Email: Disagrees and agrees

I disagree with much of what Maffi has written. How long does he want to stay on public moorings in Oxford exactly?

If one were to take his 'sightseeing' rationale to it's logical conclusion, one could moor up in Paddington Basin or some other popular public mooring in London for years on end. Maffi's solution seems to be a bit like a selfish land grab—"I got here first and I'm staying!"

I do agree with Maffi on his definitions of mooring charges vs. punitive fines, and I'm with him that the fines are disproportionate, but unfortunately we live in a world with a growing population and like it or not it's happening on our waterways too.

Just because someone gets to a popular mooring early shouldn't necessarily give them the right to stay there for lengthy periods at the expense of others who may want to visit. Yes, queueing and first come-first served is part of our culture, but then so is something called sharing!

Mike Brown