Inland Waterways

Above inflation price increases to the licence fees will risk pricing boaters off the system or result in them being unable to pay. That’s the warning from the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) regarding the Canal & River Trust’s (CRT) proposals to its boat licence fee as UK boaters could be priced out as above inflation licence fees.

The IWA says that bearing in mind the CRT is dependent on a government grant that is not inflation linked for a good part of its income and needs to raise more from other sources to compensate, increasing the licence fee beyond inflation could result in a net loss.

Proposals have been made to raise licence fees for continuous cruisers above those with home moorings, Continue reading “UK boaters could be priced out as above inflation licence fees bite”

The Canal & River Trust 2021/22 Annual Report & Accounts document a continued rise in use of the towpath with nearly 800 million individual visits across the year and a record summer for boating once the waterways were able to re-open in May 2021 for unrestricted navigation. It is also the second year to be severely affected by Covid-19.

Accounting for variances relating to the pandemic, income for the year remained broadly stable, and the Trust was able to increase the amount spent on core maintenance and repair works Continue reading “Canal & River Trust Annual Report 2021/22 published”

On 6 July 2021, the UK survey workboat Bella flooded and sank while carrying out hydrographic survey operations in the approaches to Lynmouth, England. Bella’s crew abandoned into the liferaft and were rescued uninjured by a local boat owner; there was no pollution.

Safety Issues

– The survey workboat Bella was vulnerable to swamping, even in moderate sea conditions because its multibeam echo sounder gantry reduced its forward freeboard.
– Despite being issued with the necessary certification, Bella was not compliant with The Workboat Code; shortcomings in construction and means of flotation were missed during the certifying survey due to the surveyor’s overreliance on Recreational Craft Directive documentation. Continue reading “MAIB: The flooding and sinking of survey workboat Bella”

In light of soaring inflation, which is impacting the costs required to keep the waterways safe and navigable, the Canal & River Trust has annouced an inflationary rise of 4% in UK boat licence fees from 1 October 2022. This is in conjunction with cost saving measures that the Trust is taking and actions to increase income from other sources.

Whilst recognising that a second increase in fees this year is regrettable, the Trust is facing significant increases in a range of its costs – notably the prices of energy, fuel, materials and other construction costs which are rising by more than headline consumer inflation rates, Continue reading “UK boat licence fees set to increase from 1 October 2022”