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London gets tough


NigelMoore

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There are a few tents here and there alongside the towpath and in parks etc. Very little appears to be done to such people living in this way, but then they should be at no greater risk than anybody else camping. Probably very cold though.

Why was the floating shed a floating shed? It brought a huge level of risk, and could have acted as a precedent for others. Why didn't they build a shed in a corner of a park? They would probably still be there now.

The London boaters FB page has some posts suggesting that members with tenders turn them into shelters for the homeless. Whilst laudable, it isn't the answer to the housing problem in London.

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10 hours ago, NigelMoore said:

That could prove interesting. What if CaRT told Kegwatch they could have their barrels, but they first needed to pay CaRT's costs of snaffling them?

And transporting them to Chester for safekeeping...

1 hour ago, Mike on the Wey said:

The London boaters FB page has some posts suggesting that members with tenders turn them into shelters for the homeless. Whilst laudable, it isn't the answer to the housing problem in London.

Combining this with the other thread as to how long the system will last, maybe it actually is the solution to the housing problem.  Won't make leisure boating much fun any more, but to use it as a linear housing estate would give it another commercial use.

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without getting into the rights / wrongs of this particular craft...

was it one vessel or was it 40 vessels?

Quote

Vessel

  1. a ship or large boat.
  2. a hollow container, especially one used to hold liquid, such as a bowl or cask.

could CRT claim it as 40 unlicensed vessels in their statistics?

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18 hours ago, markeymark said:

Maybe the fact that they were using old Foxton sale boards was doing a 'Banksy' and sending a political message about the state of the housing market

I've come a bit late to this, but it does seem very odd. A couple of blokes have "acquired" more than 70 (by my count) Foxton boards - probably from one source as they are all from the same Estate Agent - and 40+ barrels. Unless this was some elaborate stunt it's improbable that the barrels were on loan for the reasons already stated, which suggests they were nicked, again probably from one site as there are so many of them. It is difficult to envisage a couple of blokes carrying one each on their shoulder and making 20 trips down the road and onto the towpath too, plus the same again with the signs.

Is there any further news? Were the guys charges with theft or anything, or did everything come to an end when CRT removed the raft?

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On 05/02/2018 at 16:43, NigelMoore said:

Thank you David. Can you point me to the relevant legislation for that? 

 

On 05/02/2018 at 17:00, David Schweizer said:

I had access to the information when I was Clerk to the Local Council, but that was more than fifteen years ago, and they were passed on to my successor. However, the Town and Country Planning Order seems to come to mind. It may also be referenced in one of the earlier Waterways Acts, but I disposed of all my copies some years ago. Your Local Planning Officer should know.

 

The organizations which can grant themselves non development Planning Consent are known as "Statutory Undertakers", and I think you will have to go back to either the 1990 or even the 1969(?) Town and Country Planning Act for a definition. I seem to recall that the legistion was very complicated, so I will not even try to explain it.

Edited by David Schweizer
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I saw it twice, with a chap working on it.

It was a few yards away from the tunnel on the non towpath side, and was an obstruction. It didn't look very stable at all.

I thought at the time it was an accident waiting to happen, and was pleased next time I cycled along there that it had gone. All that was left were a couple of Foxtons signs by the bins.

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On 05/02/2018 at 16:27, chubby said:

Also

if you leave it then how long before someone else manages gather together another pile of litter & turn it into " accomodation "

Get in , tear it down , send a message to other would be piss takers , potentially save lives , potentially save the emergency services from having to attend etc etc . Then deal with the repercussions . CRT did the right thing by putting the wider community & thier wellbeing ahead of some dumb muppets 

good

Along the river lea it appears quite common for people to cobble together scraps of rubbish and live in them. The problem is getting cart to do anything about it. I've spoken to some volunteer rangers and they've implied that a lot of people asking there seem to think licensing is optional

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Wouldn’t it be dull if we all lived the same? I welcome and in fact celebrate the diversity of different dwellings, it matters not a joy to me how legal someone else is, but I agree with a couple of others, this was a stunt more than anything, fair play! 

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Remember the couple of rafts with tents/sheds on them that were downstream of Teddington on the tidal bit? they were there for ages, added a bit of interest really to all that greenery. Over the years I have had friends that have lived in vans, coaches, sheds, garages, beautiful boats (a few) old and tired wooden boats (quite a lot) and cheap and nasty boats (many) , also damp caravans, a home made geodesic dome and unpleasant squats, its a long list and a lot of people. Vive la difference.

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2 hours ago, Wanted said:

Wouldn’t it be dull if we all lived the same? I welcome and in fact celebrate the diversity of different dwellings, it matters not a joy to me how legal someone else is, but I agree with a couple of others, this was a stunt more than anything, fair play! 

Non. You will all live in the huts like everyone else.  Reveille will be at 06:30 sharp, followed by marching and the company song.

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On 2/8/2018 at 08:18, jds_1981 said:

Along the river lea it appears quite common for people to cobble together scraps of rubbish and live in them. The problem is getting cart to do anything about it.

Send them back to the shop doorway they came from.

