me that the New Owners are placing floating Club Houses , Homes , Building upon that watery site ? maybe its a new Club , poss selling of the Land at Upnor then basing their activities afloat ; yea agreed I much prefered the Sight of the Arethusa , it brought style , creedence , authority , Historical detail , to Lower Upnor ; after all there was /used to be a Metal Scrap Yard just up stream of these moorings , where Barges brought Scrap Metals etc ; before that it was Chalk etc which was loaded onto Motor Barges before Thames Barges ; hence the Quays along the shore line all the way to the MYC ; I have seen Cambria moored up there , undergoing a Maintenance schedule

Yep Upnor was based upon Commercial Boating operations long before the New Housing was built there , mostly on ex Stores and Horse stables etc

Then further up river at Whitwall Creek , it was used a a Barge /Boat /Naval Boat Graveyard , untill the Tunnel was built ; It was well known as a place where really good sized timbers could be had , just for the cutting them of the Boats there .

Then the RE (i think) had their base further still upriver ; they used to do Training at Upper Upnor in the wooded areas

Yep UPNOR has lotsa history , it used to have a Launching site for Trailer craft at Upper Upnor , untill it was stated , that Residents in them New Buildings objected to the Harbour Master about the use by boating fraternity anoying them

So I recall the Lauching Site was closed and left to ruin

Dunno if the launching site is still there ? anybody ?

You forgot that the site of Medway Yacht Club was a brickworks. Terry Pattmans yard in Lower Upnor handled the scrap metal and the chalk was in fact talcum powder.

Regarding the Medway Tunnel and Whitewall Creek, there were several points I can add.

There were 2 concrete lighters that had holes knocked in them to sink them. Two ex army lads started to seal the holes and remove the acumulated mud so they could be converted to houseboats. After they were floating and some woodwork had been installed, they were issued with a stop notice from the owners of the creek. When they left, the barges were broken up with a digger.

There was an old Thames barge at the head of the creek that was a houseboat and had been for decades. It was claimed it was in the way of the tunnel works and would have to be moved across the creek. This was done and after several tides, she broke her back. During the works for the tunnel, the barge did not need to be moved. How do I know? Well I had a building just across the road and took a lot of interest in the immediate area.

The area the Royal Engineers used for training for their earthworking equipment has a lot of restrictions. The sides of the raised area have protection notices for a number of different species. This was told to me by a RE Captain.

In Upper Upnor there was a lot of complaints when three 3 story homes were built on the shore. The most vocal was an ex navl commander. His view of the river was completely blocked. He caused the builders so many problems, they got their own back by naming the central house "Commander's View".

 

[Plum]

Unable to open the link, however something like at least 12 piles have been driven into the river bed.
Definately sufficient to accomodate another 2 boats at least.
The land on which stands a public bog (disused) is/was probably owned by the council ?
It has been fenced off and a substantial landing stage installed to be able to access the converted lighter.

Some considerable conjecture about where the lighter was previously based, local well known marina just downstream has denied all knowlege.

Hmm. The link still works for me. The summary of the works approved in my link is: "
Project title
Medway Yacht Club-Pontoon hammerhead extension
Project background
The project is to extend the existing hammerhead to a floating pontoon and also an existing side pontoon inshore of the hammerhead. Two new piles are required to anchor the extensions to the river bed. The piles would be driven into the river bed by a local marine contractor, GPS Projects using a PTC825 vibro pili9ng hammer. The steel piles are 18 metres long, 508 O/D and will be driven 5 to 6 metres into the river bed.
The club has obtained second hand pontoon sections which will be installed by a steel bracket system around the new piles to hold them in place. Details of the pontoon sizes being shown on the drawing below."

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

 

[xyachtdave]

Hmm. The link still works for me. The summary of the works approved in my link is: "
Project title
Medway Yacht Club-Pontoon hammerhead extension
Project background
The project is to extend the existing hammerhead to a floating pontoon and also an existing side pontoon inshore of the hammerhead. Two new piles are required to anchor the extensions to the river bed. The piles would be driven into the river bed by a local marine contractor, GPS Projects using a PTC825 vibro pili9ng hammer. The steel piles are 18 metres long, 508 O/D and will be driven 5 to 6 metres into the river bed.
The club has obtained second hand pontoon sections which will be installed by a steel bracket system around the new piles to hold them in place. Details of the pontoon sizes being shown on the drawing below."

