When is a boat not a boat?

A BOAT is not a boat when it has a wooden structure built on it for extra living space.

A planning inspector has upheld a decision by the Broads Authority that a two storey wooden structure built on a barge in a picturesque residential area of Norwich is a building and not a boat, and therefore requires planning permission.

Unauthorised

Peter and Jane Collins were issued with an enforcement notice to dismantle the wooden structure in July last year because it was an unauthorised development.

The couple, who say the barge is intended to be a holiday home, appealed against the enforcement notice on the grounds that the structure floated and was therefore a boat.

The structure, attached to Thorpe Island, is clearly visible from the road at Thorpe River Green, the garden of the Rushcutters public house and the railway line out of Norwich.

Not for navigation

The Inspector stated:

"The works that have been carried out do not appear to have involved the fitting out of a boat or vessel for the purposes of navigation or travelling over water. The works do not appear to include the provision of any means of propulsion or navigation aids and there is a notable absence of the equipment one might expect to find on a boat or vessel intended for navigation.

"The height and bulk of the structure has compromised its ability to navigate, and its unwieldy nature suggests that it could only be manoeuvred with some difficulty. In effect the barge has been subsumed beneath a two-storey structure intended as a holiday home."

"Overall I share the Authority's view that the appeal structure is not a boat or vessel. The fact that the structure is capable of floating....does not imply that it is immune from normal planning controls....The fact remains that not everything that floats is a boat."

They couple now have two months to dismantle and remove the structure. Failure to comply will be a criminal offence and the owner will be liable for prosecution. The Broads Authority is hopeful that it will be removed voluntarily and no legal action will be required.