What Can I Do Next?

[bednobs]

Hi, i live near a canal. the moorings on the canal are for 14 days only, then people have to move on. However, people take the mick and stay there far longer than this, seemingly with impunity. There is an enforcement officer from the canal and rivers trust, who doesn't seem to do any enforcing, who i have been in touch with many times. The people who moor there benefit from all the amenities that other people who live nearby do (fire, police, ambulance, putting their rubbish in the public bins an so on) but don't have to pay council tax like i do for the privilege.
One person has been there for 11 months now, and another person is living on a non-residential mooring, and claims he doesn't when anyone inquires (despite his car being there most nights, lights being on and his cat being on the boat) There are around 5 other boats who have been there for the order of months rather than days too
I have tried talking to them (not surprisingly got hostile replies) spoken to the enforcement officer on seven seperate occasions (only comes during day so living there man is out at work so can't prove he's living there and officer tells me he can't do anything about 11 months man because he's not licensed) Been to the local authority (council) who are not interested, parish council (who supposedly wrote a letter to c&r trust but no action has occurred). What next?
I know i could just not care, but unfortunately the consequences of not caring are unappealing to me. Can anyone recommend who i could go to next, or who to approach or what steps to take
Thanks

[ladybird49]

I have a narrowboat on the bridgewater canal in manchester , we dont live on it and our fees for the year come to 1300. that is for a private mooring at a club also to use the canal and moor on the bridgewater canal , if we cruise off the bridgewater onto another canal we have to get a license for that canal ....residential moorings are usually more than double what we pay depending where the mooring is eg London , oh and there are proper toilets on boats lol

[EDDIE51]

If the owner of the mooring is not intrested then I have to go back to my first answer, that there is nothing you can do apart from write to the papers.

[Buenchico]

Bednobs:
Local newspapers are usually desperate for stories. Just ring them up.

However DON'T complain directly about the boat owners. (That would just sound like a personal squabble). DO complain about the lack of action from the council and the enforcement officer.

[bednobs]

i don't think he can be using his toilet on the boat unless he is discharging it into the canal, as it hasn't moved for nearly a year

[ladybird49]

Bednobs , tell me which canal it is and il find out some info ?

[ladybird49]

http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/boating/licensing/licence-it-or-lose-it/online-boat-checker

[bednobs]

i am rather wary, for some unknown reason about giving away my location by telling you which canal, in case the 11 month man or the living there man are reading! Please email me on my throwaway email [email protected]

[ladybird49]

Sent you an E mail x

[bednobs]

ta :)

[EDDIE51]

ladybird49's link asks you to enter the index number of a boat you think is unlicenced, ok, but surely an unlicenced boat is not going to display an idex number either.

[bednobs]

to those people who say "why do you care" i look at it like this: If travelers came and camped on a field near you, used the local amenities without contributing anything wouldn't you be cross and want to do something about it? If someone built a house at the bottom of their garden without Planning permission wouldn't you want to do something?

[tamborine]

Have they got river licences ?

[woofgang]

Not really bed nobs provided that they weren't noisy or offensive and kept the place clean. I have had law abiding council tax paying neighbours who were a real nightmare

[joko]

moving them on wont change anything though will it...?

they just moor up further along and will still not be paying the necessary fees etc and still be getting the benefits of police, ambulance etc, wherever they go - so why get bothered by it?

they could move somewhere else for a few days then come back - then do it over and over ...

do you have a problem with this particular person for some reason? if they are doing something detrimental to you or your home then you may have other cause to have them moved.

i lived on a moored boat for about 5 months, in oxford, and the neighbours were great - very happy to have us and occasionally baked things etc for us - better the devil you know i suppose because if just anyone moors up, they are out of sight of the main road etc and could be up to all sorts, then just move off.

[bednobs]

the 11 month man does not have a licence. Th c&r trust position is that as he doesn't have a license, he hasn't signed up to their terms, therefore they can't move him on! Utterly ridic as what's to prevent anyone not paying for a license then?
the no Planning permission man is licensed but has no planning permission to live there. The mooring is non-residential, yet he is residing there

[boxtops]

Bednobs, it's possible to write to the local paper and ask them to withhold your name and address (on grounds of possible ramifications) - people do that in the letters page of our local rag all the time.

[bednobs]

hi Joko, As i have said, i have very good reasons why i am upset about it, just don't want to go into them I don't even know the people personally or even their names, so i don't have anything against them personally, apart from the fact the bins are overflowing, i have come across human excrement in the trees at the side of the towpath when walking the dogs, my boating friends can't even stop here when they come past any more because the temporary moorings have been blocked with permanent people. It's also against the rules and the spirit of living on the canal. When you lived on the boat you had to either pay for a permanent mooring or move. I bet you were licensed too weren't you? Other People have to pay thousands for a license every year, but this person apparently doesn't have to. Other people have to get residential planning permission to live places, but this person apparently doesn't have to

[bednobs]

ps woofy, i bet you'd be in a minority to not mind about people just rocking up to your local field and living there

[ummmm]

I would find it annoying especially if you chose the house because of the canal and the fact you have boating friends that could pop in to see you