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If anybody's interested, here's a petition against evictions of boat dwellers: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/boats-are-homes-prevent-the-eviction-of-b

by Joeboy 12y ago

If anybody's interested, here's a petition against evictions of boat dwellers: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/boats-are-homes-prevent-the-eviction-of-boat-dwellers https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/boats-are-homes-preve...

Doctor_Fegg 12y ago
I used to live on a boat; I still own one; and I don't support that petition. The Canal & River Trust is an underfunded charity whose aims are to preserve and maintain Britain's historic waterway network. They are not funded to provide affordable housing for people. That is, and should be, the role of local and central Government. When you buy a boat in the UK (on CRT waterways), there are clear rules, in force since 1992, that you must either have a permanent mooring for it or undertake to move on to a different place every 14 days ("continuously cruising"). Numerous people have tried to avoid the expense of a permanent mooring by declaring themselves to be "continuously cruising" but actually staying in the same place. That is what this petition is seeking to legalise. If it were accepted, CRT would lose out two-fold: it would have greater costs in providing facilities and maintaining the waterways as more people bought boats simply to use as cheap houses, and it would have significantly lower income as people learned that they can get away without paying for a permanent mooring. Yet even now, CRT doesn't have enough money to maintain its 2,500 miles of waterways to a safe, reliable standard - just look at the recent breach on the Trent & Mersey Canal as an example. I feel for the people who can't afford to live in London and have alighted on boats as a cheap way to do so. I believe the city would be better as a vibrant, varied community rather than a rich ghetto. But expecting an underfunded heritage charity to fix London's housing problem is unfair and unrealistic. Target Whitehall and City Hall, not CRT.
- fab13n 12y ago
  I'm on a French canal, and I wish we had a continuous cruising status. It would keep canals alive, force boats to be maintained in working condition, and drive off most people who see liveaboard boats as an alternative to a flat. Unfortunately, I'm sure French civil services would fail to enforce it, and we'd end up with the kind of floating shacks described in the article. Actually, we already have many of them, and they're already powerless to get rid of them.

by Joeboy 12y ago

Doctor_Fegg 12y ago

I used to live on a boat; I still own one; and I don't support that petition. The Canal & River Trust is an underfunded charity whose aims are to preserve and maintain Britain's historic waterway network. They are not funded to provide affordable housing for people. That is, and should be, the role of local and central Government. When you buy a boat in the UK (on CRT waterways), there are clear rules, in force since 1992, that you must either have a permanent mooring for it or undertake to move on to a different place every 14 days ("continuously cruising"). Numerous people have tried to avoid the expense of a permanent mooring by declaring themselves to be "continuously cruising" but actually staying in the same place. That is what this petition is seeking to legalise. If it were accepted, CRT would lose out two-fold: it would have greater costs in providing facilities and maintaining the waterways as more people bought boats simply to use as cheap houses, and it would have significantly lower income as people learned that they can get away without paying for a permanent mooring. Yet even now, CRT doesn't have enough money to maintain its 2,500 miles of waterways to a safe, reliable standard - just look at the recent breach on the Trent & Mersey Canal as an example. I feel for the people who can't afford to live in London and have alighted on boats as a cheap way to do so. I believe the city would be better as a vibrant, varied community rather than a rich ghetto. But expecting an underfunded heritage charity to fix London's housing problem is unfair and unrealistic. Target Whitehall and City Hall, not CRT.

fab13n 12y ago
I'm on a French canal, and I wish we had a continuous cruising status. It would keep canals alive, force boats to be maintained in working condition, and drive off most people who see liveaboard boats as an alternative to a flat. Unfortunately, I'm sure French civil services would fail to enforce it, and we'd end up with the kind of floating shacks described in the article. Actually, we already have many of them, and they're already powerless to get rid of them.