Tesco's Reading

[David Schweizer]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

You probably have a correct understanding of the situation - particularly as C&RT employ the same company to manage their moorings in a number of areas, I would suggest (I have no evidence) that the company would simply ask C&RT for details on boat number xxxxx and would not be expected to provide details of the location of the infringement.

So your earlier statement (accompanied by a liberal helping of sacasm!) is based merely upon an unsubstantiated assumption rather than any factual evidence?  Hmmm!

Would you like me to hide your spade?

Edited August 14, 2017 by David Schweizer

[ditchcrawler]

Someone on FB has contacted the Council and it seems you can stop for 24 hrs for just under £10. But after last time I tried to help I wont copy it here, you will have to go and find it like I did.

[OldGoat]

 A lot of huffing and puffing as often....

Both EA and C&RT have a legal obligation to provide contact details of vessels registered with them to persons / bodies who have a reasonable need to ask for such. Those well versed in avoidance techniques are already aware of this and  many have taken precautions.....  The cost of removal / court action can be a deterrent to remedying the situation as EA have found in the past, so progress will be slow if legal approaches are taken.

Time was when the "moorings near Tescos" had an unwritten rule that the short run of timber staging was left empty during opening hours for shoppers and 'residents' moored in the trees at either end. In the last 2-3 years all that has gone out of the window, resulting in this and previous attempts to remove the hulks.

Tesco don't want to know - doesn't produce any significant income, indeed if there's significant drug dealing and using spilling onto their site that may be why matters have come to a head?

From a cruising boater point of view being able to shop there is not only convenient it's also a meeting place which gives a buzz to the River and (pleasant) interaction between boaters as it always did.  

[Mike Todd]

Does this mean that it is not possible to stop there and shop - assuming there is room? Thje sign in the pic does not seem to give that option.

[OldGoat]

12 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

Does this mean that it is not possible to stop there and shop - assuming there is room? Thje sign in the pic does not seem to give that option.

No - that was tried before (I expect it was impossible to monitor). Face it landowners just don't want folks 'camping on' their property. Once on it's impossible to get them removed.

Society has changed, when we started cruising we obeyed notices and were grateful fro limited stops a Reading and outside similar places on the canal system. Nowadays, nobody gives a Sh*t - do what you can get away with - there's always a bleedin' heart solicitor ready to defend your 'rights' and riparian landowners / navigation authorities are well aware of not only how huge the costs are of following through on any course of action but also how weak the Law is.

On my patch, time was that if you kept under the radar, some solution could be found - and it was now. Now. IT'S MY RIGHTS and stuff everybody else. 

The Thames is declining, canals are getting constipated (in more ways than one). Such a shame as if folks worked together there's room for everyone.... 

[Tonka]

This is the sign at Ryepeck Moorings Chertsey

[frangar]

39 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

No - that was tried before (I expect it was impossible to monitor). Face it landowners just don't want folks 'camping on' their property. Once on it's impossible to get them removed.

Society has changed, when we started cruising we obeyed notices and were grateful fro limited stops a Reading and outside similar places on the canal system. Nowadays, nobody gives a Sh*t - do what you can get away with - there's always a bleedin' heart solicitor ready to defend your 'rights' and riparian landowners / navigation authorities are well aware of not only how huge the costs are of following through on any course of action but also how weak the Law is.

On my patch, time was that if you kept under the radar, some solution could be found - and it was now. Now. IT'S MY RIGHTS and stuff everybody else. 

The Thames is declining, canals are getting constipated (in more ways than one). Such a shame as if folks worked together there's room for everyone.... 

Sums up my thoughts rather well. Judging by the comments on some fb groups the It's My Right brigade are taking over the world and it's the rest of us that are in the wrong. Quite sad. It never used to be like this. 

[Drayke]

8 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Not sure who issues a Gold Licence though. Does anyone have a copy of the t&cs Gold holders sign or agree to?

