Middle Level Boat Registration Act
The Middle Level Commissioners (MLC) have submitted a Bill to Parliament, which has since passed its first reading in the Commons and the House of Lords. It is currently waiting its second reading in the Commons.
The draft Bill will then be followed by bye-laws, made under the Bill's by-law making powers, which will need to be confirmed by Defra and will be based on the provisions already consulted on and those provisions previously in the Order which had to be omitted from the Act.
During the period after, hopefully, the Act has been passed, the MLC will finalise the detail and discuss the position further with users and others to give some firmer indication of time-scales and charging.
Charging is not therefore the only driver of the present proposals, since the MLC would wish to ensure that vessels on the Commissioners' waters are safe, carry appropriate insurance and that they have appropriate powers to properly control navigation on their waters. The MLC have consulted on the present provisions over a long period and, with limited exceptions, the provisions now proposed were contained in the Draft Order and bye-laws that the MLC attempted to bring in some 10 years ago and on which the MLC have worked with boating organisations.
The MLC have assured me that it would wish to continue to take users with them when (hopefully) the new provisions come in. They also assured me that they will not be 'springing' anything on us, the boaters, and that there will be a ‘period of grace' for compliance with the new regime.
Readers questions on the Act
A few weeks ago I contacted Iain Smith who has stepped down as CEO of the MLC, but has stayed on to oversee the introduction of the new Act, with a number of questions that readers had concerning the incoming Boat Registration requirements, due to the misinformation that is being spread by the supporters of Bargee Travellers Association who are against any form of registration.
1) Annual Registration: It is noted that in the Bill there is no requirement to provide details of home mooring. Has this been missed out? As owners with legal Middle Level moorings expected it to be included, therefore removing the current problem of boats without moorings just drifting around, mooring where ever they like.
Parliament as mentioned above, required us to keep the Bill as short as possible and to deal with other aspects through byelaws. At present there is no general mooring allowed on Commissioners' owned channels and we have in the past considered this more of a landowner issue. We also note that this point was not mentioned in the consultation but we would consider this as a requirement if it was something that users generally really felt was necessary.
2) With regards to End of Garden moorings, Do you intend to follow CaRT practice of charging the owners an annual fee for mooring against their own land?
This question depends on your precise meaning. Where mooring takes place on a riparian channel, ie where, unusually in relation to the Middle Level rivers, the adjoining owners are deemed to own to the midpoint of the channel eg on Well Creek or the Nene, then we would not envisage that a charge for mooring would be levied. Most of the Middle Level system is however owned by the Commissioners and any mooring on our owned channels, eg Forty Foot would only be permitted with the Commissioners' consent and then on such terms as the Commissioners thought fit. This however, is already the present practice supported by court decisions and any change in relation to the Commissioners' owned waters would be a matter for MLC policy and not for the proposed new powers.
3) Annual registration fee expected. This is of some concern to some readers on fixed incomes. They would like to know roughly how much to save each month over the next year to pay the first annual fee.
I cannot as yet give a firm indication either as to the fee or the date on which it or the proposed new regime will become effective. This will to a very large extent depend on the Parliamentary timetable and also following the enactment of the Bill, the subsequent making of bye-laws which will need to be advertised and confirmed by DEFRA. What I can say, however is that once the Bill is enacted and we have some certainty over our powers, we will be holding discussions with users on the details of what is proposed.
We will also be holding discussions with the EA concerning reciprocal arrangements. Your readers will not therefore face the prospect of a change happening overnight since we will need to give a reasonable period of warning and grace for those affected to make the then required arrangements. If your readers are at this stage looking for a general indication of charge levels, I can only suggest that the levels charged by the EA and the Cam Conservators are noted although I cannot stress enough that the Commissioners have not yet reached any decision in this respect, as the power to do so does not yet exist, and would consider the Middle Level position and our own costs and navigation works programme before assessing the appropriate level. It has also been suggested that there should be a phased introduction of any such charges and the Commissioners would give consideration to this request.