Well done Alister Trotman

That's one hell of a floating shanty town that's appeared opposite Hampton Court. A load of other boats have joined the camp, I've never seen anything this bad.
Trotman was up at Molesey Lock this morning, using the sun drenched fence of the lock cut to dry a dozen duvets that they'd been washing in the river!
 
Actionmat said:
That's one hell of a floating shanty town that's appeared opposite Hampton Court. A load of other boats have joined the camp, I've never seen anything this bad.
Trotman was up at Molesey Lock this morning, using the sun drenched fence of the lock cut to dry a dozen duvets that they'd been washing in the river!
Click to expand...

Jeez.... :ambivalence:
 
Actionmat said:
That's one hell of a floating shanty town that's appeared opposite Hampton Court. A load of other boats have joined the camp, I've never seen anything this bad.
Trotman was up at Molesey Lock this morning, using the sun drenched fence of the lock cut to dry a dozen duvets that they'd been washing in the river!
Click to expand...

I hope the river he was washing the duvets in was up stream of his floating sewage works :disgust:
 
What if you Thames people decided to use the writ of mandamus on the EA, and other agencies ? If ever there is cause to put one into action it is against the inaction displayed by official organisations.
 
Including the now de rigeur attached 2-berth barely floating cabin cruiser that every 'permanently lived on and rarely moved half-derelict vessel' now seems to carry alongside it, I counted 22 'shanty town' boats at Hampton Court today spread across both sides of the river. It says something that, in context, Trotman's fleet of rental boats with rooms for 30 paying souls on board is just one part of a bigger problem even on just this 200 metre stretch of the river. No doubt word will continue to spread that it's a soft touch on the Thames and more exiles from the Canal network will soon join the Hampton Court Shanty Town.

I have no idea what all the visitors to the UK at Hampton Court Palace make of it but those at the EA that could be doing something about this but aren't should be deeply ashamed and somebody needs to hold them to account. Their silence on the matter is deafening.
 
Lower Limit 1909 said:
Including the now de rigeur attached 2-berth barely floating cabin cruiser that every 'permanently lived on and rarely moved half-derelict vessel' now seems to carry alongside it, I counted 22 'shanty town' boats at Hampton Court today spread across both sides of the river. It says something that, in context, Trotman's fleet of rental boats with rooms for 30 paying souls on board is just one part of a bigger problem even on just this 200 metre stretch of the river
Click to expand...
Many of those little cruisers are owned by one man. Trotman! He's been snapping up wrecks to rent out as additional accommodation. I know it sounds unbelievable, but I have that from a very reliable source. I just assumed he was a magnet for floating layabouts, but no, it's his ever expanding empire.

Meanwhile, the EA have instructed Teddington Lock not to let anyone pay for more than one night on their moorings. This is thanks to Trotmans last long term stay which will now affect everybody else.
There will be some very unhappy boat owners during the next drain off and visiting clubs hoping to pay for a couple of nights while enjoying the local hospitality and waiting for the tide will also be disappointed.
Yet again, the agency that dragged the slumboats back on the non tidal Thames are treating the rest of us with contempt.
 
Maybe just maybe now that Trotmans slum village has made BBC London local news and the Hampton Court flower show just around the corner someone will be held accountable for the ever growing health hazard on the opposite bank or perhaps the EA will just try to pass it off as a ferry boat station to the show !!!
 
I saw the news item on BBC breakfast, good to see the council and the EA being shamed over the matter. What next? Trotman claiming it's an eco village with an offer of free manure for the flower show?
 
normskib said:
... perhaps the EA will just try to pass it off as a ferry boat station to the show !!!
Click to expand...

Well there's a lot of money to be made running a Ferry Service during the flower show so maybe Trotman will get in on that game too. No real barriers to entry as the EA and local authorities won't require him to have a licence, insurance, safe vessel, and all the usual red tape that commercial operators are required to have. And if he breaks down on the tidal section they'll give him a free tow back like last time.
 
Where have all the Slumboats gone? Just can’t help but wonder just who’s being graced with their presence! The only one I’ve seen of late has been plonked just of the bank by Hampton Court Bridge presumably so as not to invoke some Riparian By- law one can only assume that the rest of the fleet has crept through the Locks and gone further up stream no sign of them from the Bridge towards Kingston or Teddington.
 
normskib said:
Where have all the Slumboats gone? Just can’t help but wonder just who’s being graced with their presence! The only one I’ve seen of late has been plonked just of the bank by Hampton Court Bridge presumably so as not to invoke some Riparian By- law one can only assume that the rest of the fleet has crept through the Locks and gone further up stream no sign of them from the Bridge towards Kingston or Teddington.
Click to expand...
About two weeks ago the other two and a tug were on the Hampton Riviera pontoons just above Molesey lock. Think the one below Hampton Court bridge may actually be aground.
 
Dominic Raab is looking for someone skilled in running rings around figures of presumed authority so maybe that's where AT has gone.
 
2 of Trotmans large slumboats and a couple of smaller cruisers he rents out are back at Hurst Park, where they were evicted from last year. The other slumboat was headed there too, but has indeed grounded and with the assistance of his tugboat(Buster), they've made a little bridge so his residents can continue to liveaboard and enjoy Hampton Court.
How one man can continue to stick two fingers up at the courts(and seemingly get away with it for years) is beyond my comprehension. And he has the audacity to present himself as someone who's fighting for the rights of those who use the river!
 
Actionmat said:
2 of Trotmans large slumboats and a couple of smaller cruisers he rents out are back at Hurst Park, where they were evicted from last year. The other slumboat was headed there too, but has indeed grounded and with the assistance of his tugboat(Buster), they've made a little bridge so his residents can continue to liveaboard and enjoy Hampton Court.
How one man can continue to stick two fingers up at the courts(and seemingly get away with it for years) is beyond my comprehension. And he has the audacity to present himself as someone who's fighting for the rights of those who use the river!
Click to expand...

This post hits the nail on the head^
 
Really sad to see that this issue goes back so long and Trotman is apparently running rings round everyone. The problem has moved upstream to Hurst Park and just below the Molesey Lock.

Trotman appears to have 4 main barges in this area and there are a collection of very poorly maintained vessels moored with the main barges. As mentioned earlier by other posters, he must be breaching a whole heap of bylaws and safety regulation.

Elmbridge Council didn't know which department would be responsible, Surrey Council passed a complaint to Trading Standards, EA said the boats would be gone in the New Year (2019) and Bookings.com said they could only take a complaint if I had booked accommodation.

Hmm.. There's an idea..... I think I may go into this line of business myself (of course with better looking houseboats..

It seems like the rules surrounding running such a business are very relaxed and with little recourse in the event of non conformity.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top