Tag Archives: Camden

Article, News, Newsletter

Where have all the boats gone?

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In March, the Canal and River Trust (CRT) announced that they will be introducing 800 meters of new pre-bookable moorings at 6 sites across London: Kings Cross, Camden, Victoria Park, Broadway Market, Kensal Green and Cowley North. This is in addition to existing chargeable moorings at Islington, Little Venice and Paddington.

Since then, members of NBTA London have been working together to campaign against the loss of these free mooring spaces, and to tackle the CRT’s assertions that boaters struggle to find somewhere to moor in London and therefore these pre-bookable moorings are justifiable.

These pre-bookable moorings are now live but if you have been anywhere near these moorings, you’ll be wondering who are the boaters that so desperately want to moor in these spots, because they’re not in London. These moorings, which used to be full of bustling boater life, are now empty and quiet. Locals have already started to comment that they do not feel safe walking these strips of towpath at night again. In response to this, an outreach program targeted at locals and boaters, called “Where have all the boats gone?”, is about to be launched to find out how the lack of boats in these areas is negatively impacting their use of the canal and towpath.

To make matters worse, more chargeable moorings now seem to be popping up, almost over night, with little or no warning. Embarrassingly for CRT, these pre-bookable moorings are clearly already failing. Based on the lack of uptake, the CRT have been sent several FOIs regarding the use of these moorings, but unfortunately they have not been very forthcoming with their responses so far.

Chargeable Mooring Sign in London, subverted by local boaters to read, “No Charges apply”

As many boaters have expressed an interest in continuing to use these moorings as standard, 14 day mooring. Here is guidance regarding the possible implications of mooring in these spots: https://nbtalondon.co.uk/2024/07/12/should-i-moor-on-the-payable-moorings-some-brief-guidance-and-advice/

Let CRT know that you don’t agree with this new change by using their contact form here: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/contact-us/ways-to-contact-us

Article, Local issues, News, Newsletter

New Chargeable Moorings Across London

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The CRT announced in the Boaters Update 22/03/24 that they are introducing around 800 meters of new pre-bookable moorings across 6 sites in London this year. The new sites are Kings Cross, Camden, Victoria Park, Broadway Market, Kensal Green and Cowley North, which will be joining Islington, Little Venice and Paddington.

These moorings come at a premium of £25-£35 per night and bring the total mooring space at this price to approx 1,500 meters. 1,500 meters would fit around 95 single moored 50 foot boats. This is an attempt to displace boats from the capital, we have seen already that these chargeable moorings mostly sit empty, so there is no justification for making more unless it is indeed an attempt to move boats out of London.

The eco moorings at Kings Cross and Angel are now £35 per night, as of the 1st of April, new sites at Kings Cross and Camden are also now available to book online. The other new sites will be phased in throughout the year. 2024 is looking to be a bad year for boaters at the hands of the CRT, first the surcharge which -if left unchecked- will threaten our whole way of life, and now these chargeable moorings, which will have a direct and very tangible impact on boaters living in and around London in 2024 and beyond.

CRT are saying that it is less than 10% of London’s moorings that are now chargeable, but all except Cowley are in one 10 mile stretch of central London (to add to Little Venice and Paddington) which will make travelling across that stretch without paying increasingly difficult.

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