Residential Moorings

[Baitrunner]

Just seen the couple on the canal boat have never been on one before!!! That's a leap of faith. 

Get that on the Broads, we'd all go toll free for a year. 

[Islander]

Mark, the big barge here is 68ft long and I think more than 12ft wide. The owner is currently doing a complete refit. No bath but the walkin shower will be big enough for 2 or 3 people!

The small barge,Lavengro, actually has a small bath. Our boat has the usual boat shower but the refit of our other boat,Lady Linda, is going to have a much larger shower with a seat to one side. Now I've told Ruth my idea I've got to build it.

Colin

[ExSurveyor]

How much potential is there for those floating homes,  a ten room home for 150k, yes please. 

This has got to be part of the answer to our housing shortage especially in areas not suitable for traditional building because of flooding. 

[Baitrunner]

2 minutes ago, psychicsurveyor said:

How much potential is there for those floating homes,  a ten room home for 150k, yes please. 

This has got to be part of the answer to our housing shortage especially in areas not suitable for traditional building because of flooding. 

Yeah but then you might put off half a dozen warblers or mud feeders. 

No im not anti bird, but they seem happy to build on other land that is home to land borne wildlife. Some of those marshes would be ideal. 

[quo vadis]

Nothing to say here biting my lip

[Baitrunner]

Go on. You know you want to?

be a rebel. 

[Islander]

I'm off to bed any way. All of 8 ft away.

Colin

[ExSurveyor]

4 minutes ago, Baitrunner said:

Yeah but then you might put off half a dozen warblers or mud feeders. 

No im not anti bird, but they seem happy to build on other land that is home to land borne wildlife. Some of those marshes would be ideal. 

Put the bloody marsh on the roof , we really do need to get our priorities right in this country.  It is all very well for those of us that have nice comfortable houses in lovely areas with nice views.  We have to provide affordable housing that is nice,  in nice areas,  even if it does encroach on someone's view or  upsets our feathered friends. 

The time for,  I'm all right Jack is gone. 

If Holland can allow floating homes without turning the rivers and lakes into an eyesore I am fairly sure we could. 

 

[ExSurveyor]

At Yalding in Kent they had permission for a 200 berth marina extension ,,  it was held up because a marine survey costing 8 thousand pounds found a small colony of Roman mussels,  the cost to move these 50 feet,  12 thousand pounds.  By the time planning was given the nearby quarry had closed,  that added an extra half a million to the costs. 

The marina hasn't been built because the demand for moorings has gone. 

The site would be ideal for floating homes,  it is adjacent to a small caravan park that is very popular and has all services. 

The planners say no,  they can't be residential homes , owners must vacate for one week a year and have another address .. 

The land is not suitable for conventional housing as it is subject to flooding. 

Then it must be suitable for houses that float and are affordable. 

The very wealthy locals don't like the mobile homes,  the boats,  especially the dirty ones and are horrified at the thought of floating houses.  

Guess where a number of the local councillors live. 

I am about as far as you can get from being a socialist but even I recognize we need to do something about the housing shortage .

We need to be creative .. 

[ChrisB]

In the mid 1970's there was a quite shocking sign outside a public house in Rickmansworth (Grand Union) that said " NO BOAT PEOPLE"  likening those who lived on the canal to the poor refugees escaping the turmoil of the aftermath of the Vietnam War.

There were things in the 1970s that would never be allowed today even on the BBC etc.

[rightsaidfred]

Colin

If personal circumstances were different I could happily live on the water after all people have been living on boats ever since the canal system was developed if not before, my reference was as a commercial proposition.

Fred

[Islander]

Morning Fred, I would be quite happy to have you as a neighbour, what style of boat would you have chosen. I hope it's not a box thing that floats( I hate the 2 we have here, I'd chop them up given half a chance).

Not that this is likely to happen, Jenners basin would have been an ideal spot for modern floating homes of a single story. Placed around the edge of the basin and then leave space in the centre for a limited number of privately owned small boats. Unfortunately that's not going to happen.

There are a few places around the broads which have several houseboats next to each other but the numbers are small. I would not like to see 'estates' of 100 cloned boats just to satisfy a housing shortage. Mr Wimpey and others I think make a hash of it. Some form of sympathetic planning control is needed . Before I get my head blown off, I do believe the planning criteria for a residential moor are far to strict and also that local authorities need to look more closely at brown field and small parcels of land in and around their towns. There are 2 plots of land only a short walk from here that could be developed which are within the Thorpe development boundary. 

I would like to see a few floating homes like the ones in Richmond but even there they have had a problem, in the not too distant past, of slum boats.

Well it's gone past 9o/c and I need to get some work done before the tide comes in.

Colin

[grendel]

in Holland they have homes that if a flood occurs just float up off their foundations, so dont get flooded, we could look at homes like this for the marshier, more flood prone areas, at the very least.

[Guest]

46 minutes ago, Islander said:

Morning Fred, I would be quite happy to have you as a neighbour, what style of boat would you have chosen. I hope it's not a box thing that floats( I hate the 2 we have here, I'd chop them up given half a chance).

Not that this is likely to happen, Jenners basin would have been an ideal spot for modern floating homes of a single story. Placed around the edge of the basin and then leave space in the centre for a limited number of privately owned small boats. Unfortunately that's not going to happen.

There are a few places around the broads which have several houseboats next to each other but the numbers are small. I would not like to see 'estates' of 100 cloned boats just to satisfy a housing shortage. Mr Wimpey and others I think make a hash of it. Some form of sympathetic planning control is needed . Before I get my head blown off, I do believe the planning criteria for a residential moor are far to strict and also that local authorities need to look more closely at brown field and small parcels of land in and around their towns. There are 2 plots of land only a short walk from here that could be developed which are within the Thorpe development boundary. 

I would like to see a few floating homes like the ones in Richmond but even there they have had a problem, in the not too distant past, of slum boats.

Well it's gone past 9o/c and I need to get some work done before the tide comes in.

Colin

Ironically Colin 2 of the 3 house boats that were in Jenner's came from the dyke opposite the entrance to surlingham broad and totally invisible from the river , 1 got cut up as it was found to be broken in half but I'm pretty sure 1 is one of those you mentioned , there was 1 left in there and that's by far the best one but what happened to that I don't know it might have been abandoned , the reason wasn't made clear to me as to why they had to leave their original berths  it that dyke is very long and one was round the corner n too literally 3 hrs to get it to the river , they do make great accommodation but like you say not particularly good to look at .

I totally agree planning as it is now regarding residential boats is far too strict its virtually forbidden and we should be following the examples in both Holland and elsewhere to help the situation . 

[Baitrunner]

I think one of the problems with planning permission is Mr Wimpy and co haven't had a go yet. As long as they promise a few "incentives" to the powers that be I am sure they would have no problems. 

I am struggling to understand what the difference is between a land based mobile home park and a water borne one? Other than who controls it!!

[grendel]

I think that the problem is still that most of the land based parks have the only 11 months of the year residency rule in place (though I have known people take a foreign holiday for those few weeks of the year)

[ExSurveyor]

36 minutes ago, Baitrunner said:

 

I am struggling to understand what the difference is between a land based mobile home park and a water borne one? Other than who controls it!!

The tide