Will you still come to Cambridge by boat

[MtB]

I just might consider coming if there was plenty of good, free visitors mooring available, but on the one occasion when we ventured up to Cambridge we just had to give up and come back down the river. I'd have been really really pi$$ed off if I'd paid £100 for the privilege.

 

Surely the whole point of the charge is to free up the visitor moorings. Or get rid of the boats entirely.

 

The peeps who are declaring their intention in this thread not to visit after all, are behaving exactly as intended by the introduction of the fee.

 

I suggest the money it raises will barely cover the cost of collecting it, the real point being to get rid of the boats so if you want to stick two fingers to the scheme, pay it and visit. Show 'em their darstardly plan won't work!

 

[Chertsey]

Surely the whole point of the charge is to free up the visitor moorings. Or get rid of the boats entirely.

 

The peeps who are declaring their intention in this thread not to visit after all, are behaving exactly as intended by the introduction of the fee.

 

I suggest the money it raises will barely cover the cost of collecting it, the real point being to get rid of the boats so if you want to stick two fingers to the scheme, pay it and visit. Show 'em their darstardly plan won't work!

 

I think the OP is very clear that the point is to raise money, misguided though their thinking might be. So if we don't pay, that'll show 'em that their dastardly plan won't work.

[FadeToScarlet]

Surely the whole point of the charge is to free up the visitor moorings. Or get rid of the boats entirely.

 

The peeps who are declaring their intention in this thread not to visit after all, are behaving exactly as intended by the introduction of the fee.

 

I suggest the money it raises will barely cover the cost of collecting it, the real point being to get rid of the boats so if you want to stick two fingers to the scheme, pay it and visit. Show 'em their darstardly plan won't work!

 

 

Although it would be easy to think of it as a dastardly plan, they in fact do seem to really want the income.

 

They believe they have a finding shortfall of £50k per year. According to http://www.camconservators.co.uk/pdf/Note-7b-12-01-12.pdf 7.3.2, Table 2, they estimate that the scheme will bring in £5k per year from visiting boats, to contribute towards the shortfall.

 

Our argument is that this is pretty typical of the Conservancy's attitude- they've not really thought this through correctly, as they've going to have to employ an extra member of part-time staff to enforce this, whose wages will cost far more than any income they get- which, in turn, will doubtlessly be far less than £5k, as this thread, poll, other boater's comments on our blog, and other areas where we have consulted have made clear.

[blackrose]

I didn't vote because I can't get there on my widebeam anyway.