Acle Overnight Moorings

[Broadsword]

I'd take the shop on... but not at the price asked!!

[Matt]

There is hope......

 

https://www.facebook.com/Thebroadsboatingco/

[ranworthbreeze]

Hi Matt,

For those who do not go on facebook here is a copy of the message:-

Morning folks!! some exciting positive news regarding horizon craft at Acle......
We have been in talks with Richardsons and the BA regarding taking over the site and keeping all the facilities operating while being a sustainable business. 
Clive and all at Richardsons have been extremely supportive and are very keen to keep the visitor moorings and facilities open, however the BA not so much, but hopefully will soon make an effort to help us keep it all going.
I have been hiring boats on the broads with my family since before I was born and loved every minute of it! 
Seeing so many places close down, having less and less places to moor and less activities to do is the reason for wanting to take this on and put something back into the broads!
Our first plans where to operate a smaller fleet of around 10-12 craft in the first year while converting the front of the workshop into a bar/restaurant/clubhouse and install approximately 10-15 glamping pods along the site, and provide around 10 private moorings, this allowed more than one stream of income and also provided more services and facilities on the broads rather than take them away however, while Richardsons supported the plan, the BA point blank refused the pods so we where back to the drawing board.
We are now planning to take over the site in November and spend the winter refurbishing the 10 boats we've secured, converting the front of the workshop into the fun 'food for sharing' style clubhouse/restaurant that we currently operate in Cumbria, create around 10 private moorings and try to negotiate with the BA on what else we can do on the land instead of it all just turning into private moorings, which we don't want.
We will need all the support you guys can give over the coming months and years to make this a success. If you could all like our Facebook page, thebroadsboatingco that would be fantastic, we will post updates and pictures on there (and on this site if allowed?) and we are also looking to ask you guys on suggestions for the boat names ect, while running some introductory prices for the first customers to book nearer the time. 
Any feedback or suggestions please feel free to comment or private message me, hope to see you all soon,
Ryan, Sam and the Team 

Regards

Alan

[vanessan]

This is amazing news, almost too good to be true! I'm rather surprised the 'broads boating co' doesn't have a website ( not that I can find anyway) but I wish them well and look forward to hearing how the project is going. I hope the BA will see fit to give them support where possible, heaven knows we need more visitor moorings at Acle.

[dnks34]

I think the whats going to happen to Alphacrafts boats mystery has just been revealed 

I truly can not believe the obstructiveness of the BA, you would think they would want new enterprise benefiting tourism and local employment, im sure if they could charge a toll on the glamping pods they would be quite happy with them.  

The WRC has glamping pods so whats the difference. 

Its about time the BA was challenged and a new organisation installed thats accountable for its decisions and not just out to satisfy its own agenda. 

[dnks34]

What happened with the auction could just be coincidence but it was the first thing that sprang to my mind! 

[MauriceMynah]

1 hour ago, ranworthbreeze said:

I have been hiring boats on the broads with my family since before I was born and loved every minute of it! 

That's a neat trick !!

1 hour ago, ranworthbreeze said:

however, while Richardsons supported the plan, the BA point blank refused the pods so we where back to the drawing board.

Hmmm, Not in a National Park you don't. Just what do you think the broads is? A holiday park??

1 hour ago, ranworthbreeze said:

negotiate with the BA on what else we can do on the land instead of it all just turning into private moorings

Let it lie fallow and set up a Bittern breeding centre, You'll get the BA (RSPB) to support that.

 

27 minutes ago, dnks34 said:

I truly can not believe the obstructiveness of the BA, you would think they would want new enterprise benefiting tourism and local employment,

I can!

[BroadScot]

BA should be changed to BAO Bliddy Awful Organisation ! Is there nothing they won't block?

[ranworthbreeze]

I only reported the message off of facebook word for word.

Do not shoot the messenger too much

Regards

Alan

[MauriceMynah]

Not shooting the messenger Alan, honest . Jonzo, You might be right but the fellow does seem to use the wrong words here and there. "Less" instead of "Fewer" that sort of thing.

[BroadScot]

7 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:

Not shooting the messenger Alan, honest . Jonzo, You might be right but the fellow does seem to use the wrong words here and there. "Less" instead of "Fewer" that sort of thing.

They speek different up in Cumbria, MM 

[Hylander]

21 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:

Not shooting the messenger Alan, honest . Jonzo, You might be right but the fellow does seem to use the wrong words here and there. "Less" instead of "Fewer" that sort of thing.

This was the part that tickle me.  

 

  I have been hiring boats on the broads with my family since before I was born and loved every minute of it!  

 

I dont know about Cumbrian more like Irish to me.      Being part Irish I can say that.

[grendel]

2 hours ago, MauriceMynah said:

That's a neat trick !!

 

its amazing how clear the scans are nowadays - a written note maybe?

