A RECENT FEATURE IN Novara Media investigated the many issues that boaters face in their relationship with CRT.
Including the spiralling costs of boat licences, aggressive enforcement and the almost total neglect of waterside facilities like bins, toilets, water points and pump outs, including an interview with a boater who has taken to fixing broken pipes, toilets, wash basins, and water points to stop raw sewage from entering the waterways.'
The removal of many towpath bins has also seen boaters starting ‘Nomadic Litterpickers’ groups both in London and the Kennet & Avon to try and fill the gaps in service that CRT have left.
But boaters are not the only ones who have expressed frustration with CRT’s lack of focus on delivering on their central mission. A major feature in PoliticsHome earlier this year pointed to poor communication and frustration between the Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and CRT.
Given their failure to complete many aspects of the task they were set up to do—i.e. to manage the waterways, and to develop into a self-funding charity rather than relying on government grants—it is perhaps no surprise that CRT is falling back on their old tricks of blaming the tiny community of roughly 7000 travelling boats for their organisational woes.
Novara’s piece provides one possible explanation—with conflicts of interest between CRT executives and property development portfolios, managing the canals may not even be the priority.
In his article, Cameron Baillie investigates these links and writes:
“Are non-profits like the CRT and Peabody—well-intentioned though their staff may be—fronts for asset speculation and sell-offs in the private sector? And are the CRT’s investment decisions being made by people with those inclinations?”
What does NBTA tell:
Ian McDowell, the Secretary of the NBTA, explains:
“Despite not being able to articulate an actual problem which needed to be addressed, and a consultation in which licensing and congestion was low on the priority list of boaters in general, the Commission’s recommendations have given CRT unlimited permission to pursue a long-held wish list of changes which will enable it to even further marginalise boaters without a home mooring.
"From further ad hoc differential (discriminatory) pricing and regional licence rationing, to a draconian increase in enforcement powers and the removal of the Rivers Only discount to name but three, the Commission’s recommendations give CRT the ammunition to seek the legislative changes which would threaten the very existence of our community.
"CRT seek to use boaters as a scapegoat for their failings…but the collateral damage will be the waterways themselves. Boaters are the lifeblood of the UK’s waterways. We keep them flowing, we keep them safe, and we keep them functioning as a vibrant, welcoming, public space.
"We encourage those concerned to start by emailing their MP—or the MP where they are currently moored—to make them aware of how the travelling boater community, and the waterways in general, will be damaged if CRT attempts to use any legislative instrument to realise the Commission’s recommendations.”
Pamela Smith Chair of NBTA relates:
“The CRT Future of Boat Licensing report contains many recommendations that are simply unworkable. This is the result of the absence of direct representation of itinerant boat dwellers on the Commission.
"The report recommends revising the navigation requirements for boaters without a home mooring. If CRT is going to do that, itinerant boat dwellers demand to be a central and key player in any and all revision activities. Nothing about us without us!
"I am outraged by the harshness of some of the recommendations. For example, imposing fines for minor breaches of the law. If a boat dweller cannot pay a fine, the Commission proposes towing their boat to a secure location and charging them daily storage fees—thus depriving them of their home without benefit of a court hearing to decide whether removing their home is proportionate. This would be a gross violation of their Article 8 rights. The storage fees are likely to outstrip boat dwellers’ ability to pay them, punishing people for being on a low income. What if there are children on board when a boat is towed, or the occupant is ill? What if children come home from school to find their home has gone? Where will those boaters live who are unlawfully and disproportionately dispossessed of their homes? And how much will this cost CRT in storage fees for boats the owners cannot afford to repossess? The implications of this have not been thought through at all – because there was nobody on the Commission with the lived experience required to do so."
What do boaters tell?
Oscar, a travelling boater currently moored on the River Lee complained:
"I’m a separated parent who shares my daughter fifty-fifty with her mum. She goes to school in Leytonstone, so these proposed changes—longer cruising ranges and mandatory canal licence fees—would make the school run much harder. I’d either need a car or spend far more time commuting to school, and on top of that, I’d be paying around six hundred pounds more each year, not even counting the above inflation increases they’re forecasting. That’s a huge strain for me and my family.
I actually gave up the canal licence and moved to 'river only' after the first year because of safety issues. The Regent’s Canal has persistent leaks in gates and paddles, and boats are often left grounded. I had to call emergency services three, four times per week to stop my boat from sinking. It was stressful and dangerous, especially with a child on board.
Beyond cost implications, the recommended enforcement measures—such as fines, towing, or eviction for non-compliance—pose severe risks for parents striving to provide a secure home.
If they force this extended cruising range, I’d have to move back into Regent’s Canal, which is unsafe and poorly maintained. So, in short, I’d be pushed into areas I don’t need to be, make family life harder, put my daughter in danger, and all that in exchange of paying nearly double what I do now. It makes no sense. I really hope the trust considers how these policies hit families like mine and focuses on safety and affordability instead."
The National Bargee Travellers Association (NBTA) is a volunteer organisation formed in 2009 that campaigns and provides advice for travelling boat dwellers on Britain’s inland and coastal waterways. This includes anyone whose home is a boat and who does not have a permanent mooring for their boat with planning permission for residential use. See www.bargee-traveller.org.uk