Boating lass

OMG! Hung if you do hung if you don't ! First I'm accused of lying because I'm the only one with a complaint against the Milsons. so my fellow leisure moorers hear of my post & jump at the chance to defend my tales of woe & verify that what I have said is infact true, then we are all accused of lying because there are so many joining as new members to back up the accusations & so we must be telling untruths, because there are so many of us &we are new to the forum. (Welcome I'm sure). As you state in your own words lynalldiscovery "You couldn't make it up" so why on earth then would we! Why don't yourself & dog house come down have cake & coffee listen to their propaganda & you too could join his other customers in systematically bullying the disabled elderly couple & lone females who reside on the leisure moorings here. Authorities now acting to control their anti social behaviour ie Doncaster council, CaRT & the South Yorkshire police is obviously also not proof enough. Instead in your world it's all made up &someone has gone to great lengths to create lots of accounts & post lots of lies, what sort of sad people do you encounter in your life to assume anyone would go to such great efforts as well as working full time & raising a family. Perhaps you could invite the Milsons & their coffee boat empire (tongue in cheek) to permanently trade on your moorings, because the bliss full blend in cafe & shop boats you see along the waterways they most certainly are Not!

Thanks to everyone for your support & suggestions but I feel the need to point out to Martin, in the dog house, that I never asked or initially suggested any problems with food hygiene or their facilities other than the ones I have recently highlighted. I have not seen inside either boat other than on photos he has taken & posted on Facebook & have no intention of, as even if these people had the last glass of water on planet earth & only wanted a penny for it they would not get a penny from me as I do not support bullies of any nature. My point was that there are no beds in the coffee boat bean butty as they like to call it, so where does he sleep in there, floor, seating? It is of no real concern to me I will never eat there, but others do. Yes I agree there are always two sides to every story but unfortunately myself & the other boats nearby have had to fight tooth & nail to get our side heard & acknowledged through their lies & deceit. Can I just point out that I & the other boaters involved spend 90% of our time on our boats at these moorings & encounter these people on a daily basis, & I & many other of the females involved have been targeted & intimidated by mr Milson on a regular basis & now he is targeting the more vulnerable, or so he thought until the police got involved yet again! This couple have been kicked off or seen off of numerous moorings previous to Bramwith, including Rotherham, Doncaster town centre & strawberry island for their anti-social actions & I do not feel that one cup of coffee & a piece of cake for an hour on a sunny weekend afternoon makes time for a good judgment of character. It's easy to put on a smile & a false character for a short space of time for a customer who's willing to pay an extortionate price for a coffee & a slice of cake you have just bought at sainsburys. Propaganda whispered initially into willing ears on brief encounters has led many people throughout history to believe false accounts of what really happened for the believers to eventually have their eyes opened wide having spent time with or around the initial whisperer, who has since become the shouter, the bully & the fear maker & actually gets a lick out of creating that fear & intimidation. Hitler is a prime example & look at where that got everyone.

It appears they have been given 2 weeks breathing space to continue trading by the council planning department, but if they haven't conformed to their planning permission by then they must cease trading until they have re applied. But that will mean buying back their old narrow boat, getting rid of the wide beam they are currently fitting out, ripping up the paving they've laid, taking down the fence & electric post they've erected so this is doubtful. As far as hygiene goes they let his son sleep in the butty they use as the cafe boat when he visits. They sleep & bathe in the intended restaurant boat & are you allowed to take your waste for disposal in the back of the same van you deliver all your food & drink in?

