Earlier this year, Elmbridge Borough Council ran a consultation about bringing in a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) to target so-called “unauthorised” mooring, barbecues, littering and night fishing on Council land along the River Thames. The outcome of the Green Spaces PSPO consultation was recently announced. Elmbridge has decided to bring in a PSPO that […]
Itinerant boat dwellers on CRT waters to get Energy Bills Support – deadline extended to Mon 28th Aug
UPDATE – The deadline to make sure your details are correct with CRT has been extended to Monday 28th August! After great efforts of NBTA and others campaigning for the energy grant, many itinerant boat dwellers on Canal & River Trust (CRT) waterways can now get £600 each! Amazing news for itinerant boaters ! The […]
Environment Agency consults on unregistered boat removal procedure 13 years after undertaking not to use powers without consultation: please give NBTA your views
In 2010, before the Environment Agency (EA) Inland Waterways Order 2010 became law, the NBTA made a legal challenge regarding the proposed power in Article 16 of the Order to remove boats if they are used as homes. In response to this, the EA made an Undertaking not to remove an unregistered residential vessel without […]
Select Committee seeks testimony from people excluded from Energy Bills Support Scheme – send your story to Parliament by 25th August!
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 […]