New policy to create more linear moorings

Published: Wednesday, 20 March 2019

IN THE past, as more and more marinas were created, linear moorings were reduced, but that will now cease.

The system by Canal & River Trust was to reduce one linear mooring for every 10 new marina moorings, making it easier for cruising, with boaters not having to slow down so often, but this is now being stopped, with no linear moorings being taken away as more offline berths are created.

Cruising will become worse

But for cruising boaters it is to become worse, as instead of only allowing 'end of garden' linear moorings where there is a dwelling, such mooring will be considered anywhere, if a dwelling or not.

The trust states that this is the result following a consultation at the end of 2017, and further review and discussion in the intervening period, so we are now told:

Removed

There are two key areas of change. The Trust will be ending the automatic online reduction policy, whereby the charity had previously removed one long-term online mooring for the creation of every ten off-line marina moorings. Over the past ten years nearly 600 online permanent moorings have been removed as thousands of new offline moorings have been created.

The new policy does not support the creation of lots of new linear moorings, but in certain circumstances they may be appropriate if they meet strict criteria. Moorings that have been removed to date will not be reinstated, and this will not affect existing marinas or those currently in development where online mooring reduction has already been agreed.

 Secondly, single ‘end of garden’ mooring applications will now be considered against privately-owned land, not just that which has a residential dwelling on it. Permission will only be granted to the landowner and sub-letting the mooring will not be permitted.

Of these changes,  Jon Horsfall, Head of Customer Service Support at Canal & River Trust, explained:

Best possible use of space

“We have updated our Online Mooring Policy to reflect the current waterway environment, and to ensure we have a clear and robust policy to help us manage the waterways for the benefit of boaters. It’s more important than ever that towpath moorings are shared fairly, especially in busy areas, and that we make the best possible use of space.”