CRT issue gold licences. 

[Jim Batty]

On 14/08/2017 at 12:27, dmr said:

If you stop and one person remains on the boat then you should be fine, if the parking police do turn up then either explain to them, or do a little loop and return ten mins later.

Sad thing is that this stuff is happening again and again. The "boaters" concerned will likely just ignore it and the "police" will soon realise that its more trouble than its worth to collect the fine (no address and no money). In other cases the offenders just move on to the next "soft target", either on or off the water, but the new regulations and anti-boater feeling will stay for much longer.

............Dave

I walked by the Reading Tesco moorings this morning. Boats that have been tied up on the public moorings there for three years are still there, along with a variety of other boats breasted up to them.

This pointless effort by Reading Council of having a 'parking enforcement' contractor put up outrageous signs full of threats and endless legal-ese is just another over-the-top reaction to the problem of a tiny minority of boaters colonising public moorings. CRT and the EA have done the same thing in miscellaneous places around the system.

Unless these various authorities actually follow through and enforce those signs nothing will change. But we all know that it's a fool's errand (expensive, tiring, lengthy) trying to get payment or movement from people who have no intention of either.The only people who suffer are the vast majority of boaters who love these waterways and follow the spirit of responsibly cruising and living on them. They will be the ones who don't stop and visit and enjoy these places, and the communities posting the idiotic signs will be left with colonies of anti-social boaters. A lose-lose situation.

BTW, cruise round the corner and up to the Reading Gaol moorings ... and you find similar signs requesting £9.50/night, payable over the phone. And lots of other warnings. Nice one Reading.

 

[Sir Nibble]

I have to say that my favourite is the guy who taps on the side of the boat to tell you to move because the rota says it's his turn on that mooring for the next 14 days.

[pearley]

Looks like the sign's been changed now to allow overnight mooring. 

Edited September 6, 2017 by pearley

[ditchcrawler]

3 hours ago, pearley said:

Looks like the sign's been changed now to allow overnight mooring. 

I can't read it all very well but I think it says you have to pre pay to stop

[OldGoat]

25 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I can't read it all very well but I think it says you have to pre pay to stop

That precludes a stop for shopping which is what mots local Thames based boats want. It's not a very nice mooring for overnighting

[matty40s]

1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

I can't read it all very well but I think it says you have to pre pay to stop

It actually contradicts itself several times and isn't worth the plastic it is printed on.

If someone is going to turn the Thames into a no mooring zone for anybody, they need to be a bit more organised than this cowboy outfit. Being subcontracted by a Government Org,,I have no doubt an inquiry can be made as to how much they are earning per successful £100 payment and whether they have had a single catch yet.

Bunch of cowboys no longer able to clamp cars and think the nice people who go boating are easy targets for their bullying and threatening signs.

They can go and do one, if I am moving a boat and have to moor overnight,  I know I can legally do it as per historic river navigation rights.

[Victor Vectis]

FWIW We moored overnight on one of these 'Thames Visitor Moorings' without realising it was one earlier this year.

We didn't register when we moored, it was getting dark and we didn't venture from t'boat. We were on the end of the line of boats and didn't see the signs unil the next morning when we moved off.

There have been no consequences.

Edited September 6, 2017 by Victor Vectis
Spellin & fings.

[ditchcrawler]

21 minutes ago, Victor Vectis said:

FWIW We moored overnight on one of these 'Thames Visitor Moorings' without realising it was one earlier this year.

We didn't register when we moored, it was getting dark and we didn't venture from t'boat. We were on the end of the line of boats and didn't see the signs unil the next morning when we moved off.

There have been no consequences.

From what I have read the mooring restrictions on EA visitor moorings, which are not policed by this clamping company are a bit up in the air at the moment

 

[JamesWoolcock]

On 8/14/2017 at 10:09, furnessvale said:

Interesting if I was riding at anchor and not touching their property.

George

Interesting indeed George, but you wouldn't have a chair to sit on!

