Baton Twirlers Stage Protest (again)

[cuthound]

On 06/04/2024 at 13:02, Alan de Enfield said:

 

A year or three ago "British Cycling" (the controlling body for cycling) contacted C&RT and suggested that if C&RT wished to inplement a charge (or licence) for cycling on the towpaths they would support it.

 

C&RT thanked them but declined as it was part of the Transfer conditions (BW to C&RT) that the access and use of the towpaths must remain freee of charge and unhindered.

 

Extract from the transfer documents :

 

2.4 The Trustee must obtain the Settlor’s prior written consent before:

 

2.4.1 ...........

 

2.4.2 ...........

 

2.4.3 restricting pedestrian access to any part of the towpaths within the Infrastructure Property; for example by charging a fee for access, save that consent will not be needed for any temporary restrictions either to allow maintenance/repair works or to protect persons from risks to their safety;

2.4.4 diverting the route of any towpath or part of a towpath, other than as permitted at Clause 3.5.1;

 

 

 

Note :

1. Pedestrians: This category includes individuals who walk, use mobility aids (such as wheelchairs and rollators), and those with vision impairments. Essentially, anyone navigating on foot falls under the pedestrian umbrella.

2. Cyclists: While cyclists primarily use bicycles, they are often considered part of the broader pedestrian and active transportation community. So, yes, pedestrian access does indeed include cyclists.

 

The above only refers to free access. I suggest CRT "think out if the box" and put turnstiles on all exits from the towpath and charge for these...

[Hudds Lad]

2 hours ago, Rob-M said:

When we used to hire we often hired a boat that had no hire company details on it so looked like a private boat and I found we got a different reception at locks to when we hired something that had a company name on it.  With the unmarked boat people would be happy to slate hire boaters, but I then liked to point out we were hiring.

Had the same thing with the shareboat (ex-Ownerships, paint nice and dull) in a lock queue, J was helping up at the lock and i was holding the centre line, bloke on a private boat behind sidled up and started a rant about hirers slowing things down. Once i told him we were a shareboat and if he found it so slow he could send some of his crew up to help out rather than standing about he suddenly found something very interesting on his stern deck.

 

Mind you, i've also been on the receiving end of unwarranted abuse in the car when my hair wasn't tied up, some bloke came marching up from the car behind at some traffic lights, "YOU STUPID BIT....... Oh, sorry mate, i didn't see you" and off he went.

 

I fully look forward to being treat like the numpty i am in a month or so when the boat paint is finished  

[ditchcrawler]

Canal boaters “facing homelessness” as fees shoot up 75% | The Lead

And the press say 

[Tam & Di]

Wow!!! Who'd have known that people have been living on canal boats since the Bronze Ages?  🤔

Edited April 10 by Tam & Di

[peterboat]

2 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

Canal boaters “facing homelessness” as fees shoot up 75% | The Lead

And the press say 

Just laughing at the NBTA and their fairy tales honestly they are causing the problem yes things are going up far to fast for my liking, however everywhere I look I see overstayers 

[LadyG]

I dont think licence fee increases are responsible for increasing overstayers.

There seems to be a lot  of  assumptions and downright rubbish spouted in the article. 

 

[Alan de Enfield]

2 hours ago, peterboat said:

Just laughing at the NBTA

 

No

Blatant

Truths

Allowed

[MtB]

Um… aren’t CCers technically homeless anyway?

[Alan de Enfield]

44 minutes ago, MtB said:

Um… aren’t CCers technically homeless anyway?

 

 

Surely, they have a home - they are just "of no fixed abode"?

 

In law, no fixed abode or without fixed abode is not having a fixed geographical location as a residence, commonly referred to as no fixed address. This is applicable to several groups:

 

1) People who have a home, but which is not always in the same place:

 

2) Those whose occupation requires them to live permanently on boats, ships or movable oil platforms, or to travel constantly (as showmen, for example).

Nomadic peoples (e.g. Indigenous Norwegian Travellers and Romanichal) and traveller groups (e.g. Irish Travellers, Scottish Gypsy and Traveller groups, New Age travellers, Norwegian and Swedish Travellers).

 

3) Individuals who adopt a mobile lifestyle, living in narrowboats, recreational vehicles or the like.

 

An alternative could be Itinerant :

(Merriam Webster Dictionary definition)

 

itinerant

adjective

itin·er·ant ī-ˈti-nə-rənt 

: traveling from place to place, especially covering a circuit

 

 

44 minutes ago, MtB said:

Um… aren’t CCers technically homeless anyway?

 

 

Is a slug just a snail without a home ?

Edited April 10 by Alan de Enfield

[Momac]

1 hour ago, MtB said:

Um… aren’t CCers technically homeless anyway?

