| Dear George
NABO Bulletin February 2025 Past events. CRT Boat Licence Review. We have noted a small but significant change in the terms of reference for the review team. Are CRT drawing back from new legislation? Boater survey questions, formulated by an independent company, will be widely publicised and sent to all licence holders in a week or so…. Meanwhile, we send to you our initial response in full, because it is important. STARTS: NABO (the National Association of Boat Owners) was established in 1991 with as its core purpose and priority the promotion of the interests of private boaters on Britain’s canals, rivers and lakes so that their voices are heard and heeded when decisions which might affect their boating are being made by waterways authorities and others. This focus has led to NABO successfully representing its members’ positions on a range of initiatives, initially as originated by British Waterways (BW) and more recently from the Canal and River Trust (CRT) as its successor. Uppermost among these representations have been challenges concerning the types, levels, and qualities of service and services (including ‘facilities’) provided to boaters by CRT and – most recently – the expression of concerns about the appropriateness and validity of the changes to licensing principles and charges introduced in 2024. Continuing these representations this note presents the Association’s initial observations on the recently announced initiative from the Trustees of CRT entitled ‘Future of Boat Licensing Review’. NABO has read and reviewed the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Review as published in November 2024. The Association has also read with interest the formal Minutes (dated 14 January 2025) from the first meeting of the independent Commission tasked to carry out the Review together with a follow-up Note (dated 28 January 2025) on the same meeting. The following observations (on these three documents) are intended to lead into further contributions from the Association addressing output from the Commission. As a first observation NABO notes that while the Commission tasked with progressing the Review has been described as being ‘independent’ its membership – including the chairman – is nevertheless appointed by the CRT Trustees. It will therefore be critical for confidence in the outcome of the Commission to ensure that this independence is evident. Concerning the scope of the Review, while according to its title the apparent focus is on ‘licensing’ NABO has a sense that the actual scope of the Review will be wider than this, even potentially feeding into changes to the legislation around CRT, inland waterways, and boating. The Association comes to this conclusion based on comments in the Note of January 2025 where it says (item 3) “the [review of] enforcement of licencing … is subsidiary to an understanding of the wider issues … [therefore] our work will focus on these wider issues”. This apparent broadening or at least confirmation of the breadth of the Review confirms to NABO that it is of very significant and long-term importance to all boaters, apparently representing a move to redefine not only future licensing practices but also the future face and nature of boating on CRT waters. There are indications that this could potentially be (partly) achieved or at least facilitated via modification/s to the appropriate legislation (reference has been made elsewhere in CRT materials to the adoption of the mechanism of a Transport and Works Act order to adapt the legislation). This being so makes it even clearer to the Association that not only is a planned consultation of boaters necessary as an integral component of the Review but that all care must be taken and be seen to be taken within the Review of feedback from such consultation to ensure it is reported on accurately, effectively, transparently, and with integrity. The ToR as drafted include the observation that “in court proceedings, judges have commented on the complexity and lack of coherence and clarity in the legislation and have urged the Trust to seek reform and consolidation”. NABO is entirely in agreement with this observation, particularly that there is a lack of coherence and clarity, and is of the opinion – backed by legal opinion it has obtained – that this has contributed to a range of questionable, refutable, and refuted interpretations of the legislation within which CRT operates, notably the British Waterways Act 1995. Not least amongst these is the contested concept of “categories” of boaters and boating, most particularly associated with the notion of ‘continuous cruising’ versus ‘home moorings’. Indeed, NABO has sponsored a number of legal challenges to interpretations addressing so-called categories of licenses and licensees. It is therefore disappointing to see that (in item 2.2) the ToR still refer to the concept of “the current 2 categories of boat license”. NABO and others have long contested the validity and appropriateness of any such separation between boating habits, and expects one of the outcomes of this review to be the (legal) confirmation of the actual relevance of differentiating between boaters with and boaters without a home mooring. Far more importantly is the need to avoid, nay to prevent, a situation developing where all boaters are required to have a home mooring, something that has been hinted at on multiple occasions and which cannot be countenanced by NABO. Regarding the various purposes of boating, it isn’t clear to NABO if this Review includes or excludes those boaters who are licensed as maintaining a commercial activity from their boats, most likely as ‘roving traders’. The Association recommends that this aspect – whether boating with a commercial purpose is or isn’t within the scope of the Review – be clarified as a priority. There are several more matters that can be referred to, but this note will finish with observations on the interrelated aspects of cost and fairness. NABO – along with other boater-focused organisations – feels that the recent changes to licensing and the new supplementary charges for those participating in “continuously cruising” has led to one relatively small section (approximately 10% of boaters in 2024 according to CRT’s own Annual Boat Count) of the boating community being unfairly targeted for supplementary charges to the extent of being penalised for preferring to maintain the independence and characteristics of a roving boating lifestyle not requiring residence in a