Lots of fingers crossed here Peter. I guess it's a let's wait & see if Doncaster council stick to their guns & use their powers or drag their feet like they have done so far. I guess they've been backed into a corner now as the Milsoms have chosen to yet again ignore the rules everyone else is expected to abide by. Let's see if they come out fighting

The latest on the behaviour of Mr Michael Milsom, one of the proprietors of the coffee boat at bramwith lock. On wed 5th the Milsom's were told to cease trading by Doncaster councils planning department as they are not operating under the terms of their planning permission. As retaliation for this he yet again blocked the road to the gates at Bramwith moorings whilst unloading his van, when asked by an elderly boating couple (who had just returned from a doctors appointment as they are not well) MR Micheal Milsom became abusive but eventually moved his van. So when the couple had parked in the car park & got out of their car they were confronted by an aggressive & angry MR Milsom who said to the disabled gentleman (who has to use two walking sticks) "Your lucky your a f*****g cripple or I would put you on your back". This has consequently been reported to the police & CaRT. The police visited Mr Milsom AGAIN regarding his actions. Regardless of the order to cease trading the coffee boat has been open all weekend & they & their customers have called upon every Tom DICK & Harry (most of whom didn't even know where the coffee boat was so have been asking for directions from the locals) to sign their PETTY-ITION. But the Milsoms failed to tell their loyal (LOL) customers that they had been told to cease trading, so probably wasn't even covered on his insurance. And sign away they did, until approached on their way past by other boaters & locals informing them of the Milsoms true behaviour & personalities. One couple replied "Oh, they never told us that! We WOULDN'T have signed had we known" & suggested they would sign a petition by us against them to void their previous signatures, which had been gained under misinformation. One of the boaters opposite the coffee boat have claimed right of reply by hanging a big bright yellow banner from the side of their barge stating, MR & MRS Milsom are only upset because they have been made to comply with their terms & conditions, & inviting visitors to the coffee boat to come & chat with the other boaters near the coffee boat to hear the other side of the story. However the Milsoms called the police & CaRT in protest of the banner, apparently they didn't like the fact they have been named & shamed. But after a police & CaRT visit the Milsoms were informed that the banner is in no way derogatory & there for could stay put. Well MR Milsom will be spitting his dummy out now as he doesn't comprehend the word NO!!!! Let's see what happens next? Seriously considering an e-petition any suggestions were I could find the best support on this.

Thanks for the support everyone it is nice to know the boating community does pull together. I have to defend our leisure mooring officer because we have bombarded him with phone calls, texts & photos of what's going on here & he has been very supportive & taken a lot of flack from us all. But basically his hands are tied as theirs is a commercial mooring. He supported us when they triple moored with two narrow boats & a wide beam side by side & got things changed but that just resulted in his mother & father bringing their boat shark here onto a vacant leisure mooring that a couple were being made to wait to move on too despite being the winning bidders, then being moved off there they moored on the canal side behind the coffee boat & the wide beam & so we had four boats double moored & over staying. The coffee boat was still going up to the amenities block on a weekend then & his parents on shark even took it upon themselves to clear other boats from the amenities becoming abusive when denied. It took over three months for CaRt to move them on, in the mean time they joined in the barrage of abuse from threatening to throw the contracted grass cutter & his equipment into the canal if he cut the grass on the leisure mooring they had decided to occupy free of charge. To his mother shouting, swearing & threatening leisure moorers across the water, what a lady she is not! As for the commercial moorings officer, what a joke he is! He doesn't listen, treats us like we are some kind of northern hilly billies, he came to a meeting so we could all air our grievances & was nothing short of pig ignorant even returning to the coffee boat couple & referring to the leisure moorers as Animals. He just doesn't seem to see beyond the fake nicety the coffee boat couple put on despite the photographic evidence we've supplied, the police visits & knowing they do not have planning permission & continue to constantly break any terms & conditions set out for them or other waterways users. He refused to give us a copy of their terms & conditions until we took it higher. And they continue to flout these, so he just turns & blind eye & then suddenly terms have changed. Ironically he was the man that CaRT sent to carry out a further investigation of the problems being continually caused by his own customer, so no surprise that nothing's altered there. Perhaps it's difficult for him to admit he is wrong & the commercial mooring he created for them is totally wrongly placed & this area is just not suitable nor can it safely accommodate a cafe & the traffic it brings let alone a restaurant that is pending, that he hasn't agreed to. Our complaints have now been pushed through many managers at CaRT until they have now reached the top, yet still we have received no resolution & so has now gone to the ombudsmen. But CaRT are not the only ones turning a blind eye, Doncaster Council has also chosen to ignore our complaints & even though say they "agree the coffee boat couple are operating outside their granted planning permission on numerous issues, they cannot serve notice as the council doesn't work weekends, so they have not personally seen any infringements". But the fight goes on!

