New Chief Executive At The Broads Authority.

[quo vadis]

Same here 

[JennyMorgan]

Packman wants about 3% more from the toll,  a tenner or two for most of us, not a great issue, we might have mobbed but I suspect that he would have got away with it. However he has now chosen to upset the applecart, to introduce a scheme that will see rises from 10 to 40% amongst the private fleet whilst reducing the percentage rise on the majority of hire craft. There has long been reasonable harmony between the two factions so why introduce this divisive proposal? Perhaps the clue is in the word 'divisive'. There has long been reasonable compromise on the Broads so why upset that status quo now? What does Packman hope to achieve by driving wedges between stakeholders? From where I'm sitting I can see no other reason for these particular proposals at this particular time other than to divide stakeholders. What does he hope to gain by doing that? To me it is further evidence that the bloke simply does not understand The Broads. Why is he doing what he is doing, it makes no sense? The NSBA has come up with a reasonable alternative, one that would not cause ruptions, it can be done, but Packmans sees otherwise. 

[kfurbank]

Upset the applecart? I think he has just stuck his finger in the hornets nest!!! Did you know that of 493 people reported last year for not paying their tolls, only 15 were prosecuted. A FOI request has gone in over this weekend to get the figures for the last three years as a baseline to compare against next year.

[Timbo]

So tolls then...I think Norfolk Wildlife Trust just went bust. They owe £32,976 just for Hickling, and then there's Barton and all the back tolls...

Joking aside...Divide and conquer is the game that's being played, and not just among boaters. All of the stakeholders are being pitted against each other and I cannot as yet see a valid reason for it...well perhaps two but JM suggests the man's not a cretin, and surely the bloke cannot actually want to see the Broads destroyed? Can he?

 

[quo vadis]

Salary and pension spring to mind

[JennyMorgan]

10 hours ago, Timbo said:

So tolls then...I think Norfolk Wildlife Trust just went bust. They owe £32,976 just for Hickling, and then there's Barton and all the back tolls...

Joking aside...Divide and conquer is the game that's being played, and not just among boaters. All of the stakeholders are being pitted against each other and I cannot as yet see a valid reason for it...well perhaps two but JM suggests the man's not a cretin, and surely the bloke cannot actually want to see the Broads destroyed? Can he?

 

Destroyed? Probably not, it's what pays his salary and eventually his pension. However I am convinced, beyond a shadow of doubt, that he's intent on destroying the Broads as we know it and recreating his very own erroneous vision.  

The National Park issue has annoyed the conservationists, many of whom go boating, quite simply because the stated aim is to market the Broads. Great, but get the strategy wrong and the Broads becomes inundated and slowly destroyed by the very people who come here to enjoy the present qualities of the Broads. Arguably a strategy that does not run in tandem with a sustainable holiday.

Us boaters see it as a threat to our traditional freedoms so we are equally annoyed. Generally I think that Packman is pretty transparent, not that he intends to be, but this present campaign to get every ones' back up is nigh on incomprehensible, at least to me.

Us boaters need to remember that the 2018 toll increase will be percentage based on the higher toll that we are expected to pay for 2017. Seemingly the bloke thrives on confrontation.

11 hours ago, kfurbank said:

Upset the applecart? I think he has just stuck his finger in the hornets nest!!! Did you know that of 493 people reported last year for not paying their tolls, only 15 were prosecuted. A FOI request has gone in over this weekend to get the figures for the last three years as a baseline to compare against next year.

Perhaps all but 15 people, having been nicked, subsequently paid their toll? Perhaps a question worth asking. If 493 were caught then I wonder how many were missed?

 

[Timbo]

7 minutes ago, JennyMorgan said:

Us boaters see it as a threat to our traditional freedoms so we are equally annoyed. Generally I think that Packman is pretty transparent, not that he intends to be, but this present campaign to get every ones' back up is nigh on incomprehensible, at least to me.

Us boaters need to remember that the 2018 toll increase will be percentage based on the higher toll that we are expected to pay for 2017. Seemingly the bloke thrives on confrontation.

