From time to, CRT comes out with statements saying boaters are using up too much of CRT funds, however the truth is very different. In fact over the years, boaters pay more and more. The last published Annual Report in 2019/20 stated that CRT received £41.6 million in income from ‘Boating and mooring’. In which 21.6 million was from just boat licences. On the other hand when asked how much they spent on boater facilities in the same year, it was just over 2 million. Of course, more is spent on the upkeep of the waterways than boater facilities however it would near impossible to tell much each waterway user should pay for what. 

Nevertheless, in general it looks like we as boaters put in a load more than we take out. So next time CRT says something like ‘too many boats are causing too much strain on facilities’, call it what it is, bullshit.

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