A Public Right of Navigation exists on the River Lea. It is a legal right for the public to navigate and moor on this river. This is a Common Law right that has existed since Time Immemorial and can only be changed by primary legislation, in other words by an Act of Parliament; it cannot be changed by byelaws and Terms and Conditions (T&C). The right of navigation includes the right to moor as stated in Halsbury’s Laws of England, 5th edition:

‘The public right of navigation includes the right … to remain for a convenient time, to load and unload, to moor and fix temporary moorings in the waterway’

The signage that has been placed in the so-called ‘Safety Zones’ does not supersede this right and the restriction of mooring in these areas is not lawful. Nevertheless, Canal & River Trust (CRT) might try to enforce the ‘Safety Zones’, using their T&Cs. The T&Cs do say:
‘You must comply with … our lawful directions, spoken or written (including signs). This includes signs that prohibit mooring’.
However, T&Cs can’t override Common Law, therefore the CRT has no legal right to extinguish the right to moor on the River Lea, which the CRT ‘Safety Zones’ intend to do.

Any signs prohibiting mooring on the River Lea are therefore not ‘lawful directions’ as stated in the T&Cs.

In any case, do CRT really have the legal right to enact and enforce their T&Cs? There are no court judgements to say whether CRT can or can’t enforce or enact their T&Cs. CRT doesn’t use breach of the T&Cs as a main argument in court; therefore there is no case law to say one way or another. However, there are legal opinions. CRT’s legal opinion goes like this: under Section 43 of the Transport Act 1962, the Board (CRT) can set T&Cs for use of their services and facilities. CRT claims that because they can set the T&Cs they can make boat licences subject to conditions over and above those listed in the 1995 Act. CRT’s services and facilities include ‘the use of any inland waterway owned or managed by them by any ship or boat’ as well as actual facilities such as taps and rubbish points etc.

However, the opposing opinion is that, of course CRT can set T&Cs for facilities that they can charge for, however, there are enforceable T&Cs, and non-enforceable conditions.

The T&Cs include many of the byelaws, which are indeed enforceable – but only via prosecution in the Magistrates Court, entirely independent of CRT. So CRT’s claims that they can terminate or refuse to renew boat licences if a boat owner breaks the T&Cs is contrary to the law.

Section 17 of the British Waterways Act 1995 says that the Board (CRT) can only refuse a license if a boat doesn’t have one of these three things: boat safety certificate; third party insurance; either used for navigation or has a home mooring. It doesn’t say in any of the Acts or byelaws that you must obey the Board’s (CRT) ‘no mooring’ signs. Any T&Cs are subordinate to Acts of Parliament; therefore that means that due to the British Waterways Act 1995, CRT doesn’t have the right to terminate or refuse to renew a licence on the basis of breaking the T&Cs.

Another way that CRT claims it could enforce T&Cs is to charge a fee for staying longer on a mooring with restricted times. The Transport Act 1962 gave no new power to set charges for anything not previously enabled. On top of this, if CRT tries to charge, because of the outcome of the Ravenscroft v Canal & River Trust case, CRT cannot recover ‘outstanding costs’ from boat owners using Section 8 of the British Waterways Act 1983 (this is one of the eviction notices that CRT issues to boaters).

We have rights and CRT can’t legally override them.

We can defeat the so-called ‘Safe Zones’, disobey the mooring restrictions, the law is on our side.

You can view NBTA London’s September 2022 Position Statement on the “Water Safety Zones” here

Canal and River Trust (CRT) are trying cull boat numbers.

When CRT first proposed the full details of the Water “Safety” Zones we calculated that 550 mooring spaces would be lost in Broxbourne and Tottenham/Hackney in some places this included no double mooring and no wider boats. Following the magnificent efforts of the boating community to push back against the “Safety” Zones, CRT appeared to desist from their implementation in favour of a navigation forum of stakeholders. But in fact CRT are still attempting to impose perhaps the most draconian part of the original “Safety” Zones – the new no mooring sections. We now estimate that 295 casual mooring opportunities will be lost as a result.

It is these 295 spaces which we are now fighting to protect!

They want more space to row, but where do we go?

The justification offered for the introduction of the ‘safety zone’ is to keep rowers safe. CRT has not provided boaters with any evidence, however, that rowers are placed at risk by powered boats moving at 4mph. It’s claimed that moored boats narrowing the canal pose a danger to rowers, but there is no point on the canal where rowers do not have substantial clearance in the event that a boat passes.

CRT marketed this policy as a ‘water sports’ strategy before re-branding it as a question of ‘safety’. The more likely point of contention is not safety but rather the ordinary inconvenience and frustration that can result from rowers and boaters having to share the water. CRT has translated an elementary management question into a catastrophic policy.