I'm sure I am not the only one who feels like it, but the current state of affairs is leaving me feeling extremely frustrated, angry and at a loss as to what to do about the situation. In true British fashion the usual 'I will write the fellow a jolly stiff letter' springs into your head but is pointless. I looked at joining the Broads Society but after reading several documents I realised their committee had a bad dose of National Parkitis and were in danger of developing a touch of brown nose. Is there anything we can 'do' about the situation or are we doomed to be just a group of grumblies on the internet, meekly paying tolls and taxes to sit on the sidelines?

[JennyMorgan]

Tim, join the NSBA and then write endless letters to their chairman, copies to all Broads related MP's, simple. Memo to self, do as I preach!

P.S. The Broads Society already has a severe case of brown noses, it's long been known as The Reed Factor, blessed man. 

[Poppy]

1 hour ago, JennyMorgan said:

P.S. The Broads Society already has a severe case of brown noses, it's long been known as The Reed Factor, blessed man. 

A moribund group - past help even from those little blue tablets I fear. Those who think themselves to be 'The Great and the Good' would appear to have long since driven away the support of many who could actually be active.

Why, they even closed their members forum because they didn't like its content!

[vanessan]

Personally I am pretty disgusted at the proposed new tolls setup and I have written to the BA Navigation Committee with my views asking for them to be taken into account prior to the committee making any decision on Thursday at their meeting. I would be very interested to know how many other NBN members have done likewise. There is a lot of hot air on this topic but seemingly very little action being taken. I hope I am wrong and we are all voicing our thoughts in the appropriate quarter.

[kfurbank]

Vanessan, I have made my views known to the nav com, NSBA and Lauren Cope at the EDP. I urge any one else who feels strongly on the subject to do the same, and also for the forums to unite on this one as there may well be information available elsewhere, that has not found it's way here and vice versa.

I should add this topic has got me fired up and as well as the above, a FOI has gone in to The BA and a complaint to the ASA over the miss leading use of The Broads National Park brand on The BA's tourist website and The Broadcaster.

Edited to add: that for those unsure of how to word their complaint, or not good with words, a member on the NBF has offered up a framework letter if you contact him by PM, although where possible I feel personal views will carry more weight.

 

[JennyMorgan]

I too have submitted comment to lauren.cope@archant.co

In my case NP branding, the Authority being officer rather than member lead, tolls and direct elections (especially for CEOs!)

[vanessan]

1 hour ago, JennyMorgan said:

I too have submitted comment to lauren.cope@archant.co

In my case NP branding, the Authority being officer rather than member lead, tolls and direct elections (especially for CEOs!)

That seems to have covered a multitude of sins! Let's hope the EDP take due note and manage to quote it all without prejudice.

So that's at least 3 of us who have put our views forward. With everything that has been said on this forum, I hope more have been moved to comment. 

[BroadScot]

Just to remind you what the EDP printed last year !  http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/proposed_increase_in_broads_boat_tolls_wins_support_1_4281876 

Iain

[ranworthbreeze]

Hi Iain,

The same old tripe, maybe the EDP is in the Broads Authorities pocket?

Regards

Alan 

[vanessan]

Quote from Nav Comm member in that article - 'I think private owners on the whole would go along with a substantial increase in the tolls if it was made clear what they were going to get for their money'

In my case the increase is just over 15%, I think that is pretty substantial! And is it clear how I am going to benefit from that substantial increase? Not really, no.

Edited to add: I know this was last year's EDP but I'm sure the same applies this year!

[kfurbank]

Was just about to quote the same line. Bear in mind that quote is from a year ago, and what did we get? Rubbish strewn all around The Broads due to lack of rubbish bins and much reduced moorings on The Northern Broads, particularly the Horning to Thurne mouth section.

[JennyMorgan]

The talk of lost moorings and the hint from Yare House that it is the landowners that are not co-operating, ummm, I hear otherwise, more likely that the landowners are less than enchanted with the BA. Makes sense to me that cooperation has been withdrawn. If true then I wonder who is to blame?

[johnb]

I am sorry, but this thread has gone from the realms of fantasy to taking on a serious note!

