batrabill

I don’t think this is a reasonable comparison at all. All the lakes in the Lake District have different regulations as regards boating. It should be remembered that Coniston has an annual Speed week. So basically this is a false comparison.

It was intended as a compliment- I greatly admire your tenacity and commitment to your cause. I don’t agree with you on many things though, you are shouting “fire! fire!” even when there isn’t even a wisp of smoke.

Vaughan, no one would argue against being aware of possible threats, but I am arguing that there is constant spin against everything the BA does. I don’t believe that “most people” buy into that but threads here often read like everyone does agree with one specific viewpoint.

So it’s fairly clear you’re assuming I don’t believe in the Broads, or love or cherish it? Bit presumptuous. When did criticising the BA for pretty much everything it ever does become the criterion for loving the Broads? That’s false logic I ask you, apart from not liking paying tolls, what is so terrible about the Broads? Because one of terrible consequences of this constant spinning of how awful everything is, is that it sounds like the Broads must be a terrible place. But where I live it seems just fine

I think the “lack of trust” is actually less than many would think. There are thousand of toll payers and tens of thousands who live in the Broads. I read negative things about The Broads every single day, on Facebook, forums, and the EDP comments section, but the vast majority are from about half a dozen people. I won’t name them all but most will be known to many. In fact, I believe that the most influential voice in the Broads after Dr Packman is PW. That is why, when our friend posts a lot of nonsense on here I pop up to challenge him. Without him, and the others I think there would be a different impression.

Well said.

Paladin! Really?? You are not in any way "surprised". As someone who prides himself on sticking to the facts you really cannot claim that you ever thought you would get a simple yes/no answer to that question? Partly because you know very well that there is no simple yes/no answer to that question, but the endlessly repeated one I can't be bothered to type out, but if you are confused, I would suggest a simple search of about 2 million threads would find it for you. On another note, it is my opinion that if you continue to beat Tom with a stick he will go away. That would make this place much poorer.

You don't say. Much like all the hot air about this harmless sign, the question I would ask is "What are you trying to achieve?" I'm leaving Paladin's the 'when did you stop beating your wife' question - the point of that is clear, to make a point, not get an answer, but answer this simple question - In what way is the world made a better place by removing this harmless sign?

Happy New Year everyone. Worth remembering that that this is all about a totally harmless sign.

I hate myself for even reading this nonsense. At least Groundhog Day had some jokes in it.

Just your bad luck you were first out of the traps. I don’t make the rules.

Mods - can we delete this thread! There seems to be a lot of "good news" in it. Thankfully some have spotted what's wrong with it and pointed it out. I hope that after the season of goodwill the Forum will return to its god-given function of pointing out how every little thing the Authority does is wrong.

As I’m sure you know, correlation is not evidence of causation. I wonder if people might look more to the catastrophe that our journey to the sunlit uplands of our post-EU economic future.

Did I miss something? What is the link between the NP tag and reduction in the hire fleet?

The single greatest fault I have seen again and again, twice in the last 24 hours, is drivers in the wrong lane failing to make any signal about their intentions. This produces the simplest and quickest way to have an accident, the driver in the outside lane NOT turning off, while the driver in the inside lane IS turning off. If neither signal the result is a near-miss at best. This has absolutely nothing to do with the design - just incompetence.

Also a very busy otter around Womack and Womack dyke - seen 6 or 7 times in the last fortnight.

No pics, but, we started from Wroxham village about 8 am and motored to Coltishall. On the way saw 7 Kingfishers. Including a pair sat warming in the sun just 10 feet from the boat Magic

John Packman was a member here and was insulted a fair bit. In the past I have searched back and read the posts from the time. Can’t be bothered to do it again I have messaged him directly and suggested he engage with this forum, last year I think, and at that time he wasn’t sure as he hadn’t forgotten.... I’m really glad the the BA have re-engaged and I think we are all better off with them posting here but it is still my opinion that they will not continue if they are constantly met by hostility. I’m sure that someone will say “where is the hostility?” but, exactly as on the other place, demanding answers to questions, while justifying it as “a right to know” is a DELIBERATELY hostile attitude by some members. That is exactly what happened on the other place. Can anyone guess who I am thinking of? If you demand answers from the BA there are official ways of doing that. This, this is a discussion forum which is better off with the BA representing itself here.

I think you are being disingenuous. JM has made 19 contributions to a thread that he started. The question about Governance is a fishing expedition for dirt. If it waddles like a duck, quacks like a duck and tastes delicious with an orange source it’s probably a duck. I think it’s a good thing that the BA contribute, not least to correct “errors” but I think it has to be accepted that they might go away if it’s endlessly treated as an opportunity to kick them under the guise of “we deserve an answer” John Packman used to contribute but he gave up because of what I think he described as abuse. I will check that if any pedants need confirmation. There is a line.

JM my personal opinion is that if you use the presence of the BA on this forum to fight your battles by challenging them to answer ANY question you see fit to ask: then they will go away again. And I would not blame them.

I think there is a problem with your argument JM and that is that you talk of "balance" but that is only at any specific moment in time. Your gamekeepers only replaced a previous "balance" with a new "balance." As you say mankind has a lot to answer for, but once you accept that we are responsible for things like organophosphate decimating predator populations, then you can see why many would want to redress the balance. I think that most of us can agree that it is more complex than simply blaming otters for "poor" fishing. DEFRAS report from 2018 on bird populations is interesting. Here's what it says about Wetland species Birds of slow flowing and standing water Birds of slow flowing and standing water have shown the most positive trend, potentially benefitting most from wetland creation; in 2017 the index was 41% higher than in 1975 (Figure 4b) although the smoothed index has shown a 4% decrease in the more recent short-term period between 2011 and 2016. Over the long term there were marked increases in two duck species, mallard and tufted duck; mallard numbers have trebled and tufted duck numbers have increased 92%. The index for coot shows an increase of 64%. However, moorhen and little grebe have declined by almost a third since 1975. On thing I do know about these things, they are really hard to quantify and almost impossible to attribute causation.

What is "natural" is a subject that can be debated until the cows come home but its worth remembering this: Otters re-colonised the British Isles after the last Ice Age, and they were widespread across the whole landmass during much of the intervening 10,000 years. More recently, otters were present throughout Great Britain in the early 1950s, but from the mid-1950s to late 1970s there was a dramatic decline. This mirrored what was happening across much of Europe. The decline occurred across Scotland, England and Wales, but it was most dramatic in England. By the late 1970s the only healthy populations were in parts of Scotland, although small populations remained in Wales and northern and south- western England. From The Angling Trust website If Otters could speak I think they might say, "We were here first and were doing just fine until you poisoned us."

Good point, I was meaning the specific purpose of allowing passage of ships of a size that no longer use it. Ultimately there has to be a calculation between cost of dredging and the consequences, either intended or unintended. I have no idea what the cost of maintaining that depth over time is. Whatever your opinion of the BA there is ultimately a limit to the amount of dredging that can be done. Without any figures it seems almost impossible to make a judgment. The question I asked was Can I assume JM that you think the BA should restore that depth?

Vaughan raises a very interesting point. But, IF that is the case, what would you have the BA do? Dredge the Yare to a depth that no longer has a purpose?

I strongly believe from what I have read that this is much too simplistic an analogy and that water systems are vastly more complex and hard to understand than these “common sense” ideas would allow for. But to stick with this analogy, if you make the plug hole bigger you will run aground all over the bath. Meaning if you wish to change the whole system you have to change the whole system.