CaRT attempting to exceed its powers in how far a boat travels

Published: Monday, 23 November 2020

THE National Association of Boat Owners (NABO) has written to the All Party Parliamentary Working Group for Waterways (APPWGW).

It expresses its concern about the current Terms and Conditions Consultation being run by the Canal & River Trust (CaRT).  NABO’s main concern is that CaRT is seeking to exceed the powers granted to it by Parliament in the 1995 Waterways Act.

CaRT is proposing that the following is added to the end of clause 3.1 of the existing Terms and Conditions: 'The cruise must be a genuine cruise. Minimal or repetitive movement along a short part of the Waterway or Waterways without use of the Home Mooring (nominal use of which shall be disregarded for these purposes) will not be accepted as a genuine cruise'.

No authority on how a boat must travel

There is no authority in the 1995 Act for CaRT to decide how a boat must travel in order to comply with the requirement to be used for proper navigation.  The requirement is simply (as per s17 (3) (c) (ii) of the 1995 Act) that the boat must not have remained continuously in one place for more than 14 days, unless reasonable in the particular circumstances.  A boat remaining in a small area or not travelling a certain distance does not thus contravene the 1995 Act, which appears to be what CaRT is driving at with the reasoning given for this change.  

NABO, supported by their legal advisers, believes that CaRT should be required to act in accordance with current legislation and not require boaters to agree to Terms and Conditions that exceed those required under the 1995 British Waterways Act.

Quite apart from the legal aspect, there is the question of proportionality.  CaRT has been unable to quantify the size of the problem it is trying to address nor has it provided a definition of 'genuine cruise' or 'minimal' in this context.  The reasoning given is to “ensure all boaters get fair access to the whole of their network, as presently some boaters with a home mooring remain in a small area, not returning to their home mooring, preventing others access to mooring space'.  This could best be addressed by the provision of mooring spaces of varied durations in popular areas with appropriate enforcement, all of which is available under the existing legislation.

To obtain a licence, a boater has no choice but to agree to CaRT’s Terms and Conditions.  NABO strongly believes that boaters should not have to agree to terms that are not required by the relevant Act of Parliament.