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Middle Level Licencing arrangements


Scholar Gypsy

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51 minutes ago, Athy said:

It has never moved, except maybe to one side while dredging was being carried out,

You mean Well Creek has been dredged!

It wasn't as bad as the bit towards March but most of the ML felt very shallow :(

 

Edited by Loddon
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15 minutes ago, Loddon said:

You mean Well Creek has been dredged!

It wasn't as bad as the bit towards March but most of the ML felt very shallow :(

 

Yes, very thoroughly, about three years ago. They did the stretch by us (lock to church) one year, the the stretch from the church towards Outwell the following year, I am not sure how far they got altogether.

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On 16/06/2020 at 14:10, wonderdust said:

A friend has a boat at foxes and she very rarely goes there, if I had not informed her about this impending licence she would not of had a clue, foxes themselves have not informed her and why should they.

What have MLC done exactly to find out and inform boat owners of the new upcoming licensing,  a virus is no excuse, because I'm sure they will be more than happy to fine come the day.

Foxes did inform everyone in the marina,

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5 hours ago, Athy said:

Sorry we didn't see you when you came through. We were at home, but probably at work (that sentence makes sense at the moment!)

 

 

You must have had your ear plugs in, For you to miss Lodden passing by, red flag flying while singing revolutionary songs at the helm.

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59 minutes ago, nbfiresprite said:

Foxes did inform everyone in the marina,

Not me, was working and staying on boat for 5 days two weeks ago. Went into the office twice spoke to Tracy no mention of licencing or saw any signs, Was even given new moorings renewal no reference to licence at all. reading this post is all that i know about it suspect i'm not alone.

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11 minutes ago, br4k3s said:

Not me, was working and staying on boat for 5 days two weeks ago. Went into the office twice spoke to Tracy no mention of licencing or saw any signs, Was even given new moorings renewal no reference to licence at all. reading this post is all that i know about it suspect i'm not alone.

E-mails were sent to everyone, there has been a notice in the right hand office window for the past five months. The notice is still there. It has also been in the Cambs Times and the Fenland Citizen as well as the Peterborugh Telegraph and the Ely Standard. Posters have also been placed on the public moorings noticeboards (Which then quickly removed by the ant-licence mob) 

Edited by nbfiresprite
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no afraid i have not received any emails from foxs[yes they do have email address]. 

didn't see notice in window. i received a letter from Foxs advising me that marina was closed at start of lockdown in March, the letter also advised me that as i was not a resident boater i was not allowed access to boat or marina unless by arrangement with office by phone and at no time to go to office or approach any staff, contact was strickley by phone only. So i did not go to boat until a short day visit at end off lockdown and then 5 days two weeks ago. 

I was not off work at all during the lockdown either through illness[covid] or company instructions, indeed i was very quickly classed as a 'essential worker' being a LGV Driver in the food manufacturing industry and was working up to 6 days a week, all B/Holidays etc, so i didn't have any opportunities to go to boat/marina even if i was permitted to, until i read this post was unaware this had got this far, indeed spoke to resident boaters while i was there and no mention of this.

  As i understand it's not been though 'Due Legal Process' so how can it be implemented and enforced. you say you payed in March which seems odd as if there was so much confusion ie; no clarity, lack of direction from MLC, and dare i say it Covid, i personally would have left it to MLC to at the very least clarify this whole matter before contemplating any monies changing hands. I do feel Firesprite that paying as early as you did was not the best thing to do, i fully understand why MLC is doing this but let's not do it for them then just maybe it might encourage MLC to approach the whole matter again correctly and much more clearly and not in this seemingly half hearted manner that implies to me MLC are not really fully behind this 100% and are lacking direction and commitment, which doe's not look good for us boaters it affects, indeed could this be the start of the end to The Levels as we know and love. 

 

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3 hours ago, br4k3s said:

no afraid i have not received any emails from foxs[yes they do have email address]. 

didn't see notice in window. i received a letter from Foxs advising me that marina was closed at start of lockdown in March, the letter also advised me that as i was not a resident boater i was not allowed access to boat or marina unless by arrangement with office by phone and at no time to go to office or approach any staff, contact was strickley by phone only. So i did not go to boat until a short day visit at end off lockdown and then 5 days two weeks ago. 

