The mooring problem

Let us look at the more difficult questions faced by waterways communities, not just in London but all over the network, writes Simon Grindrod.

It would be lovely to cruise the network, but I am not retired or rich enough to stop working. I think we are looking at the problem from the wrong angles.

We have in excess of a thousand people living on boats in London. Living, not holidaying. Either we say no living on boats or we look at how we can accommodate the very different needs of the live-aboard community.

Having lived on a boat for the best part of 15 years I have seen this argument about continuous cruisers' boats flogged to death. People are moving onto boats to live and work not to cruise. Instead of trying to enforce rules that don't fit the problems, we really need to start over and look at the issues.

Before someone starts furiously hitting their keyboard, I am not excusing the boats that sit on water points, moor at bridge holes and clog visitor moorings, what I am saying is we have a chronic problem that needs sorting and simply saying to move on just ain't going to work.

And just for the record, having been a mooring warden in London for 10 years, I am now on Olympic moorings before leaving London because there is nowhere I can afford to moor.