Towpath Users

[GoodGurl]

In all fairness this is a stretch of canal that boaters rarely do any more than get off their boat to open the locks certainly not to stop overnight. A few more cyclists and walkers might make boaters feel safer. It is very very neglected stretch of canal and can only help to improve the experience

 

Part of the agreement between CRT and government for funding is that they can not charge for use of the towpath

so winter permits should be free then?

[Wanderer Vagabond]

This 'problem' with cyclists (inverted comma because I can't actually say I have had a problem with any so far) is something of the law of unintended consequences. If you tarmac the towpath it will unfortunately encourage them to travel faster, increasing the risk of injury in any accident. I remember a similar situation a few years ago in a town I was connected with (Dawlish, as it happens). People complained for years over the number of parked vehicles on a road on which a school was located. Responding to these complaints the council laid down Double Yellow lines along the relevant stretch. Residents pleased with the outcome? not a chance, with now a nice clear road in front of them the vehicle speeds increased to the level that it endangered the children and they then had to install speed bumps to slow the traffic down again. Would have been cheaper to leave the cars parking there!

[cotswoldsman]

so winter permits should be free then?

Would get my vote.

Oh and don't shoot the messenger I simply posted what the agreement is between CRT and government, now if people want to split hairs about boaters also using the towpath and having to pay, go ahead but it should be fairly obvious what is meant by the agreement

[Angela C]

I wonder if the only people who actually pay to use the towpath, ie. boat owners, will regard this as an 'improvement' when they've just been run over, or into, and injured by some loony on a bike ?

I totally agree with you

[GoodGurl]

Part of the agreement between CRT and government for funding is that they can not charge for use of the towpath

Does this mean they are breaking the agreement by charging us to moor on the towpath then? maybe there should b a trial case.

[Jerra]

I have suffered from excessive speed of cyclists and I have seen cyclists suffer from excessive speed. I can't understand why there can't be some form of obstacle which requires slowing down. I understand all about pushchairs and wheel chairs I have pushed a few but there must be a design which allows them reasonably free passage but can't be cycled through at umpteen miles an hour.

[b0atman]

Barriers at Loughborough near town lock .Radar key for disabled to use gate.

[madcat]

I remember somebody with a home made stinger, a strip of carpet gripper out of a skip. Plonked on the towpath with a covering of old leaves was the plan . I think it was " disappeared " before it got used in anger.

[Hawkmoth]

Anybody on here seen the Strava website?

Bob

[Graham Davis]

 

Spoken like a true non-boatowner, and you're not talking about the same thing anyway, . . . . I said 'pay to use', not pay 'towards', by virtue of a very tiny portion of any taxes you pay being given to C&RT to waste as they see fit.

 

Oh dear, you really don't like people who disagree with you, do you?

As I pay tax I pay towards the tow paths, and since I walk on those said tow paths I am therefore paying to use them.

 

What do you SENSIBLY suggest?

Would you like pay points on all entrances?

What has the fact that I don't own a boat got to do with it?

Would you prefer it if only boat owners contributed to this Forum?

[the barnacle]

I wonder if the only people who actually pay to use the towpath, ie. boat owners, will regard this as an 'improvement' when they've just been run over, or into, and injured by some loony on a bike ?

 

[the barnacle]

I wonder if the only people who actually pay to use the towpath, ie. boat owners, will regard this as an 'improvement' when they've just been run over, or into, and injured by some loony on a bike ?

 

CART is Subsidized by the tax payer - do you think the canal system could be maintained by what boaters pay? - another canalworld thread gone downhill.

[churchward]

I wonder if the only people who actually pay to use the towpath, ie. boat owners, will regard this as an 'improvement' when they've just been run over, or into, and injured by some loony on a bike ?

That is incorrect as you must know. All tax payers pay towards the inland waterways. The government grant is a similar size to the amount paid in boat license fees presently. boaters pay at most a third of CRTs income.

 

So a large component agreed and an important group that must have a say but not the only people who pay.

 

Oh dear, you really don't like people who disagree with you, do you?

As I pay tax I pay towards the tow paths, and since I walk on those said tow paths I am therefore paying to use them.

 

What do you SENSIBLY suggest?

Would you like pay points on all entrances?

What has the fact that I don't own a boat got to do with it?

Would you prefer it if only boat owners contributed to this Forum?

Quite so,

 

I hope future governments will see that continuing the grant to CRT is the best way for everyone to pay and enjoy the waterways.

[Midnight]

Another cycling scheme announced that will surely increase the danger to other towpath users and boaters. I've experienced several near misses and witnessed several more involving pedestrians. I'm sure many on here have similar experience.