I was not off work at all during the lockdown either through illness[covid] or company instructions, indeed i was very quickly classed as a 'essential worker' being a LGV Driver in the food manufacturing industry and was working up to 6 days a week, all B/Holidays etc, so i didn't have any opportunities to go to boat/marina even if i was permitted to, until i read this post was unaware this had got this far, indeed spoke to resident boaters while i was there and no mention of this.

  As i understand it's not been though 'Due Legal Process' so how can it be implemented and enforced. you say you payed in March which seems odd as if there was so much confusion ie; no clarity, lack of direction from MLC, and dare i say it Covid, i personally would have left it to MLC to at the very least clarify this whole matter before contemplating any monies changing hands. I do feel Firesprite that paying as early as you did was not the best thing to do, i fully understand why MLC is doing this but let's not do it for them then just maybe it might encourage MLC to approach the whole matter again correctly and much more clearly and not in this seemingly half hearted manner that implies to me MLC are not really fully behind this 100% and are lacking direction and commitment, which doe's not look good for us boaters it affects, indeed could this be the start of the end to The Levels as we know and love. Your not the only one who had to work throughout the 104 days of lockdown, I spent most of the lockdown sleeping in my office

 

There was no confusion back in March, It had been know for nearly year that licencing was due to start on the 1st April 2020, It is a fact that had been reported in local papers, and on BBC's Look East. Clearly you never licenced a boat before. Had you had done, You would know that you apply for a navagation licence at least a fortnight before it is due to start, Hence why many people paid in mid-March. As for people in the marina not talking about licencing when you were there. They simply have better things to talk about.  Your not the only one who had to work throughout the 104 days of lockdown, I spent most of the lockdown sleeping in my office unable to travel the 160 miles to my home in Dorset at the weekends. 

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9 minutes ago, WotEver said:

Come now sir, let us not be too adventurous. 
 

 

It's one of those things which foreign students of English find hard to grasp: the difference between "sleeping" and "asleep".

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1 hour ago, Athy said:

It's one of those things which foreign students of English find hard to grasp: the difference between "sleeping" and "asleep".

Yes, but not just foreigners. As I see it, they are interchangeable in some circumstances. Both of the below examples work, I believe, with no difference in meaning between them. 
The dog is asleep, don’t startle him.

The dog is sleeping, don’t startle him.  
 

Sure, if you want to use fall as the verb then it’s pretty obvious that you’d use asleep as the adverb but I’d say that many English folk would also struggle with the difference between the two words in certain circumstances. 

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11 hours ago, WotEver said:

Yes, but not just foreigners. As I see it, they are interchangeable in some circumstances. Both of the below examples work, I believe, with no difference in meaning between them. 
The dog is asleep, don’t startle him.

The dog is sleeping, don’t startle him.  
 

Sure, if you want to use fall as the verb then it’s pretty obvious that you’d use asleep as the adverb but I’d say that many English folk would also struggle with the difference between the two words in certain circumstances. 

I'm lost already and I know exactly where I am  https://w3w.co/incoming.stag.swing

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If, as has been stated, the legal formalities have not yet been completed, then there is prima facie no legal right to demand payment from anyone. In fact my understanding is that it is possible that demanding such a payment when no legal right to do so exists, might itself be illegal, it being a criminal offence to demand money from someone when you know you have no legal right to do so.  I am not absolutely certain of the last point but I seem to recall it beng mentioned in a consumer programme on the radio some years ago. 

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11 hours ago, Ronaldo47 said:

If, as has been stated, the legal formalities have not yet been completed, then there is prima facie no legal right to demand payment from anyone. In fact my understanding is that it is possible that demanding such a payment when no legal right to do so exists, might itself be illegal, it being a criminal offence to demand money from someone when you know you have no legal right to do so.  I am not absolutely certain of the last point but I seem to recall it beng mentioned in a consumer programme on the radio some years ago. 

The 2018 Act, approved by both houses of Parliament, does give the Middle Level Commissioners authority to make charges for use of the ML waterways.  However, it is the Byelaws that authorise registration and registration charges and create the offence of failure to register or pay.  The byelaws have to be approved by the Secretary of State at DEFRA.  They were submitted late last year but have still not been approved.  In effect this means that currently the MLC may impose charges for "use" but not for "registration" and without the approved byelaws failure to pay charges demanded is not a criminal offence. The only legal sanction open to the MLC would be a civil claim for non-payment.

