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Survey! Council trying to close Saltford Meadow mooring site


Dave123

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Hi, seen this link to a survey by Satlford Council attempting to get a ban on mooring in Saltford Meadow. I haven't yet been to the Western K&A but hope to and don't want to see mooring options further limited. It's the usual story of alleged troublesome overstaying boats causing a nuisance. CRT and the council already have sufficient powers to deal with this and a blanket mooring ban punishes well behaved boats and is no good for anyone.

Strongly suggest filling out the quick online survey as they need a public response to get support to ban mooring.

 

http://www.saltfordenvironmentgroup.org.uk/#733 for info

And survey link here...

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/MeadLane

 

Thanks!

 

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Yes but the point is the response the council/CRT should use is better enforcement and policing of antisocial behaviour and anyone who cares about someday mooring there should use the survey to encourage the council to take this approach.

Also, whilst I don't know the area well I strongly suspect much antisocial behaviour is locals and nothing to do with boats. I do know it's a popular swimming/picnic spot for local teens in the summer. 

Edited by Dave123
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3 hours ago, Dave123 said:

Yes but the point is the response the council/CRT should use is better enforcement and policing of antisocial behaviour and anyone who cares about someday mooring there should use the survey to encourage the council to take this approach.

Also, whilst I don't know the area well I strongly suspect much antisocial behaviour is locals and nothing to do with boats. I do know it's a popular swimming/picnic spot for local teens in the summer. 

Unfortunately enforcement cost money, much cheaper for the council to ban moorings, and this is probably the preferred option of those that would pay for improved enforcement via their council tax.

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58 minutes ago, Chewbacka said:

Unfortunately enforcement cost money, much cheaper for the council to ban moorings, and this is probably the preferred option of those that would pay for improved enforcement via their council tax.

 

One of the links to when the scheme was being set up referred to it being an experiment relying on boaters 'self policing' themselves, implying if they didn't, the scheme would end. 

 

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2 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

One of the links to when the scheme was being set up referred to it being an experiment relying on boaters 'self policing' themselves, implying if they didn't, the scheme would end. 

 

Don’t they self police at the west end of the K&A??

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I don't think CRT patrol the river at all and there is a bit of squatting going on in quite a few places. There is not really a towpath as such so patrolling it might involve quite a lot of work and so an extra member of staff. I also suspect that CRTs legal position is not quite as strong on rivers as it is on the canals so there is a possibility of all sorts of defiance and legal battles.

The real bottom line is that CRT are putting much more effort into cycling and community engagement these days and likely see this as more "troublesome and costly boater stuff" which they would like to be rid of.

 

.............Dave 

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1 hour ago, David Mack said:

But since this is council owned land I suspect CRT don't enforce here anyway.

 

What? The western end of the K&A (the stretch cited in the post I was answering) is now council owned? 

 

 

 

 

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Recent photos of the site show no litter or environmental damage and space for other boats. Also sounds like there isn't really a problem with antisocial behaviour. It has more to do with residents wanting no cars parked on the lane but this ridiculous heavy handed approach will adversely affect all river users.

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Technically it's the River Avon rather than the K&A. The waters are CRT controlled but it looks like the bank must be controlled by Saltford parish council or BANES council. There's no towpath as such but a public footpath follows the river closely from Bristol to Bath. At Saltford the path is routed along the roads of Mead Lane and The Shallows then passes between the river and the marina, crossing the marina entrance via a footbridge. 

 

CRT regularly patrol the area including visiting boatyards and private moorings. There are plenty of unlicensed boats in the area as well as overstayers. My neighbour, who works for CRT, tells me that it costs £8000 to remove a boat, so it's understandable that they are reluctant to do so, but it does happen. Upstream of the marina, where the footpath looks somewhat like a towpath, an angling club has the rights and they enforce them quite forcefully. 

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17 hours ago, Chewbacka said:

Unfortunately enforcement cost money, much cheaper for the council to ban moorings, and this is probably the preferred option of those that would pay for improved enforcement via their council tax.

 

That opens the option of charging for the moorings to pay for the policing.

 

No additional costs for the Council.

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33 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

That opens the option of charging for the moorings to pay for the policing.

 

No additional costs for the Council.

 

Get District Enforcement involved like they did on the Thames. That went down well with boaters!

11 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

What? The western end of the K&A (the stretch cited in the post I was answering) is now council owned? 

 

 

 

 

The land which is the subject of the OP is council owned (according to the link in post #1). As this is the River Avon CRT are the navigation authority but I assume they do not own the river bed.  So do they have any authority to control moorings outside the main navigation channel?

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44 minutes ago, David Mack said:

 

Get District Enforcement involved like they did on the Thames. That went down well with boaters!

 

 

Boaters naturally don't like paying, but at least here the Council is seeking opinions.

 

They could just do what Richmond Council had done on the Thames.

 

In cases like that I would prefer to pay and retain the moorings.

 

 

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