magnetman

How lovely. A nice wide tarmac towing path surface so that idiot cyclists can display even more idiotic behaviour and achieve a higher average speed for the journey. Screw everyone else just blast along as if you are the only person in the world. I'd prefer to see the towing paths done by the pikeys to be honest. High speed cycling wrecks the amenity value of canalside walkways. It needs knocking on the head or bad things will happen.

I didn't receive this email. Two of my boats have been predominantly in London for the last ten years. One on a mooring and one cc ing. Both have my email address attached to the licenses. Strange goings on.

Obviously people who are accustomed to living on boats and have it sorted will be ok. My boats have always been warm and dry as a bone every winter since 1995. However it seems possible that people who are not geared up to living on boats could end up on them and be state supported because it is a cheaper way for councils to deal with the housing issue. Maybe it won't happen. Perhaps it is only available to people who keep their boats warm and dry and have been comfortably living aboard previously.

By this argument councils should be buying comfortable boats for people and paying for their cruising licenses. What happens if someone who is claiming housing benefit has no money and the only boat they can get hold of is a 20ft GRP cruiser with no heating. Is it appropriate for a local authority to pay for the license for this knowing someone is living on it in a canal or should they be steering the individual towards decent housing? This is where I think it could get problematic. Councils usually have some sort of legal responsibility to house people in decent conditions. While boats are a pleasant environment for some of the year they are far from it during the middle of winter if you have not got systems arranged like sensible reliable heating and adequate fuel supplies.

I sent all of my kids nappy waste in plastic bags to the HQ for testing and experimentation purposes. They can't get enough of it.

I was told they just let the babies crap as and when they need to. No need for enclosures. Seems sensible really although slightly dodgy if they defecate all over the back seats of the Range rover Evogue (sic)

Me too. We used a mix of disposable and washable for our two babies. 50/50 on the parent nappy-changing workload of course when you wash things it often uses electrical energy which comes from somewhere. That's an odd thing to say considering the economy of the entire industrialised world is based on extraction of buried materials. If the materials become valuable humans will extract them depending on the financial benefits. Open cast disposable nappy mines could well become quite popular in future.

The poor soiled baby will be crying :(

Blisworth tunnel.

My cousin, who has been living on a CRT "leisure" towpath mooring for about 10 years told me that one of the moorings came up at auction and someone acquired it on housing benefit. The effect was that he could outbid others because the amount of money the housing office would provide was fixed. So he got the mooring and it was far more expensive than previous auctions because of demand at that moment. Seems a bit dodgy. The mooring in question is a site where CRT have previously asked the council for PP to install several residential towpath side moorings but were refused. This might not be entirely accurate as it is second hand news but I reckon it's probably true.. I know the mooring site as I used to live there years ago and it was blatantly obvious that the first few moorings should be converted to residential with services. Possibly another slightly odd and unexpected side effect of the benefits system supporting people living on boats who don't actually have the full legal framework for residential use.

Dynamic positioning is the way ahead. Electric 360 pods at each end of the boat GPS controlled to keep it in exactly the same spot full time. Small diesel generator as a power source. They do it at sea in gales so it's hardly rocket science to do it on a ditch

Probably worth pointing out that PLA is the tidal Thames. Above Teddington discharge of untreated sewage from boats is illegal. Slightly odd as it is an EA waterway when the Great Ouse and Nene are not subject to this restriction... maybe it's the queen doing it. Just in case anyone was confused. PLA jurisdiction ends below Teddington lock. ETA also worth pointing out that the Thames tideway tunnel project is modifying the old Basil Jet combined sewer outlets which also take in rain into a waste transfer tunnel system which will avoid massive amounts of untreated waste ending up in the River. Which is a Good Thing. 20ft diameter tunnel running down the Thames and also under Limehouse cut to transfer the unmentionables to Beckton shitfarm. Basically.

It obviously is cheaper for the benefit office to pay just for a "no home mooring" CRT license than a land dwelling. This is an indisputable fact. Or are you suggesting that CRT licenses will suddenly be £10k a year? This seems improbable to me. I was suggesting that if this is seen as a solution then other discussions will take place and ensure that the door gets closed. Maybe that door is already moving. We basically agree on where things are heading but I tend to think that certain inputs will make it happen quicker. ETA if you were referring to benefits office paying for licenses AND residential moorings with pp then it's obviously a completely different subject and in some areas is indeed a valid housing solution.

I misread the title of this thread.

My central London residential (CRT) mooring is £9500 per annum. I own the boat which cost me £80k 9 years ago. Decent flats in the area are basically £20k a year so after ten years on this mooring the value of the boat has been reduced to around £0 if you are looking at spending the same money. The boat is still worth something... The savings available by using the CC license option are astronomical. £15k+ per year. In other words assuming you actually like living on a boat,which some people do, a £15k narrow boat will pay for itself in a year in London.