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As it’s hissing with rain been up in the loft. Found a 1973 copy of Mercian and in it a report on Fenatic 1 by Paul King. 
He doesn’t give the date but I think autumn 1972 he says that about 100 people turned up each day and 30 stayed overnight in Upwell village hall. 
The junction of Well creek and the Wisbech canal was cleaned out by members of the Middle level waterways club and a new fence was erected to stop illegal  tipping. 25 tons of rubbish ,which included hundreds of tyres, motor car parts, two shot guns and the inevitable toilet were cleared from the Creek. By the end  the whole 21/2 miles from Marmont priory to the boat basin had been cleared and a start made towards the aqueduct. A further work party was planned for spring 1973.

As an aside he says that superb food was supplied by members of the local Women’s Institute.

The volunteers came from all over including the R. Stour trust (a great bunch) he says The Wey and Arun were represented as were the Cambridge university canoe club and the Archaeological society.
1973 was the year of the Ely Rally. 

 

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20 minutes ago, Dav and Pen said:

As it’s hissing with rain been up in the loft. Found a 1973 copy of Mercian and in it a report on Fenatic 1 by Paul King. 
He doesn’t give the date but I think autumn 1972 he says that about 100 people turned up each day and 30 stayed overnight in Upwell village hall. 
The junction of Well creek and the Wisbech canal was cleaned out by members of the Middle level waterways club and a new fence was erected to stop illegal  tipping. 25 tons of rubbish ,which included hundreds of tyres, motor car parts, two shot guns and the inevitable toilet were cleared from the Creek. By the end  the whole 21/2 miles from Marmont priory to the boat basin had been cleared and a start made towards the aqueduct. A further work party was planned for spring 1973.

As an aside he says that superb food was supplied by members of the local Women’s Institute.

The volunteers came from all over including the R. Stour trust (a great bunch) he says The Wey and Arun were represented as were the Cambridge university canoe club and the Archaeological society.
1973 was the year of the Ely Rally. 

 

Here are some pictures from the work parties at Well Creek in October 1972.

(From the collection of the late Alan Faulkner)

fenatic1.jpeg

fenatic2.jpeg

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Thanks for posting those photos, it shows clearly what a state the creek was in. Many have forgotten or have never known what state many of our waterways had got into and but for the efforts of canal societies, WRG, IWA and local people who passionately cared many would not be there for today’s boaters.

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6 minutes ago, Dav and Pen said:

Thanks for posting those photos, it shows clearly what a state the creek was in. Many have forgotten or have never known what state many of our waterways had got into and but for the efforts of canal societies, WRG, IWA and local people who passionately cared many would not be there for today’s boaters.

I posted a similar one in the "Tonic" thread, but good luck finding it amongst the hundreds of intriguing photos on there. It was possibly the work of the same photographer, and taken a bit further towards Marmont Priory lock, just behind A.E. Moss's Riverside Garage. It looked as if the bed of the creek was covered in black tarpaulins, but I suppose it was just black mud.

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Another couple of gems from Alan's wonderful collection.

First is a trial run of boats attempting navigation of the Old Bedford Sluice 'on the level' in July 1973

Second is a huge flotilla of boats waiting to pass through the Sluice on the way to the Ely Rally in August 1973.

060a A week later a whole flotilla waits to pass through en-route to the Ely Rally 290773.JPG

056a Other boats follow 180672.JPG

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 30/09/2020 at 10:28, Alan de Enfield said:

The MLC agreed (in the House of Lords debate) that it would not apply to boats that never left a marina and there would simply be a 'nominal' fee to cover administration costs.

 

 

ml2020a.JPG

The charge for a marina based Houseboat has been set at £118.80, which seems a bit high for 15 minuites work by the office staff.    

Middle Level Act charges amended August 2020 part 2.jpg

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On 02/10/2020 at 14:07, erivers said:

Another couple of gems from Alan's wonderful collection.

First is a trial run of boats attempting navigation of the Old Bedford Sluice 'on the level' in July 1973

Second is a huge flotilla of boats waiting to pass through the Sluice on the way to the Ely Rally in August 1973.

 

056a Other boats follow 180672.JPG

Fascinating. Note the two blokes who have just wound the gates open.  Looks there was just a single pair of gates then, ie the guillotine has been added more recently. Is the pair of houses on the left still there? 

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1 minute ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

Fascinating. Note the two blokes who have just wound the gates open.  Looks there was just a single pair of gates then, ie the guillotine has been added more recently. Is the pair of houses on the left still there? 

The houses still stand Simon - Barky dogs reside at both - my old dog used to set them off when we went wandering down the 100' waiting for the tide!

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