having acquired a private permanent mooring after six years of continously cruising, British waterways are expecting £6:50 per foot of boat per year on top of the £9 per foot of boat per yera I already have to pay the private mooring operator, they say I have to pay this because they own the land under the water (which I pay a yearly licence for) which is below my boat!
after being hounded relentlessly into apermanent mooring by British waterways I now find that I cannot afford it. my boat is on the Rochdale canal which has never belonged to British waterways up until last year. the land owner who owns the moorings has been established there for 20years! he is a very nice man but a little disorganised and tells me he owns the land under the water that is under my boat but cannot find the deeds to this effect.
British waterways are seeking to put an end to this alternative way of life by pricing people on low incomes off of the canals. I can see a not too distant future where British waterways have a total monopoly on the canal system and the only boats you will see are holiday boats and posh second homes of the very rich tied up in B.W owned marinas next to newly built canalside retail parks, I find this a very sad state of affairs.
British waterways are seeking to put an end to this alternative way of life by pricing people on low incomes off of the canals. I can see a not too distant future where British waterways have a total monopoly on the canal system and the only boats you will see are holiday boats and posh second homes of the very rich tied up in B.W owned marinas next to newly built canalside retail parks, I find this a very sad state of affairs.