Are CaRT taking over EA navigations?

[NigelMoore]

 

They extinguished vast amounts of vehicular rights of way, in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.

 

Without comment on the extent of abolition under the 2000 Act – because I am unfamiliar with it - government CAN of course abolish rights, however careful of the ramifications and potential outrage, but as I have said, certainly respecting the waterways [CaRT; EA and others], they have always taken care to preserve the common law PRN; only amending/modifying it piecemeal as seen necessary for specific requirements.

 

They were not so reluctant when it came to conferred rights of navigation, abolished wholesale under the Transport Act 1968.

 

[Mike Todd]

 

Yes, we posted simultaneously.

 

Amending legislation could govern altered fee levels/choices of area, but it could never – so far as I can see – alter the essential character of the ‘relevant consents’.

 

Boat licences, as distinct from registration certificates, could only be demanded on the rivers IF Parliament abolished the public rights of navigation over them.

 

Historically, they have been very reluctant to do so – and quite rightly I believe. Removal of our common law rights is a serious step for any government to take.

 

But we have quite a different political outlook in power at the moment. Could they not retain the PRN whilst introducing a licence? There would still be the entitlement to navigate but access to it is controlled via the licensing process. If the existing situation is pushed too far in the short term it will increase pressure to legislate to allow CaRT to take over as navigation authority fore the EA rivers (which I suspect is something they would like like to off load, with perhaps the exception of the Thames). I'm not sure that everyone will be happy with the result!

[SUIGENERIS]

I have the feeling that Publc Rights of Navigation ( PRN) are generally under threat. If you read up the matter, especially the campaign of the canoeists, there is little doubt that there was a far greater public right in former times than is now supposed to exist.( which is a similar story to the public rights of way over land). See http://www.theguardian.com/environment/georgemonbiot/2013/apr/04/right-rivers-richard-benyon-interests. If there is a merger or transfer between EA and CArT then there is a chance for "new " legislation that might legitimately divest us of those former rights, excatly as has happened with the 2026 (extinguishment) cut off date for land based public rights included into the 2000 Countryside and Rights of Way Act. BEWARE! .

 

Mick

[SUIGENERIS]

THink the link was wrong, try this one.

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We have no right to our rivers while Richard Benyon's interests

www.theguardian.com › Environment › Rivers

4 Apr 2013 - George Monbiot: The environment minister is being permitted to ... Could it be because he owns fishing rights on the River Kennet and the ...

[MtB]

I bought a Gold Licence this year.

 

When it arrived I was disappointed to find "Gold Licence" a misnomer. They are actually white, with a red "G" printed on them...

[Tuscan]

I suspect EA will look to outsource the navigation/enforcement aspects to CRT for the payment of an annual fee.

[Phil Ambrose]

 

Don't the EA use area rather than volume ?

They use length on our waters (Fens)

Phil

[Tuscan]

Just seen the latest enforcement FAQ for the Thames moorings, enforcement of which is now completely outsourced. If you dispute the mooring charge notice you have no recourse to the EA just with NSL the enforcement company.

[churchward]

There is also the 'challenge' that EA's fees are registrations and exempt from VAT. There are enough powerful boaters on the Thames who wouldn't suffer a spurious VAT charge.

 

How do you reconcile EA's waters where little is in the authority's ownership and the canal system where CaRT owns the track.

I don't see the need for land ownership to be an issue. In any case although the C&RT own a lot of canals they also have several rivers under their authority so a few more could operate just as well.

[MoominPapa]

CRT take-over can't come soon enough. The EA are a piss-poor navigation authority.

 

Latest example. The EA are replacing the guillotine chains at Denver lock. This is, presumably, routine preventative maintenance. In CRT land, this would have been announced late summer with the other stoppages, and a timetable agreed after consultation.

 

The EA announced a closure in the 21st January for the 15th February - a whole three weeks notice. Even better, the closure announced was 'till the 26th, which is tomorrow. They've now extended that by a week, at close of play today, the day before the lock was due to open.

 

And to find out you have to follow them on Twitter, because they can't manage to run an up-to-date stoppages list on their website.

 

The EA close their waterways from the end of October 'till Easter. They're unusable outside their self-defined "boating season". Maybe they should only charge a license for six months too?

 

The whole organisation reeks of compartments and silos. The IT people can't provide a website for the navigation people. The maintenance people can't talk to the lock keeper, who told me on the yesterday that all "seemed to be going well". They built a brand-new lock a Brandon and made it 48ft long. They screwed over the Cam commissioners and caused the loss of shared licenses between the Cam and the Ouse.

 

MP.