Another council gets tough

Published: Monday, 02 March 2015

THE result of a fours years campaign by Richmond Council is that it is now authorised to prosecute unlawfully moored boats after the 13th of March.

This follows other councils along the Thames that have problems with unlawfully moored boats and their detritus along the banks of the Thames, Roger Fox tells us.

Blighted by boats

For too long parts of the borough's picturesque riverside have been blighted by boats mooring with no permission and the council has campaigned for a byelaw to be introduced to clamp down on the offending vessels.

The byelaw will come into force at 1am on Friday 13th March, that will certainly be unlucky for the owners of the unlawfully moored boats on council owned or managed land for it will be a criminal offence which could carry a fine and/or prison sentence.  And it is compounded as every 24 hours the boat is moored, or attached, to the land, a new crime has been committed.

Cause distress

Richmond Council Cabinet Member for Environment, Councillor Pamela Fleming, explained:

"I am delighted that all the hard work our officers and responsible river users have put into this byelaw application will be rewarded. Some of these boats cause a great deal of distress for people living in and visiting the borough.

"We hope that we will soon see the end of these boats mooring with no permission along our beautiful stretch of the Thames.

"Over the next few weeks we will follow up on the notices already given, and contact all those vessels currently in an unauthorised spot on the river and warn them that their unauthorised mooring days are over. Time to move on or risk a fine."