Having read all your posts, although they are old. As a fellow moorer at bramwith lock I feel the need to enlighten everyone to the true nature of the couple running the coffee boat. They are at present & have been since day one of getting their trade mooring by the access gates to the leisure moorings, traded with complete disregard for their mooring terms & conditions & planning permission. They do now have a trade mooring but they have no planning permission for the wide beam, for the fence or paving,are only permitted to sell drinks & snacks are not permitted to have more than 2 tables, are not allowed any signage apart from 1 A frame that must be in close proximity to their boat & have no displayed licence or mooring permit for their new wide beam since its arrival which they have completely fitted out on the mooring despite this not being permitted. They had no permission to trade from the amenities block at the time they started trading from cart or planning permission & they still have no permission from cart to allow their customers to use the toilet block yet as another blogger commented made access to the amenities very difficult for other boaters. They have & do systematically go out of their way to block the access road & gates to the other mooring users either with their van, keeping people waiting whilst he unloads, or when taking deliveries despite him being able to park on the grass verge opposite his boat with only the width of a single track road to cross. When asked politely by other moorers & cart to please not block the access road, his reply being a shouted "because I can!, I do what I want when & where I want & non of you or waterways can stop me" then becomes abusive & insulting, but he does tend to save this for the females & then on other occasions when the women are leaving the moorings by road he entices his customers to block & slow our leaving by driving at walking pace in front of us with their car & stopping & starting on the road or walking down the centre of the road if they are on foot making no attempt to move aside. He especially enjoys intimidating the elderly women accessing the gates to & from the moorings & blocking access to an elderly disabled couple on a regular basis.It has got so bad any lone female dreads going to the gates, myself included. They encourage cyclists visiting the cafe to prop their bikes on the fence or lay them to obstruct the single track access road & gate used by the other moorers. They have driven away many long term moorers with their bullying ways driving many into depression, even knowingly damaging one couples car on a regular basis with their van door in the car park. They seem to take great pleasure in choosing one woman after another to intimidate in an attempt to insight a reaction from their partner, but thankfully being unsuccessful as we have all chosen to go down the official route rather than react as he would like & as he falsely accuses us of to his customers. Having successfully driven away all but one moorer from his side when he was previously moored on the leisure moorings before getting a trade mooring. Bramwith lock moorings were a nice look out for each other, anything I can do to help, old style community before they arrived & his arriving speech shouted from his boat as he came to the moorings was "I am your new commander & you will do as I say & I will do as I please" little did we realise what they had install for us. He has had numerous visits from the police who have warned him about his attitude & behaviour (he even called one boater a nonse in an attempt to insight a reaction one night as said man was opening the gates for his wife, because she felt too intimidated by them to go through alone). Yet they will smile & be polite when your giving them your money & drinking your coffee & eating your cake, the majority of which are purchased from the supermarket ( yes they have been seen in sainsburys on a regular basis stocking up) & trying to convince you that they are the innocent victims of a selfish community that doesn't want to share the countryside. Please take time to talk to the other friendly moorers & listen to our side of their stories before jumping to conclusions, & by all means enjoy the country side as much as we used to. Because we are not the only ones this couple has set out to make lives difficult because they were also removed from strawberry island boat club & Doncaster moorings for their unacceptable behaviour. It is not the coffee boat we object to or the restaurant they are just in the wrong location bramwith lock is just not a suitable place for these businesses it cannot accommodate the increase in vehicles due to lack of parking & poor roads, especially on match days & we feel their are many safety issues regarding the sighting of the mooring & all we have asked for since their arrival is consideration for the other canal & mooring users & the enviroment. But are the canal & river trust listening to our plight the trade department most certainly are not, they simply rub their hands & close their ears.