BA to charge for moorings at Reedham now.

[Boaters]

Is this the thin end of the wedge ? I have heard of similar plans for a charge at Ranworth have been discussed for the future.Should BA moorings be free as we pay enough for our licences now,although their argument is likely to be that they are providing a ranger to help mooring etc ,but what about when he is not on duty ? should you still pay for out of hours ? They are talking over night only ?

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/reedham_tra ... _1_2007260

[mbird]

Does seem to be a bit of a p**s take. What about the bit infront of the Nelson which is apparently owned by the pub (if the signs are to be believed)? I guess the argument would be that you have to pay everywhere else there is a ranger present (Yarmouth, Norwich, Oulton Broad, Beccles, although the last two are not BA) so why not Reedham?

[kfurbank]

Are Norwich and Yarmouth manned because of safety? or to collect the fees, bearing in mind both have a substantial cost being leased from the local councils. I believe Reedham is manned for safety. Ranworth was effectively manned until recently and did not attract a fee. other BA moorings are leased from various parish councils, land owners etc and do not attract a fee. Bramerton or Herringfleet for example. If Reedham is manned for safety and we are then expected to pay a fee to help cover this cost, what next? a fee to cross Breydon because they have a new boat and patrol all year round? Thin end of the wedge. The yacht stations I do understand and other non BA run yacht stations, Beccles and Oulton Broad also levy a charge, but the rest of the moorings whether owned by, or leased to the BA should be free and covered by the tolls.

[diesel falcon]

What a bloody cheeck , Ba are running riot and doing whatever it likes , one for the toll payers asc i think, a mooring fee will contribute to the cost of the ranger therefore ba must benifit at our expense again....

Reedham is not that an atractive stop on spring tides now..with this levvy local trade will suffer boaters will just bypass it

imho

[Hockham Admiral]

Well that's IT. I shall just bloody refuse to pay........ what are our (over-inflated) licence fees for?

[ranworthbreeze]

The mooring at Yarmouth, Norwich, Beccles, Oulton Broad etc all have facillities there showers, toilets, washing machines, dryers etc.

Is the B.A. going to provide these at this site for overnight paid mooring or is this going to be a low cost payment for providing little or no facillities?

The yacht stations provide electricity points to a number of craft mooring there, the electric post at Reedham is limited at best to 3 outlets assuming there is just one post.

Does the B.A. have any plans to upgrade these?

I know a number of you all moor here but to be honest I would rather moor up river at the Reedham Ferry, yes you have to pay and there is no electric but I prefer it there or at Loddon.

Regards

Alan

[MBA Marine]

Of course I could not condone this sort of behavior but...... Just what would said Ranger be able to do if you moored up and when he came over for fee's you just said NO! you cant clamp a boat, could tow it away but they lack the room for impounding! to the courts? would it really be worth prosecution and if hundreds said no that would be some court battle, and paying extra for a parking assistant that only the hirers would use, I think that unless the certain BA members play golf with the right judge it might well get thrown out of court.

[Hockham Admiral]

Of course I could not condone this sort of behavior but...... Just what would said Ranger be able to do if you moored up and when he came over for fee's you just said NO! you cant clamp a boat, could tow it away but they lack the room for impounding! to the courts? would it really be worth prosecution and if hundreds said no that would be some court battle, and paying extra for a parking assistant that only the hirers would use, I think that unless the certain BA members play golf with the right judge it might well get thrown out of court.

Exactly, Mark. We're staying there at the end of the month and intend to do just that.

Except................. they have the ultimate sanction of taking your licence away................

So perhaps we'll just have to take Alan's advice..........

[littlesprite]

"Neither party stand to profit"

Are they suggesting that money raised will be spent on improving the services available, or money raised will just cover the current running costs.

If the latter then surely someone (whoever pays the cost at the moment) will stand to profit.

[marshman]

Lets just take the Quayside Assistant away then - i have no issue but the hirers may prefer he stays to help them.

Strange though isn't it? You all pay to park your car in a carpark, having already paid for it through your Council Tax yet somehow it seems different!!

[LondonRascal]

@marshman : Very well put.

[minor2011]

I guess it's a sign of the Austerity that people don't like having to form out any more money than they used to, for example parking charges near me are going up by 10p next month ( the first rise in over 2 years ) & there is absolute outrage. People forget that with these government cuts councils & authorities having increasingly less money with which to run things. We don't always see the results of our "funds" but add it all up & at the end of the day we DO have a navigable system that wouldn't be there without money being spent.

[Hockham Admiral]

The EDP article actually says:

"Residents and business people in the Broadland village are adamant that the Broads Authority (BA) has no right to levy the charge, claiming counsel’s opinion was sought in the past when it was ruled that people had a legal right to moor free on what was a public quay.

Angry business owners have vowed to attend a meeting of Reedham Parish Council tonight to lobby support for their campaign to stop the plan.

Meanwhile, it is understood the BA, which leases the quay from Broadland District Council, has delayed introducing the charge while it explores the legal issues.

But in the Le Boats Topic we have :

"Barbara Greasley, chairman of Broads Tourism, said she was saddened to hear Le Boat had decided to pull out of Somerleyton after operating hire cruisers there for just one season.

She said: “Broads Tourism has been working with the Broads Society on a regeneration of the Southern Broads project, so the closure of another hire boat yard on the Southern Broads is particularly disappointing.

“This boatyard closure will mean that there will be less free moorings and facilities for hirers on the Southern Broads.” She said it came in the wake of disappointing news that boaters will now be charged £3 to moor at Reedham Quay"

Let's hope the Parish Council veto this and Broadland District Council uphold the decision...

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

It makes me wonder what other cons the morons at the BA are going to come up with?. I can see it now, are you intending to cross Breydon sir?, that`ll be £5.00 crossing fee, plus an extra £50.00 for our patrol boat to escort you across, then one of our rangers (legal conmen?) will board your vessel at Gt Yarmouth yacht station, where a short term mooring fee will apply, and collect your seperate toll for the Northern broads.

Unless toll payers start to get tough with the BA, this sort of thing is only going to get worse. The BA won`t be happy till the Broads becomes a playground for the very wealthy, who will be the only people who can afford their ridiculous costs.

[Linny]

Called in to Reedam this lunchtime and they now have two shops (the one up the hill is now open) which is nice to see. Let's hope there is enough business for them both to succeed. The Post Office shop on the quay will deliver various essentials at 9.00 am to the campsite at the Ferry Inn. There is a telephone number on a notice in the pub so you can ring through your pre-order. Also there is now a £2 charge for water at the quay with notices stating that fact.