CRT getting tough on the K&A

[ditchcrawler]

I just read this about CRT taking action against a boater on the K&A

 https://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/23074891.boater-given-14-days-remove-narrowboats-kennet-avon-canal/?fbclid=IwAR0aUCnHOWXw8L5p8mAMV5DFP3f28WctrmOFjBNmjqZIBXWDrqmZLIaXYCY

[Alan de Enfield]

Sounds like he has had plently of warnings - "if you do not follow the rules you pays the penalty"

[matty40s]

Long past it's time. 4 years, slush fund for repairs, blaming everyone else but the one causing the problem. ..and yes, he is an arse, I have had dealings.

Enforcement has been VERY lax since Covid in March 2020, suspended completely for an while and then only lightly re-introduced..

some people have been verily taking the urine.

 

It wasn't helped by the murder of the enforcement officer in Aylesbury by the EastEuropeanLadys partner, which has made boat checkers and the Enforcement teams have to take much more care and advice in their actions.

The guidance is fairly easy to follow, and not particularly difficult to comply with....even at an absolute minimum level of 20km range a year.

No sympathy in this case, the Thames or the Avon/Severn beckon....unless he agrees a mooring somewhere quickly.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

5 minutes ago, matty40s said:

Long past it's time. 4 years, slush fund for repairs, blaming everyone else but the one causing the problem. ..and yes, he is an arse, I have had dealings.

Enforcement has been VERY lax since Covid in March 2020, suspended completely for an while and then only lightly re-introduced..

some people have been verily taking the urine.

 

It wasn't helped by the murder of the enforcement officer in Aylesbury by the EastEuropeanLadys partner, which has made boat checkers and the Enforcement teams have to take much more care and advice in their actions.

The guidance is fairly easy to follow, and not particularly difficult to comply with....even at an absolute minimum level of 20km range a year.

No sympathy in this case, the Thames or the Avon/Severn beckon....unless he agrees a mooring somewhere quickly.

Ok, some enlightenment?

But can’t blame the old dude for covid and murder. 

[dmr]

He has been getting away with this for a long long time and I suspect he will get away with it again. I think he can get CRT on a technicality in that they have referred to his possession as a "boat" when it is actually a collection of scrap wood and scrap steel wrapped up in a large blue plastic bag. I think it sank because the bag was not quite big enough, the passing hire boat was just an unfortunate co-incidence.😀

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

1 minute ago, dmr said:

He has been getting away with this for a long long time and I suspect he will get away with it again. I think he can get CRT on a technicality in that they have referred to his possession as a "boat" when it is actually a collection of scrap wood and scrap steel wrapped up in a large blue plastic bag. I think it sank because the bag was not quite big enough, the passing hire boat was just an unfortunate co-incidence.😀

So he’s had 7grand to fix a blue bag?

4 minutes ago, dmr said:

He has been getting away with this for a long long time and I suspect he will get away with it again. I think he can get CRT on a technicality in that they have referred to his possession as a "boat" when it is actually a collection of scrap wood and scrap steel wrapped up in a large blue plastic bag. I think it sank because the bag was not quite big enough, the passing hire boat was just an unfortunate co-incidence.😀

Got any photos?

[Alan de Enfield]

10 hours ago, Goliath said:

 

but have you no sympathy?

 

Do not asssume that there is not a long and on-going back-story here.

 

I have sympathy when it is deserved but not when its 'years of p!ss taking'.

Edited October 26, 2022 by Athy
To remove quoted obscenity.

[Tim Lewis]

16 minutes ago, Goliath said:

So he’s had 7grand to fix a blue bag?

Got any photos?

 

From 2019

[MtB]

From the article:

 

“The purpose of this letter is to put you on formal written notice that in the event that you fail to remove the boat from the canals and inland waterways and/or controlled by us within 14 days from the date of this letter, court proceedings will then be issued against you in the County Court immediately without further notice.”

 

The Trust’s notice seeks a declaration from the court that entitles it to remove the boats from the canal 14 days after the date of the order".

 

I'd say his years are numbered then, given the speed with which the court system is working at the moment. I imagine once the 14 days have expired and The Trust apply for their hearing, they will get their day in court in around the year 2025 and he will be slung off the Trust's waterways, after barely a decade of successful piss-taking.

Edited October 25, 2022 by MtB

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

9 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Do not asssume that there is not a long and on-going back-story here.

 

I have sympathy when it is deserved but not when its 'years of p!ss taking'.

I don’t assume anything. 

I like a bit of information from others who have an eye witness view rather than an arm chair view from a newspaper snippet.
I think I get a more balanced view. 


 

 

[MtB]

21 minutes ago, Tim Lewis said:

 

From 2019

 

 

Judging by the height of the undergrowth within the fencing CRT appear to have put up around this eyesore, I'd say he is approaching the end of his 14 days of entitlement to moor there. 