Indeed, despite claiming to address safety concerns, the policy evacuates certain parts of the canal so that fallen-in rowers will have no way of climbing out in the absence of moored boats and boaters to help. 

The areas targeted also include two vital boater hubs for toilet and water services. Forcing boats out of these areas means that rowers will encounter increased boat traffic within the ‘safety zone’ as dispersed boats traverse the rowing areas to access services. Once again, the policy defeats its stated aim.

Ironically, other serious safety concerns are ignored. Evacuated parts of the canal will revert to the crime zones that they were before boaters made them safe for all to enjoy. Boaters and members of the public walking the towpath in these areas will once again become victims of muggings and violent crime. 

Since the policy is incoherent, boaters are led to question whether a general push to cull the boating community is its driving force and whether ‘safety’ is a convenient fig leaf for ugly bias. 

Given London’s housing crisis, boating is often the last line of defense for those who would otherwise be homeless. Many of those who are forced to abandon the boating life will have very few alternatives and some will have none. Is this fair? Does this represent the values that CRT, a charitable trust, claims to uphold?

To save our homes and way of life, boaters want to develop real solutions, rather than scorched-earth solutions. We are working together to develop a fair and just proposal that addresses the concerns of rowers while keeping homes and families on the water. We hope to publish our proposal soon.

We appeal to other communities to help us protect our homes and way of life by opposing CRT’s plan. 

If you would like to be involved in stopping CRT plans, email nbtalondon@gmail.com

Email CRT Matthew.symonds@canalrivertrust.org.uk to express your view towards the ‘Safety Zones’.

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How we got to the number of mooring spaces lost

Assumptions:

Boats are 15m in length on average

Zones are divided by 20m to take account of 5m advisory gap between boats

Red zone calculation excludes bridges and areas where mooring would impede navigation.

LOWER LEE:

Yellow zone is 1939m

Possible moorings in Y zone: (1939/15) x 2 = 258

Actual moorings in Y zone: 1939/20 = 97

Loss: 161

Red zone is 1259m

Possible moorings: (1259/15) x 2 = 168

Actual moorings: 0

Loss: 168

Green zone is 2279m

Possible moorings: (2279/15) x2 = 304

Actual moorings: (2279/20) x2 = 228

Loss: 76

Total loss: 161 + 168 + 76  = 405

This figure excludes approx 38 lost widebeam spots  in the green zone, since WB and NB can no longer moor together, if we assume 25% of boats are widebeams.

WB moorings lost in G: (2279/15) x 0.25 = 38

Red zone figure excludes bridges but includes the bendy bit at Clapton, north of Princess of Wales, where people currently moor.

BROXBOURNE:

1800m of moorable area no longer moorable to WB (excludes areas too shallow to moor)

WB:

1800/15 = 120 lost

NB:

Possible moorings: 1800/15= 120

Actual moorings: 1800/20 = 90

Loss: 30

Total loss: 120 + 30 = 150

A criticism commonly levelled at CRT is that they have failed to fully implement the measures of 2018’s London Mooring Strategy (LMS), such as improved mooring opportunities and facilities, before starting the current boat cull process.

While this is true, it is important to remember that the LMS was not all unicorns and stardust for boaters. One of its more draconian measures, which was couched in CRT’s language of sharing, was the introduction of “Water Sports Zones” in Broxbourne and between Tottenham and Old Ford Locks on the Lee Navigation. This was aimed at soothing the sense of entitlement held by the rowing clubs in these areas at the cost of boaters. Now rechristened as “safety zones”. CRT have rebreathed life into the proposal to introduce mooring restrictions in these zones, which will include a ban on double mooring and a complete ban on casual moorings.

As boaters currently suffering lockdown at the Walthamstow Marshes have noticed, CRT appear to have started the groundwork for introducing the mooring bans by installing posts for signage between Horseshoe and Ferry Bridges.

These “safety zones” are prefigurative of what CRT wants to achieve with the upcoming boat cull – fewer boats, and, especially, fewer of the wrong sort of boats.

Download uptodate CRT plans for the ‘Safety Zones’:

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People are understandably starting to get nervous about the impending implementation of CRT’s so called “Safety Zones”, previously known as “Water Sports Zones”. Our first meeting organise against the ‘Safety Zones’ when amazingly. There were more people on the online meeting than we could count. Many actions and working groups were agreed on.

The next meeting against the ‘Safety Zones’ will be on Sunday 21 March at 4pm and held on the 8×8 meeting platform, which you can join by video or phone. Here is the link:

https://8×8.vc/nbta/nbta.london

Alternatively you can use the dial in details to join in on the phone:
Dial-in: +44 330 808 1706 PIN: 121 133 06#

Everyone welcome!