 

Giving all the warnings and the narrowness of most towpaths I wonder if CaRT will be liable to a huge personal injury damages claim or even a corporate manslaughter charge in the event of a serious accident or death. Both of which seem to be inevitable and certainly predicable.

 

Yet despite all the warnings, clear danger and an obvious conflict of interest they (CaRT) press on with more and more, what on the face of it seems to be, 'lunatic' schemes.

 

In an age of over-the-top H&S rules, where's the Health and Safety Executive when you need them?

[Hawkmoth]

Ok, so when/if the taxpaying public stop having to pay for the canals because CRT are raising sufficient revenue through other means, will the cyclists have to pay for their 'race track'

bob

[Mike Todd]

 

We all pay towards the towpath, not just boat users.

Some boaters make no contribution as much of the work has been funded by local authorities out of Council Tax. Hence if you do not pay CT then you do not contribute to the cost! (And you are right to distinguish between the capital/maintenance costs from paying to use.

 

It would be nice to think that the '300 million users' could be required to make a contribution (at that scale, were it to be believed, then even a micro charge would be sizeable in total) but there is little chance of enforcement and we might end up as with dog licences: something that is widely ignored and prohibitively expensive to enforce.

[Tony Dunkley]

 

Oh dear, you really don't like people who disagree with you, do you?

As I pay tax I pay towards the tow paths, and since I walk on those said tow paths I am therefore paying to use them.

 

 

Have you calculated how much of the total Tax you pay in a year is passed on to C&RT, and then the portion of this miniscule amount that C&RT spend on towpath maintenance ? When you've done that, I'd like to hear how it compares with the average cost of a boat Licence.

[Wanderer Vagabond]

Have you calculated how much of the total Tax you pay in a year is passed on to C&RT, and then the portion of this miniscule amount that C&RT spend on towpath maintenance ? When you've done that, I'd like to hear how it compares with the average cost of a boat Licence.

So you do agree that he DOES contribute to the towpath maintenance after all (albeit miniscule!). Of course with a boat licence you do actually get other stuff like your rubbish disposed of,sewage disposed of,water supplied,etc.etc and I'm sure that you will be only too willing to tell us how little CRT spend on towpath maintenance anyway, so your point is?????

Edited February 11, 2015 by Wanderer Vagabond

[cotswoldsman]

Ok, so when/if the taxpaying public stop having to pay for the canals because CRT are raising sufficient revenue through other means, will the cyclists have to pay for their 'race track'

bob

I doubt the day will come when the government stop paying. The current agreement lasts for another 12 years but I am sure it will continue after that with a smaller figure though

[Paul C]

Have you calculated how much of the total Tax you pay in a year is passed on to C&RT, and then the portion of this miniscule amount that C&RT spend on towpath maintenance ? When you've done that, I'd like to hear how it compares with the average cost of a boat Licence.

 

I believe on a previous thread someone did look at the figures, and it was approx 30% of CRT's overall funds contributed by boaters.

[Tony Dunkley]

That is incorrect as you must know. All tax payers pay towards the inland waterways. The government grant is a similar size to the amount paid in boat license fees presently. boaters pay at most a third of CRTs income.

 

So, the fees from around 33,000 boat licences contribute the same sum of money per annum as the total number of UK taxpayers . . . . have you any idea how much that is equivalent to from each taxpayer, in comparison with the average cost of a boat Licence ?

[b0atman]

Remember that there are a lot of boats that do not legally have licences because of the ridiculous NAA which was obviously set up by idiots.

[Graham Davis]

Have you calculated how much of the total Tax you pay in a year is passed on to C&RT, and then the portion of this miniscule amount that C&RT spend on towpath maintenance ? When you've done that, I'd like to hear how it compares with the average cost of a boat Licence.

 

So I DO pay!

Not what you said earlier.

And no I haven't calculated the figure and have no interest in doing so, as it is immaterial, except in your warped ideas.

 

And how about answering the other questions?

[Henhouse]

So, the fees from around 33,000 boat licences contribute the same sum of money per annum as the total number of UK taxpayers . . . . have you any idea how much that is equivalent to from each taxpayer, in comparison with the average cost of a boat Licence ?

 

 

Is your idea of a balanced debate having a chip on both shoulders ?

[Tony Dunkley]

 

So I DO pay!

Not what you said earlier.

And no I haven't calculated the figure and have no interest in doing so, as it is immaterial, except in your warped ideas.

 

And how about answering the other questions?

I think you should work out the amount you contribute to towpath maintenance as a taxpayer, after all, as a frequent towpath user, you're likely to have plenty of time to do it when you're lying in hospital recovering from injuries inflicted by another twerp on a bike.

Edited February 11, 2015 by Tony Dunkley