[Steilsteven]

On 06/09/2017 at 19:57, Victor Vectis said:

FWIW We moored overnight on one of these 'Thames Visitor Moorings' without realising it was one earlier this year.

We didn't register when we moored, it was getting dark and we didn't venture from t'boat. We were on the end of the line of boats and didn't see the signs unil the next morning when we moved off.

There have been no consequences.

From what I've seen it's only Goring and possibly Sonning where boats are monitored. I've seen the lock keeper walk along checking all the licences/registrations at the end of the day. I'm told that he goes on line to report which ones are there and if you haven't registered your presence you will receive a fine.

All the signs say that monitoring is carried out using cctv but as far as I have seen this is bs.

Keith

[Steilsteven]

I hear that all the boats that were permanently moored outside Tesco Reading have been moved on, some have been heavily fined in the process.

I've messaged TVM to ask if boaters are expected to pay the mooring fee if only stopping for a couple of hours to shop, I'll post as soon as I get an answer.

 

Keith

[Sea Dog]

5 minutes ago, Steilsteven said:

I hear that all the boats that were permanently moored outside Tesco Reading have been moved on, some have been heavily fined in the process.

I've messaged TVM to ask if boaters are expected to pay the mooring fee if only stopping for a couple of hours to shop, I'll post as soon as I get an answer.

 

Keith

I'd have thought you pay the mooring fee and then get it back at the checkout when you spend £10 in Tesco.

[OldGoat]

6 minutes ago, Steilsteven said:

I hear that all the boats that were permanently moored outside Tesco Reading have been moved on, some have been heavily fined in the process.

I've messaged TVM to ask if boaters are expected to pay the mooring fee if only stopping for a couple of hours to shop, I'll post as soon as I get an answer.

 

Keith

TVM doesn't manage the 'Tesco moorings' (only those owned by EA on the other side of Kennet mouth)

 Sea Dog - sadly, Tesco don't want to have anything to do with the moorings, anyway they're not on the land that Tesco occupies. I think it's owned by the council.  

[Athy]

20 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

I'd have thought you pay the mooring fee and then get it back at the checkout when you spend £10 in Tesco.

That's a very good idea. I think we have been to a supermarket which had that system in operation in its car park, though I can't remember where it was. It must be a few years ago, so it's possible that the scheme no longer operates.

[nicknorman]

32 minutes ago, Steilsteven said:

I hear that all the boats that were permanently moored outside Tesco Reading have been moved on, some have been heavily fined in the process.

I've messaged TVM to ask if boaters are expected to pay the mooring fee if only stopping for a couple of hours to shop, I'll post as soon as I get an answer.

 

Keith

Yes its a bit daft that there's no free short stay mentioned. We stopped there this summer when most of the boats had gone. I stayed on the boat whilst Jeff went shopping, but no-one came rushing up. Despite what it says on the signs, I think (hope) the intention is to prevent long term mooring, not to stop people shopping for an hour or so. I will be interesting to hear what they have to say about it.

[Steilsteven]

1 hour ago, OldGoat said:

TVM doesn't manage the 'Tesco moorings' (only those owned by EA on the other side of Kennet mouth)

 Sea Dog - sadly, Tesco don't want to have anything to do with the moorings, anyway they're not on the land that Tesco occupies. I think it's owned by the council.  

You are of course quite right.Email now sent to District Enforcement.

Keith

[cereal tiller]

1 hour ago, nicknorman said:

Yes its a bit daft that there's no free short stay mentioned. We stopped there this summer when most of the boats had gone. I stayed on the boat whilst Jeff went shopping, but no-one came rushing up. Despite what it says on the signs, I think (hope) the intention is to prevent long term mooring, not to stop people shopping for an hour or so. I will be interesting to hear what they have to say about it.

When the Tesco's first opened it was a Free 2 hour Mooring for Shopping ,then the Rodneys moved in.