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

You’re correct MYC obtained permission for extending its hammerhead and it was a real headache.

This is further upstream, it appears it’s unlikely to have gone through the same formalities.

 

[mullet]

Rumour doing the rounds locally is that whoever put the barge there has been issued with a planning enforcement order and will have to remove both the barge and the newly installed pilings.

 

[Plum]

You’re correct MYC obtained permission for extending its hammerhead and it was a real headache.

This is further upstream, it appears it’s unlikely to have gone through the same formalities.

So if the piles in question are not the ones that the Medway Yacht Club installed then there were no other licences granted by the MMO for any other piles at Upnor that I could find.

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

 

[mullet]

Piles allegedly allowed by Peel Ports. Emphasis on “allegedly”. I’m not sure whether other consent is/was also required - apparently planning though, if the information I posted above is correct.

 

[oldgit]

Roff are aware of the situation

Would be interesting to discover where the lighter came from, who towed it there and who drove the piles ?
The annexation was carried out with military planning , even down to a smart little declaration notice on the steel mesh fencing of the lighters name.
Presumably for the postman.
Wonder if a power connection to the grid has been requested.

 

[Bouba]

Two points from the outside
A. To have a view you need to own what is in front of you .
B. People who moan about a view , forget that the house they live in blocks a view someone else once had . It’s just selfish.

That’s like my favorite saying...if you don’t own the view then one day you will lose it.

 

[penfold]

Two points from the outside
A. To have a view you need to own what is in front of you .
B. People who moan about a view , forget that the house they live in blocks a view someone else once had . It’s just selfish.

The sightliness/unsightliness/obstructing views is immaterial; does it have permission to be there?

 

[RobWatt]

I moor directly in front if this on an MYC mooring and watched the installation over a few weeks . The lighter was towed up by Briggs .

 

[PeterWright]

For some bizarre reason, when the MMO was set up by statute, our beloved MP's decided that statutory port authorities would be exempt from the requirement on others to seek MMO permission for works. So, if the piles are driven into mud being part of a statutory port and they were driven on behalf of that port, MMO licence would not have been required.

Peter.

 

[oldgit]

I moor directly in front if this on an MYC mooring and watched the installation over a few weeks . The lighter was towed up by Briggs .

Wonder if you noted the name of the tug ?

 

[oldgit]

A little further info.
Requests for the MMO to produce any application to drive the piles has so far failed to produce any results.
A company alleged to have put the piles in place, is known to the port authorities for a long term series of "accidents" and transgressions on the river.
One very serious incident included a MAIB investigation which resulted in custodial sentence.

 

[Seastoke]

Where did the house boat come from.

 

[ROBMH]

Piles allegedly allowed by Peel Ports. Emphasis on “allegedly”. I’m not sure whether other consent is/was also required - apparently planning though, if the information I posted above is correct.

They new very little about them at the recent SMBA meeting and certainly didn't allow them.

 

[ROBMH]

A little further info.
Requests for the MMO to produce any application to drive the piles has so far failed to produce any results.
A company alleged to have put the piles in place, is known to the port authorities for a long term series of "accidents" and transgressions on the river.
One very serious incident included a MAIB investigation which resulted in custodial sentence.

I have also heard that it was carried out by this very person

 

[oldgit]

Suggestions the little plot that has been fenced off was actually owned and sold by Peel Ports to the present occupier.
The disused public toilet is connected to the grid .

 

[tony_lavelle]

The disused public toilet is connected to the grid .

Is there now a sewage grid?

 

[Capt Popeye]

As I recall , it , as was many years ago now , I recall that the Arethusa Traing Establishment owned property alongside the Pathway leading from Upnor Villiage up to Chattended above Upnor , where there were (are) good Housing builds (maybe I am wrong but ) if so those building might be good resiential new houses /homes ; so a possible very good investment for the buyers of Arethuas Training ; I maybe rather askew on this but I used to walk the dog along that footpath regularly