Providing Safe Access to Moorings Like This?

[Arthur Marshall]

Access to Northwich from the Weaver - there are reasonable moorings one side of the river, but the side nearest the town just has rings in the wall and there's a fair climb up and then over railings.

[Paul C]

Access to Northwich from the Weaver - there are reasonable moorings one side of the river, but the side nearest the town just has rings in the wall and there's a fair climb up and then over railings.

 

There's a fair climb up (I remember stepping off the roof onto the wall) but I don't remember having to go over any railings.

[Black Ibis]

This the place you mean? https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Northwich/@53.26117,-2.515474,3a,75y,243.86h,63.04t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1syKOeGneUHt-CV38Ele-_jQ!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x487a5586c5c55b55:0x73b2c28f94a620a2

 

Very few moorings against walls have railings at the top - that's actually what makes these ones particularly dangerous.

[Paul C]

This the place you mean? https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Northwich/@53.26117,-2.515474,3a,75y,243.86h,63.04t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1syKOeGneUHt-CV38Ele-_jQ!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x487a5586c5c55b55:0x73b2c28f94a620a2

 

Very few moorings against walls have railings at the top - that's actually what makes these ones particularly dangerous.

 

I don't see railings though?

[Black Ibis]

 

I don't see railings though?

I meant that's what makes the ones in the original post so dangerous, not the Northwich ones, they don't have a railing.

[magnetman]

I think if access is obviously dangerous and it is not possible to provide a reasonably safe option there is a simple solution available to whoever is responsible for the canal bank.

 

A proper sign saying 'NO MOORING'

 

or if they want to be taken more seriously

 

"STRICTLY NO MOORING"

 

 

would this sort it?

 

Or does it need more forceful wording

I can see the ambulance chaser adverts

 

"Have YOU been moored in a location with unsafe access?? Have you tripped on a railing? Did YOU get a bruise when you landed on the roof of your boat? WE can help. No win no fee just take the money and run"

[FadeToScarlet]

I think if access is obviously dangerous and it is not possible to provide a reasonably safe option there is a simple solution available to whoever is responsible for the canal bank.

 

A proper sign saying 'NO MOORING'

 

or if they want to be taken more seriously

 

"STRICTLY NO MOORING"

 

 

would this sort it?

 

Or does it need more forceful wordingI can see the ambulance chaser adverts

 

"Have YOU been moored in a location with unsafe access?? Have you tripped on a railing? Did YOU get a bruise when you landed on the roof of your boat? WE can help. No win no fee just take the money and run"

The problem is that a lot of the people who moor there are very vulnerable, and there are no alternatives for mooring nearby- the nearest legitimate residential moorings are 14 odd miles away in Ely- so you're effectively making homeless anyone who has no transport but might still work in Cambridge.

 

There's 20 or so boats that are lived on, but the majority of those are widebeams, and there's an approximately 20 year wait for a legit widebeam mooring, run by the council.

 

The council have decided that banning mooring is not an option, because those who live there have no alternatives- so regulating the situation, making mooring charges whilst ensuring all boats have BSS, insurance, navigation authority licence etc. is the only real option they have.

[Scholar Gypsy]

My only thought is whether it is worth moving the railing back from the edge, and also creating a pavement between the railing and the road space - that could mean losing quite a bit of road space of course.

 

The advantage of this is that you could open the gate, go through the gate, stand on the wall, shut the gate, climb down the ladder. If the railing is left where it is, then depending on the locking technology used, I would not really fancy standing on the top of the ladder, holding on with one hand, holding my shopping in the other hand, and using the third to lock or unlock the gate.

[magnetman]

Thanks for the background fadetoscarlet. I did go there years ago around 2000 and remember the spot. I would have though there would be egress ladders anyway but maybe not. I suppose a realistic option would be a very narrow (3ft? 4ft?) Metal Walkway fixed to the wall then riser poles for the boats. Ramp at one end with a gate. Narrower than pontoons?

I'm on a pontoon mooring with a ramp but the cut here is 50ft wide so its OK.

 

I guess like everywhere there is a big waiting oversubscription on council accommodation.

 

Tower Hamlets its 10 people/families for every council flat/house.

 

I feel it would be costly and would require a sensible mooring fee so the people 'with no other option' may not be able to afford it anyway..

[magnetman]

I have to say that I think the council's decision not to ban mooring is very interesting but I know the Cam isn't CRT so probably not that relevant on balance.

 

Its good if they look after vulnerable people but IMO people who are vulnerable should not be living on boats, by definition because it is a completely insecure lifestyle.

[magnetman]

 

I don't see how moving a boat owner from an unsafe mooring makes them homeless.

 

?? If you are renting the boat its slightly different in a way but surely everyone goes into boat-life with their eyes open ?

[FadeToScarlet]

I don't see how moving a boat owner from an unsafe mooring makes them homeless.

?? If you are renting the boat its slightly different in a way but surely everyone goes into boat-life with their eyes open ?

It's because there aren't any other moorings locally- if you lose the Cambridge mooring, then you'll end up 15+ miles away, paying a lot of money for a mooring, and relying on expensive public transport to get you to work. I think for quite a few people they would sell the boat in that situation and go onto the Council's emergency housing list- or move onto the 48hr visitor moorings, and have to be moved on with a great deal of expense from the council.

 

They are trying to avoid the kind of publicity and the kind of seemingly heartless actions that led to the recent petition to CRT about not evicting people.

 

Also, a lot of people don't go into boat life with their eyes open- case in point being a friend of mine, who bought a boat and then had to spend the same as the purchase price to have it skinned in fibreglass because it was so corroded and there wasn't enough good metal to overplate, spending a fortune on a boat at would be condemned and uninsurable- but kept on because of the mooring spot on the railings here.

My only thought is whether it is worth moving the railing back from the edge, and also creating a pavement between the railing and the road space - that could mean losing quite a bit of road space of course.

 

The advantage of this is that you could open the gate, go through the gate, stand on the wall, shut the gate, climb down the ladder. If the railing is left where it is, then depending on the locking technology used, I would not really fancy standing on the top of the ladder, holding on with one hand, holding my shopping in the other hand, and using the third to lock or unlock the gate.

Moving the railing back is one possibility. There used to be gates, but someone (allegedly drunk) apparently fell through, and they all ended up being welded up. Worst case scenario would be a boater leaving a gate open "just for a second" and a young child running through and falling in.

 

Whilst I don't moor there, I have several friends who do, and getting on and off the boats is always tricky- a climb over the railings, often carrying bags of tools to work on boats, followed by a lean backwards and a step down onto the roof.

[Arthur Marshall]

I meant that's what makes the ones in the original post so dangerous, not the Northwich ones, they don't have a railing.

Sorry - my memory was at fault. Climb, but no railings.

[craftycarper]

It wouldn't be any different if the access were made safe, the boats would still be there and the river is wide. The 8's are always there too and I appreciate they don't look where they're going. I'm not trolling, I just don't understand what you object to other than these people are getting something for nothing due to a wobble in H&S.[/quote. ]totally agree with you boat hunter weather you own a boat or not ,if the people that live there came on here asking for help that's one thing but if they were aware that the self righteous police were now sat here debating what's best for them they might be slightly miffed and rightly so ,as you said just learn to live and let live and don,t always jump to the conclusion that just because someone is living a different life to your selfs that it is not right and they are not happy