So now I have total power and unlimited finances. I cannot outline all of my intentions at the moment, as at the beginning of my reign (I like to think of it as such) I want to be popular at least with some of my people. (That's you lot-and that's the polite way we are thought of by our lords and masters-I know I am now one of them).

I have listened to many and read the pleas for greater access to be enabled through Potter Heigham bridge. As one who spends much time on the quiet side I have always resisted this. However, given my resources I am now prepared to raise the bridge to allow larger craft to go through, Please do not think that I have gone soft in old age, passage through the bridge will be strictly controlled. A permit barrier will be installed. Permits will initially be issued to people I know and those who "like" my contributions on this forum. If you don't agree with me, please don't apply, as refusal often offends. I have yet to decide other considerations that may be taken into account. It may be that I restrict sailing boats to non-windy days, then they can use their engines and not tack for hours in front of myself and friends.

Further decisions will be announced in the fullness of (my) time.

In the meantime, I will be looking for the "like" names for this and other postings.

Yours seriously in fantasy

Your glorious leader

 

[JennyMorgan]

2 hours ago, vanessan said:

That seems to have covered a multitude of sins! Let's hope the EDP take due note and manage to quote it all without prejudice.

So that's at least 3 of us who have put our views forward. With everything that has been said on this forum, I hope more have been moved to comment. 

I really don't expect the EDP to quote any of what I have written, however I am hoping that Lauren, as the EDP's writer on Broads matters, gains further insight into the shortcomings of the quango.

[johnb]

This should be my last post in this section. Decisions have been made!

1) Given the very small amount of people who will be given a permit to travel under Potter Heigham bridge and the astronomical amount this will cost, I am pleased to announce that in keeping with tradition, this scheme will now go ahead.

2) I have now formed a "johnb family". Not my children etc., who I distanced myself from when they started having their own ideas and making up their own minds. This family now includes a certain Premier Football club in the North West (quite close to one or two of the dreaded NPs). I have supported this club for approx. 60 years, and have now decided to divert the funds put in my care under the above scheme to the johnb family, and put them at the disposal of said football club. I realise that this will not be a totally popular move, but I have discovered that it is indeed lonely at the top.

I now formerly resign as your glorious leader, and promise if you want to "like" my posts in the future, you will now have to become my friend, or indeed, even talk to me. 

Yours in abdication (but with the cash in my back pocket)

 

[C.Ricko]

On 23 October 2016 at 6:57 PM, JennyMorgan said:

Have to ask, Clive, surely you pass the cost of the multiplier onto your clients so why is it an issue? Effectively it is a visitor tax, perhaps it could be channelled into refuse collection? 

yes we have to pass it on which is why it is an issue, it makes the destination look unattractive to the new customer. 

as you may already be aware we also have refuse collection for boats on our yard (as do most other yards) this is used by private boaters and hirers, this is indirectly passed on to the customer too. 

 

for example, if i owned a pub / shop with similar products from different suppliers and one beer/ pie was more expensive,  then the chances are that unless you were recommended to buy the expensive option then you would save your money. 

[rightsaidfred]

On 25/10/2016 at 10:02 AM, C.Ricko said:

yes we have to pass it on which is why it is an issue, it makes the destination look unattractive to the new customer. 

Clive

If that's the case why is it the boats you are building are bigger and more expensive than ever but still out every week?

Also given the regular income you and others get from Private Moorings and boat sales etc to the Private market why are you happy to see Owners over charged to the point they may well sell up or move elsewhere, I don't understand a biting the hand that feeds you philosophy.

Fred

Edited October 26, 2016 by Hockham Admiral
Word change after Team discussions

[rightsaidfred]

What has happened to my post of last night the last one on here

Fred

[JennyMorgan]

Fred, did you actually post it? Daft question I know but it's only too easy to miss the send button or not press it hard enough! That aside, unless posting links to other forums, frowned on, I find that our mods exercise very creditable courtesy in regard to modded posts. To be honest I reckon a post on here, as opposed to over there, must be really 'naughty' before it's modded!