Live aboard and CC  are not necessarily the same thing.

 

[nbfiresprite]

11 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

Canal boaters “facing homelessness” as fees shoot up 75% | The Lead

And the press say 

A work of fiction

[MtB]

14 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

Canal boaters “facing homelessness” as fees shoot up 75% | The Lead

And the press say 

 

 

A trivially small sum plus 75% = still a trivially small sum.

 

NBTA whining about a small increase in charges for the cheapest accommodation in the UK seems comical. 

 

If one believes the 75% claim in the first place. Isn't the increase spread out over 5 years or something similarly accommodating?

 

 

CRT as usual are bending over backwards to be accommodating, and yet getting slagged off for it. 

 

 

Edited April 10 by MtB

[ditchcrawler]

I wonder if they are offering this chap support, he has had to move out from his illegal mooring San Francisco: Two-storey houseboat towed through bay - BBC News

[MtB]

7 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I wonder if they are offering this chap support, he has had to move out from his illegal mooring San Francisco: Two-storey houseboat towed through bay - BBC News

 

Thats not a houseboat. That's a MANSIONboat! 

 

 

[Sea Dog]

6 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Thats not a houseboat. That's a MANSIONboat! 

 

 

Isn't that the Bibby Stockholm? 

[Midnight]

Reported on NBW

NBTA said "CRT’s licence surcharge came into effect on 1st April the assciations tells. Unchallenged, the policy will allow CRT to raise licence fees on itinerant boaters in order to price them off the water. "

 

If C&RT raised all licenses to the level of the surcharge would that price everyone off the water or would the NBTA be happy to be paying same as Home Moorers?

 

IMO it would be a good idea for C&RT - extra money and less admin headache. 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 12 by Midnight
speeeling

[MtB]

18 minutes ago, Midnight said:

Reported on NBW

NBTA said "CRT’s licence surcharge came into effect on 1st April the assciations tells. Unchallenged, the policy will allow CRT to raise licence fees on itinerant boaters in order to price them off the water. "

 

If C&RT raised all licenses to the level of the surcharge would that price everyone off the water or would the NBTA be happy to be paying same as Home Moorers?

 

IMO it would be a good idea for C&RT - extra money and less admin headache. 

 

 

 

As a Home Moorer I'd be entirely happy to pay the same surcharge as CCers and CMers. 

 

Provided it made the NBTA STFU. 

 

 

 

[Arthur Marshall]

25 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

As a Home Moorer I'd be entirely happy to pay the same surcharge as CCers and CMers. 

 

Provided it made the NBTA STFU. 

 

 

 

Ah, but it wouldn't, would it?

[Alan de Enfield]

11 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Ah, but it wouldn't, would it?

 

Surely, all that anyone wants the NBTA members to do, is to do what they signed up to do !

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Surely, all that anyone wants the NBTA members to do, is to do what they signed up to do !

Twirl batons you mean?

[Ronaldo47]

My understanding is that, when canals were in their heyday, bargees were paid well enough to afford a house on land for their family, and that it was only later when competition from the railways led to lower wages, that living on board with your family became widespread. So the reference to three centuries of living afloat is arguably not entirely correct.

[ditchcrawler]

9 hours ago, Ronaldo47 said:

My understanding is that, when canals were in their heyday, bargees were paid well enough to afford a house on land for their family, and that it was only later when competition from the railways led to lower wages, that living on board with your family became widespread. So the reference to three centuries of living afloat is arguably not entirely correct.

Don't spoil a good story with facts 😁

[Tam & Di]

10 hours ago, Ronaldo47 said:

So the reference to three centuries of living afloat is arguably not entirely correct.

The boating families lived on their boat because the boat was a working tool; they moved because that was the whole point of the work, not just in order to do the minimum they could get away with. Their 'travelling' was the real thing, but I'm sure the NBTA people don't seriously pay much mind to that - it's just part of the fable they use to get public sympathy with their self indulgent way of life.

[Mike Todd]

3 hours ago, Tam & Di said:

The boating families lived on their boat because the boat was a working tool; they moved because that was the whole point of the work, not just in order to do the minimum they could get away with. Their 'travelling' was the real thing, but I'm sure the NBTA people don't seriously pay much mind to that - it's just part of the fable they use to get public sympathy with their self indulgent way of life.

And, in general, canals were not built to facilitate mooring in at arbitrary 9spots. A boat not moving was a boat not earning.

[MtB]

46 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

And, in general, canals were not built to facilitate mooring in at arbitrary 9spots. A boat not moving was a boat not earning.

 

 

And more particularly, a boat not moving was a bloody nuisance to all those that were.