[Tonka]

This thread is so disappointing.  I saw the title and thought that CRT had started to sort the longer lingers out. But no just one boat.

So disappointing 

[Bee]

Oh dear. What can you say? There are lots of people infringing rules all over the system by living on boats where they probably shouldn't, lots more who struggle to afford the fees and cost of their boats and are already just one step away from being homeless and any reasonable person should have some empathy with them. Then along comes this bloke and gives the authorities and reactionaries a stick to beat them with. Its not that hard to keep beneath the radar, its not hard to keep all your stuff off the towpath and its not hard to keep a reasonably tidy boat and I have built three narrowboats on the towpath without bringing the wrath of BWB down on my head. The bloke is a fool and should be reminded that he owes it to other people not to screw things up for everybody else. Just one other point though, It's all very well for CRT to tell someone to shift their boat from CRT water but as CRT effectively own pretty much all the water that is hardly reasonable.

[Alan de Enfield]

12 minutes ago, Bee said:

It's all very well for CRT to tell someone to shift their boat from CRT water but as CRT effectively own pretty much all the water that is hardly reasonable.

 

Actually - Less than 50 % of the navigable waterways.

 

New research from the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) has revealed a total of 7,000 miles of waterways in Great Britain; 5,000 of the miles identified are navigable today, with the other 2,000 miles either derelict or under restoration.

[doratheexplorer]

9 minutes ago, Bee said:

Oh dear. What can you say? There are lots of people infringing rules all over the system by living on boats where they probably shouldn't, lots more who struggle to afford the fees and cost of their boats and are already just one step away from being homeless and any reasonable person should have some empathy with them. Then along comes this bloke and gives the authorities and reactionaries a stick to beat them with. Its not that hard to keep beneath the radar, its not hard to keep all your stuff off the towpath and its not hard to keep a reasonably tidy boat and I have built three narrowboats on the towpath without bringing the wrath of BWB down on my head. The bloke is a fool and should be reminded that he owes it to other people not to screw things up for everybody else. Just one other point though, It's all very well for CRT to tell someone to shift their boat from CRT water but as CRT effectively own pretty much all the water that is hardly reasonable.

This is exactly my view.  It's not just shiny boaters who should be cross at this man, all those cc'ers who stretch the rules a little should be pissed off at him too.  It's this sort of behavoiur that forces CRT's hand and makes them come down harder on all of us.

 

And before anyone says anything, no I don't stretch the rules and have never had a warning from CRT except once when they said my boat had been seen at the same site for a month and I pointed out that I'd travelled around 200 miles in that month.

 

But if the worst anyone ever did was stay for 3 weeks on a 2 week mooring, CRT wouldn't even need to employ an enforcement team, and we'd all save money on our licences.

[Mike Hurley]

This guy was having/causing problems over 5 years ago, old video on you tube with him in it and loads of others moaning about having to move.

[Graham Davis]

Over on the "dark side" Mr Dunkley has offered his assistance and it has been refused. 

[matty40s]

2 minutes ago, Graham Davis said:

Over on the "dark side" Mr Dunkley has offered his assistance and it has been refused. 

The NBTA are all over this.

[Mike Hurley]

 

[Alan de Enfield]

 

 

Chris Pink (remember him ?) makes a guest appearance in that video.

[Bobbybass]

I have been down this section several times. Because the boats can't move...they often tip their cassette toilet contents down the bank..When I complained to CART they put up a sign on the towpath. " Human excrement in bank ..please stay on footpath"  ☹️

[doratheexplorer]

People need to accept the fact that just because they got away with something in the past, it doesn't mean they'll always get away with it.  Rather than ranting about having to abide by the rules now, they should be grateful that they got away with it for so many years.

[Athy]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

Chris Pink (remember him ?) makes a guest appearance in that video.

The woman with the small black hat looks familiar too: wasn't she involved in some sort of controversy a few years ago?

[dmr]

He is taking the p*** and gives boaters a bad name, not good when the canals need to get a government handout. However he has a lot of "supporters" who will ensure a lot of bad publicity if CRT lift the boats out, especially as this will likely result in total destruction of one of them. He has got away with a lot in the past and I have heard various theories as to why thius might be, but I suspect removing him will be a difficult and expensive process for CRT, but its good if CRT can get a couple of really bad boats off the cut rather than turning a blind eye and going for the softer targets.

[matty40s]

14 minutes ago, Athy said:

The woman with the small black hat looks familiar too: wasn't she involved in some sort of controversy a few years ago?

She is Panda Smith, one of the NBTA top brass, along with Nick Brown.

They like to use boaters, like this one, to go to court and try to win using the human rights angle.

They tried to hijack the London Boaters movement against the Moorings proposals for the Lee and Stort/Regents canals in 2011 citing the human rights angle too.

The proposals were dropped because the London Boaters did proper research, surveys and other stuff to prove that the proposals were not practical for any of the waterways users, and extremely damaging for the ecosystems and fish stocks.