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On 2/5/2018 at 16:23, markeymark said:

I think its a marvellous attempt at cocking-a-snoop at authority. It is harmless fun , nothing more. If there were thousands of these home-made rafts around blocking access then it might be problem but I think its a sign of how authoritarian a society we have become when someone does something for a laugh and gets such a reaction...talk about Big Brother looking over our shoulders..its scary.  The fact that its in front of a No Mooring sign says it all surely?

“Welcome to Telepathics Anonymous. Don’t bother introducing yourself.”

Am I getting a sense of little pity for people who are homeless on this blog? I am sure that there are people who are boaters for the same reason..they cant afford a house or dont want to live in a house with bad neighbours.

Been homeless myself before and dont think that stigmatising the homeless helps the situation

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Just now, Sir Nibble said:

At the end of the day I think the problem is that the idiots were dumb enough to stick it on the water where it sticks out like a sore thumb and more or less challenges CaRT to do something about it.

Does the fear that building a shelter on land risks it being bulldozed by the council make them dumb idiots?

The homeless tend to know more about the law regarding illegal encampments than the laws on boat registration and illegal mooring.

Let's face it we have spent years debating the finer points of waterways legislation on here without drawing any conclusions.

Wanting to live somewhere other than a cardboard box in a shop doorway does not make you an idiot or dumb.

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12 minutes ago, carlt said:

Does the fear that building a shelter on land risks it being bulldozed by the council make them dumb idiots?

The homeless tend to know more about the law regarding illegal encampments than the laws on boat registration and illegal mooring.

Let's face it we have spent years debating the finer points of waterways legislation on here without drawing any conclusions.

Wanting to live somewhere other than a cardboard box in a shop doorway does not make you an idiot or dumb.

I read Nibbles comment as being that it was stupid to put the 'vessel' in view on a busy waterway underneath a no mooring sign - similar to putting up a tent on the central reservation of the M1 - it is going to generate some action.

Maybe they do not have any understanding of waterways law, but hopefully they could read 'no mooring'.

Had they been a little more sensible they could have 'hidden' it on some quiet backwater or out in the 'wilds' and they would probably have got away with it for some considerable time.

Being homeless does not make you an idiot or dumb - but doing idiotic or dumb things does.

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On 10/02/2018 at 08:36, markeymark said:

“Welcome to Telepathics Anonymous. Don’t bother introducing yourself.”

Am I getting a sense of little pity for people who are homeless on this blog? I am sure that there are people who are boaters for the same reason..they cant afford a house or dont want to live in a house with bad neighbours.

Been homeless myself before and dont think that stigmatising the homeless helps the situation

 

Was somebody living on it then? 

I thought not, and it was a folly constructed by someone with a grudge against Foxtons Estate agency. Hence the roof made from Foxtons advertising boards and the mooring of it in prominent place and tied to a "No Mooring" sign. Hardly the actions of someone seeking some 'under the radar' accommodation.

Edited by Mike the Boilerman
spelling
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4 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Was somebody living on it then? 

I thought not, and it was a folly constructed by someone with a grudge against Foxtons Estate agency. Hence the roof made from Foxtons advertising boards and the mooring of it in prominent place and tied to a "No Mooring" sign. Hardly the actions of someone seeking some 'under the radar' accommodation.

Quote

Mr Bloom, 30, who spent a month designing the hut before moving with Stephen, 46, added: “We were trying to get it registered, everyone loved it.

“It was warm, we could cook meals in there. People kept asking us if they could hire it out to have a drink in. It was horrible watching it get taken away. We were planning to get solar panels and a shower. 

Not entirely clear that they lived there

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16 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Was somebody living on it then? 

I thought not, and it was a folly constructed by someone with a grudge against Foxtons Estate agency. Hence the roof made from Foxtons advertising boards and the mooring of it in prominent place and tied to a "No Mooring" sign. Hardly the actions of someone seeking some 'under the radar' accommodation.

8:00 am

"We were asleep and they put the door in......"

"The former gas plumber who became homeless 8 months ago .........."

"We told them we had nowhere else to go ....."

"We were planning to fit solar panels and a shower....."

I'd suggest that those statements would indicate that it was for 'living on'.

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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On 10/02/2018 at 09:51, RLWP said:

Mr Bloom, 30, who spent a month designing the hut before moving with Stephen, 46, added: “We were trying to get it registered, everyone loved it.

 

That's where it went wrong. Register first, THEN launch!

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34 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

I read Nibbles comment as being that it was stupid to put the 'vessel' in view on a busy waterway underneath a no mooring sign - similar to putting up a tent on the central reservation of the M1 - it is going to generate some action.

Maybe they do not have any understanding of waterways law, but hopefully they could read 'no mooring'.

Had they been a little more sensible they could have 'hidden' it on some quiet backwater or out in the 'wilds' and they would probably have got away with it for some considerable time.

Being homeless does not make you an idiot or dumb - but doing idiotic or dumb things does.

12foxtonshome0502b.jpg

No gunwales and door facing out onto the water (or opening onto railings).

If that is their actual choice of mooring site then their lack of knowledge of waterways legislation could be the least of their intellectual failings.

More likely it was a convenient spot for the press photo on its way to the craning out site.

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