[Broads01]

This is excellent news and I shall watch developments with interest. I can't think when there was last a new boat hire operation that lasted any length of time. Ferry Marina possibly, some time in the 2000s?

Its a small point but the choice of business name is poor in my view, just unimaginative.

[Matt]

Reading between the lines it looks like the boats will be precious Horizon craft

[SwanR]

Interesting about the refusal to allow the Pods. There did appear to have been people camping on the bank at Acle adjacent to the moorings when we were there in June. Nothing wrong with wanting to diversify a bit. But then I don't know anything about any legal aspects to running such a site.

[JennyMorgan]

Those excellent pods at the Waveney River Centre, to me anyway, show just how acceptable they can be.

[VetChugger]

Are we confident that we don't already know the person or persons behind this??? Couldn't possibly be some folk with two bases already?

[Hylander]

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/10369550

 

 

Have you ever met a rich publican?

[Happy]

9 hours ago, VetChugger said:

Are we confident that we don't already know the person or persons behind this??? Couldn't possibly be some folk with two bases already?

 You are not thinking of 'L.F' are you?! 

[marshman]

But one thing is certain, LF would not buy rubbish old boats! He would not waste time and money patching up old boats which would still be old boats at the end of it!

Jm - I agree with you about the pods at Waveney but you should recall, and so should others without first your usual sniping, that the WRC is already a well established grown up caravan park well shielded and because of its position, neither the "chalets" nor the positioning of the pods, obtrusive or indeed visually unattractive, and with all the facilities to support them. Acle has none of this, and to be honest, my guess is that that may well be part of the problem. In any case the pods sited there would have virtually nothing to attract people, and if I would ever consider siting pods anywhere in Norfolk, that piece of marsh alongside the river would probably not be one of the first I would choose!! These things have a habit of "growing" and if you do allow them to start up a new operation, you have to ensure that they do not have a significant visual impact.

As often, I do see their point of view at this stage - perhaps I just see things differently!

[JennyMorgan]

I can agree with most that you have written, Marsh, but how can you honestly say that the site where the WRC pods are is well shielded? It's on, what is for the Broads, a hill (gentle slope) overlooking the river! 

That aside I don't blame the BA for treading cautiously on this one but if it's an implicit 'No' at this stage then I think that that is premature. I also think that there are enough folk on this planet that simply want a razz-matazz free holiday, maybe a short walk to the pub of an evening, a spot of fishing and a river bank to sit on and meditate, for a small glamping site besides the river to be very popular. Visual impact I don't mind, unless its unsightly. 

Call an area a national park, whether it is one or not, in order to attract visitors means that the Broads must be able to cope with the subsequent demands, the Authority can't have it both ways. Me thinks an open minded approach is called for on this one, just as it is for Jenner's Basin at Thorpe. 

[Vaughan]

2 hours ago, marshman said:

Jm - I agree with you about the pods at Waveney but you should recall, and so should others without first your usual sniping,

Excuse me, but if you have a look at the thread called Concerned, I for one am not sniping and I don't think JM is either. We are identifying matters which give cause for concern and proposing practical alternatives.

Other than that I thoroughly agree with your post!  

Glamping, surely, means luxury camping, as you don't need to bother to pitch a tent. So are they also thinking of hiring out other emplacements down the bank, for tents, or even passing camper vans? And where are these glampers going to park? Will they need a toilet and shower block? Once you start, this might grow "like Topsy".

This sort of holiday reminds me of the old houseboats, at Chumley and Hawke or Mixers at Stalham, where you have a bit of lawn and a rowing dinghy thrown in, but these were up river, in "still" waters. If I were the BA in this case, I would be worried about how to contain it, once you let it start, and I certainly wouldn't like the thought of trippers paddling about in hired dinghies in the strong tidal currents and heavy boat traffic around Acle Bridge.

The other point is the bar and clubhouse. Surely this would need an "on" premises alcohol licence. Are they going to get that, with the Bridge Inn only 200 yards away?

To run a hire boatyard with additional moorings is very suitable on this site and I hope they succeed with it, but I think the rest needs more thought and for the moment, I agree with the BA on this.

[marshman]

To be honest I think that spot where they have squeezed in the pods at WRC is horrible - it will mellow and blend in in time I guess but I associate a pod being in a remote site not immediately adjacent to a busy spot!! 

I just had my "nice" hat on!!!!

[JennyMorgan]

Once again I see this as folk who have holidayed on the Broads, learned to love it from that point of view, and have subsequently decided to pursue their own vision. Fine, but why have the local, experienced and established Broads businesses not pounced? I suspect that the answer is the same as Jenner's Basin, it will take a battle royal to achieve the vision at that particular location. Not to say that I don't wish them well but when the likes of Tingdene, Richardsons and Len Funnell leave it alone then that must mean something. 

Agreed, the BA must proceed with caution but to that I would add not closed minds.