CRT is planning to change all Birmingham city centre moorings to 7 days or less so that boaters will no longer be able to moor in the city centre for 14 days. This will affect itinerant boat dwellers the most, many of whom need to spend 14 days in the city especially in winter while it is quiet. In winter the city centre 14 day mooring space is never overcrowded and often deserted.
Every route into Birmingham involves a lock flight. These proposed restrictions will make it much harder for all boaters to visit Birmingham city centre, if they can only stay for two days after working 20 or more locks.
Please object to the unjust removal of 14-day mooring space in Birmingham! Boaters have won on similar proposed mooring time limit reductions in the past, such as Rickmansworth and Berkhamsted. Send your objections to enquiries.westmidlands@canalrivertrust.org.uk – a suggested response is below. The consultation runs from February 2023 to 12th May 2023. Details and maps showing the proposed changes are here https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/about-us/where-we-work/west-midlands/birmingham-city-centre-moorings-consultation
Suggested response to CRT proposals to remove 14-day mooring space in Birmingham:
Dear Sir or Madam,
I object to the proposed changes to mooring time limits in central Birmingham as set out here https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/about-us/where-we-work/west-midlands/birmingham-city-centre-moorings-consultation
There is no justification for or evidence to support the removal of the only remaining 14-day mooring space in the city centre. Removing it will be counterproductive and will have the most significant adverse impact on itinerant boat dwellers, who need to spend 14 days in the city. In winter the city centre 14 day mooring space is never overcrowded and often deserted. In summer it is not often full. You have admitted this yourselves by stating that during the Commonwealth games in summer 2022 the mooring space was “not as heavily used as we thought it might be”. If it was not heavily used during a major sporting event in the middle of the summer holidays, there is no reason to believe that there is a problem with either congestion or overstaying at any other times that cannot be dealt with as part of the normal workload of CRT enforcement staff.
Every route into Birmingham involves a lock flight. These proposed restrictions will make it much harder for all boaters to visit Birmingham city centre, if they can only stay for two or seven days after working 20 or more locks. Leisure boaters will be discouraged from visiting the city if they cannot stay for long enough to relax and enjoy exploring it in between the effort of navigating long lock flights.
I do not believe your assertion that mooring stay times in central Birmingham are confusing for visiting boaters. This is simply an excuse to justify profiteering from the introduction of bookable, chargeable moorings. Further, you have not provided any evidence that the signage and stay times make it harder for boaters to know where and how long they can moor, or evidence that CRT staff cannot properly monitor compliance, or evidence that the signs and mix of stay times has led to boats overstaying. You have also not provided any evidence that there has been a rise in complaints about overstaying boats.
Instead of implementing the proposals, please retain the existing 14-day mooring space all year round and leave the existing 24 and 48 hour stay times as they are.
Thank you. I look forward to your reply.