The Energy Security and Net Zero (ESNZ) Parliamentary Committee is to carry out an inquiry into Preparing for the Winter, including the continued exclusion of boat dwellers and other itinerant or off-grid households from the Government’s Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS). The Committee will hear verbal and written evidence in September 2023. You can send […]
NBTA plans ballot on resistance to CRT licence changes
As boaters on Canal & River Trust (CRT) waterways anxiously await an update on CRT’s new licence fee structure (now expected in September or October), the NBTA is gearing up to ballot its members on what actions they are willing to take to oppose any attack on the itinerant liveaboard community.
Birmingham mooring restrictions only slightly less inconvenient after CRT consultation
Many boaters responded to the recent CRT consultation opposing the removal of all 14-day mooring space in Birmingham city centre. CRT now states that all visitor moorings in the central zone will become 4-day moorings, reverting to 14 days in winter (1st November to 31st March). All the pontoons at Cambrian Basin will become long-term […]
Kingston apologises to NBTA for smoke control blunder – order will not apply to boats
Kingston upon Thames Council has apologised to the NBTA after the wording of its Public Notices implied that its new Smoke Control Order would apply to moored boats, and many boaters took the trouble to object to the Order on the grounds that no consultation with boaters or with NBTA had been carried out.
DEFRA makes deep cuts to CRT funding
Today (10th July 2023) the Government made a statement about the future funding of Canal & River Trust (CRT) from 2027 to 2037, following the review of the grant that has been carried out by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) over the past two years. The funding will be reduced in […]
Broxtowe consultation on extending Smoke Control Order to boats
Broxtowe Council in Nottinghamshire is consulting on bringing moored boats into the scope of its smoke control order. This will affect boaters who moor within the Council’s area, including the Nottingham Canal, Beeston Cut, Beeston Marina and the River Trent. Please respond to the consultation online here https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/WJNB25C and see https://www.broxtowe.gov.uk/smokecontrolconsultation for more information.
All members invited to NBTA Committee meeting 9th July
The next NBTA Committee meeting will be on Sunday 9th July 2023 at 2pm. All members are invited. To maximise participation the meeting will be held online and/or by phone. If there is anything you would like to be discussed in the meeting please contact secretariat@bargee-traveller.org.uk or 0118 321 4128 by 12 noon on Saturday […]
Flotilla activists hand energy grant petition to 10 Downing Street
A group of boater activists, who led a flotilla of boats from Braunston to London on a 15-day journey south, handed a petition with 5,490 signatures into 10 Downing Street on 19th June 2023. The petition, started by the NBTA, calls on the government to reverse the exclusion of itinerant boat dwellers and others without […]
Last chance to get your Covid-19 vaccine free of charge before 30th June
The NHS has provided Covid-19 vaccinations free of charge to all adults and children aged 5 and over. After 30th June 2023, vaccinations will only be available for people who are at higher risk from severe Covid-19, and for most people they will usually only be available seasonally. If you’ve only had one Covid-19 vaccination, […]
Join us as we hand in Energy Bills Support Scheme petition on 19th June!
We will finally hand in the petition to include off-grid households in the Government £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme at 10 Downing Street on Monday 19th June 2023 at 1.30pm. All supporters are invited to join the Energy Grant Protest Flotilla members as we take our concerns to the Government.