marina or other formal mooring location. NABO has never seen any convincing arguments or figures that justify the penalisation of continuous cruisers. The manner of surcharging their license fee is in our opinion a good example of an unfair ‘solution’ to the funding of the use by boaters of C&RT’s waterways and we would strongly urge the Review to address this inequality. At the same time the Review should address the nature of financial contributions by ALL kinds of canal and towpath users, not only fees paid by those on canal boats or other craft. Boaters are presently providing the only significant ££s contribution as users of the waterways and their environs and it has long been obvious that there needs to be a better and fairer balance of funding across and by all users of all facilities. There will be further specific comments from NABO and its membership (and hopefully other boaters) as the review and consultation proceeds. NABO looks forward to an outcome that meets the criteria referred to in the ToR, namely clarity, fairness, sustainability and effectiveness. To that we would add coherence and validity. Boats and boaters are frequently referred to as being at the centre of what constitutes the particular nature of canals and canal life. NABO is concerned that without timely and appropriate initiatives from CRT and others a significant proportion of boaters will leave the canals along with their boats. This might to some extent make life for CRT simpler and/or less demanding but it will very clearly have a negative impact on the wellbeing of many boaters not to mention on the waterways themselves as the latter need boat movements to thrive. Ironically, loss of the income due to a disappearing community of boaters will also negatively impact C&RT’s funding as by definition they will receive fewer ££s from boaters to invest in keeping the canal network open and navigable. It could become a vicious downward spiral if to compensate for such losses remaining boaters were charged more and thus pushed by costs towards abandoning their way of life. As a boater-focussed association NABO is committed to assisting the Commission in its tasks to the best of our abilities and on behalf of our members. The NABO Council looks forward to a constructive Review and to results that are supportive of all stakeholders. ENDS CRT will be undertaking their National Boater Check in March to check and log all boats on the waterways. The local teams patrol the banks with hand-held computers that show whether the boat has a valid licence, no matter what’s displayed in the window. CRT National user forum Wed Feb 26 2025. Chair Anne and 4 other NABO members attended this out of approximately 20 other boaters. CRT concentrated on licence and mooring enforcement issues, presumably because these are important in the context of the licence review and the widespread criticism of their failure to enforce what they have. A few snippets: The licencing team is 70 strong including 26 rangers. They work all year round and also report on boats which look to be a risk to themselves and others. There are approx. 3500 unlicenced boats going through the system at the moment. For boats with neither name or number, CRT rely on photos and information from local knowledge If this fails then the boat is removed (?) and CRT try to recoup the costs. Boat identity is key rather than licence display. The welfare team works independently but closely with the licensing team. There is a staff of eight and cases have increased a lot recently. They are finding that they are having to deal with some very complicated cases. CRT did not know the percentage of forced 6 month licences that did not progress to another licence. An attendee asked whether 16 years on a 14 day mooring is a record! Air quality This survey from Oxford council looking at boater’s views on towpath air quality is worth filling in, even if you are not on the Oxford. There is plenty of opportunity within the survey to give them more insight in to boating life! https://consultation.oxford.gov.uk/environmental-sustainability/a7221a2f/ Mon and Brec. We see reports of water supply problems. This has been going on for years on this rather leaky canal. We would expect it to get resolved in due course. Meantime CRT are complaining of new restrictions of river water abstractions. See here Friends of the River Nene (FOTRN) are pleading for more committee members to join or they will have to close. They provide much needed extra moorings on this river so their discontinuation will affect all boaters cruising it. They say: Committee meetings are held every two/three months and last for about 2 hours. We have never been shy of volunteers when it comes to work parties but members seem to shy away from joining the committee, our next AGM is 20th March, location to be confirmed. Link here to join them and help: https://www.friendsoftherivernene.co.uk/#Becomeafriend Bridgewater breech. There have been no further updates on proposed repairs since the 3rd February to the Bridgewater Canal breach, however they have stated that they fully intend to repair it and investigations have begun into methods and timescales. In the meantime, the company is looking at assisting passages “on alternative routes” where possible, whatever that means. See here for news on updates: https://bridgewatercanal.co.uk/news/ CRT bin sites are changing in April in line with current legislation. See here for more information as to what goes where: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/boating/go-boating/boat-facilities-and-services/rubbish-and-recycling BSS Technical Forum. Peter Braybrook attended the meeting on 11th February at Hatton. There were a number of appeals reviewed, and BSS made the commitment to go out to consultation on Smoke Detectors Future events Here are some meeting dates going forward. Please make the effort to attend your local forum. There is a particular need to pack the goal mouth at the moment, what with Better Boating and the Licence Review.
NABO/CRT periodic meeting. The next planned meeting is for 10th March. Please let us know of any points! Internal matters The next NABO Council meeting will be on Saturday 22th March by zoom link. Members are welcome to join. The next NABO News is in the post and on the web site now. If you are a NABO member and addressee and no longer wish to receive these bulletins, click here and send an email. Please add your membership number. |
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