No concern about abandoned boats on Thames

A LOCAL Marlow  resident has campaigned to have 'eyesore' abandoned boats removed from Thames.

But the authorities have shown little interest even though these are by the the tourist attraction of Higginson Park in the town, reports Janet Friend.

Bernard Guly, who successfully organised a clean-up of Marlow Bridge at the beginning of the year, is behind the effort to have the discarded boats, that are blocking-up the  waterfront, removed. Image by Bernard Guly.

He approachedf the Buckinghamshire Council and the Environment Agency about the wrecks blocking-up the waterfront at the park several times, but to no avail he relates, and telling:

“It’s similar to the issues with the bridge in that the bodies involved are just deflecting responsibility. No one wants to grasp the problem and do anything about it.

“There should be a zero-tolerance policy for this kind of thing—when degradation starts to creep in and nothing is done to stop it, it will just grow and grow."

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency told that sunken and abandoned boats are the owners’ then the landowners’ responsibility to remove. It intervenes if a boat presents a significant hazard, flood-risk or is causing pollution.

It does not currently consider these boats to be causing such a problem.