Petition for a fair license to be paid by Private Boaters

A shocking Petition put up by Association of Pleasure Cruiser Operators (APCO)

I was sent this by a reader of this blog.  This follows the ballot that I reported in January.  I find this a shocking petition sent out to 20,000 boaters who have a mooring, although, like my reader, I have yet to meet one!

I now feel like I am a second class boater.. No Problem is a continual cruising boat.. quote

“In a majority of cases these boats are lived on and some may be of a low standard of appearance and using the towpath for storage”..

OK OK, so I am going to paint my boat tomorrow as it happens!

Here it is then.. I need to digest before I open my mouth and comment  Oh by the way… tis APCO who have highlighted “continual cruisers” not me..

The Background

In effect any boat moored against a canal bank whether on the towpath or private offside pays a mooring fee to BW, with the exception of continual cruisers.

 

In the license review of two years ago and in the present license review the question of ‘continual cruisers’ (who say they do not need a permanent mooring as they are always on the move) is not being taken into account when reviewing license fees.

 

It is estimated using BW’s own figures that approx 6,000 boats throughout the waterways are without a mooring and so are considered to be continual cruisers. In a majority of cases these boats are lived on and some may be of a low standard of appearance and using the towpath for storage. This making it increasingly difficult to promote the waterways for everyone’s enjoyment whether they be boaters, walkers  or anglers.

 

Majority Boaters point of view

The average boater who lives in a house may be paying £2,000 in council tax and £2,000 to moor his boat in a marina. Then when he comes to cruise the waterways he encounters the continual cruiser who pays nothing except the boat license, which all boats have to pay.

 

Financial cost to BW in lost mooring fees and administration.

The average mooring now costing around £1500 per year the direct loss in moorings revenue to BW of 6,000 boats could be as much as £9m. (This figure being reduced when some continual cruisers pay for a winter mooring) Add to this the cost of BW Patrol officers having to continually move on continual cruisers and the cost of court action if they do not move within 14 days could be another £1m. (It is estimated that 75% of working time taken by Patrol Officers, Moorings Administrators and moorings wardens is taken up by the moving on of continual cruisers.)    

 

Under present BW license and mooring fees a wide beam boat pays the same mooring fee and license fee as a narrow boat. This has resulted in a large increase in wide beam boats many of which are continual cruisers as in practice they get up to a 50% reduction on both mooring and license fees. This could be costing BW a further £1/2m

 

Add to this the extra use by continual cruisers on the canal facilities like rubbish disposal, sanitation facilities and water points this could be another £1m.

 

So we have the situation where continual cruisers who use the canal the most and cost BW the most pay the least.

 

Solutions

All boats that do not have a permanent mooring should pay a higher rate license equal to the cost of combining the average linear mooring fee with the private boat license fee.

Wide beam boats should pay pro rata.

 

All boats should be issued with a mooring license which they can display next to their boat license and if they are a continual cruiser a large C could be printed on their boat license. This would make continual cruisers easy to recognize and therefore self monitoring by other boaters and boat yards saving BW on admin costs. 

 

Summary

There is nothing wrong with those who wish to live on their boats and cruise the waterways but under present BW policy continual cruisers and wide beam boats are costing BW in lost revenue and administration costs between £4m and £11.5m. Should continual cruisers be paying their fair share there would be no need for boat licenses to be increased by more than inflation (not the 30% over the next 3 years that BW are proposing).

 

As this present license review does not take into account continual cruisers anything decided at this review will be short term. BW do not believe that the majority of boats paying for a mooring believe that continual cruisers should pay a higher license which is why we ask you to sign this petition.

I feel this is splitting boaters down the middle again.. just this bit is enough for us to be heads down when passing other boaters….

“and if they are a continual cruiser a large C could be printed on their boat license. This would make continual cruisers easy to recognize and therefore self monitoring by other boaters and boat yards”

Are we to be second class boaters then?