London winter moorings

THE Canal & River Trust (CaRT) has decided not to offer winter moorings in central London claiming its decision is based on feedback from ‘some boaters' (Winter moorings) writes Allan Richards.

However, it is fairly common knowledge amongst those that deal with CaRT, that all winter moorings were under threat due to problems with local residents and councils.

Moor where you like

Last year, CaRT introduced a system which allowed boaters to moor where they liked for up to five months during winter. Whilst this found favour with boaters (and resulted in gross income of more than £250k for the Trust), residents in some areas of London have been less than impressed by colonies of boaters also becoming residents rather than being ‘moved on'.

Councils, perhaps responding to residents, have also expressed concerns as, under planning regulations, a ‘change of use' is needed for land to which a residential boat is moored for more than 28 days. Then, of course, ‘council tax' raises its ugly head!

Support for earlier system

The National Association of Boat Owners (NABO) has been saying for some time that it supports the earlier system of allocating winter moorings at fixed named sites and would be unhappy to see their wholesale cancellation.

It seems that the Trust has listened.