Tolls

[RayandCarole]

http://www.northnorfolknews.co.uk/news/tourism_fears_over_proposed_broads_6_2pc_toll_increase_1_4271877

More expense?

Ray & Carole

[BrundallNavy]

Better enforcement of the craft without a current licence would raise more than that.

Doug.

[Chelsea14Ian]

I agree Doug, it's just another way of getting money out of us

Ian

[JawsOrca]

The bill for the SOB has came in then... #bringbackeddie..

[ranworthbreeze]

In our case this 6.2% increase would cost less than £22, which is hardly worth debating in boating costs.

Regards

Alan

[quo vadis]

In our case this 6.2% increase would cost less than £22, which is hardly worth debating in boating costs.

Regards

Alan

I fear others won't see it this way Alan

[Guest]

I doubt if the much maligned Spirit of Breydon is a significant cause of this proposed rise.

It appears to be due more to Mutford Lock rebuilding costs, together with the proposed renewing of Breydon's posts.

I'm renowned for defending the BA, but such a complex and expensive piece of machinery should have at least 50% of its costs born  by the Association of British Ports, if not entirely, as it previously had been.

 

 

 

 

 

[Hockham Admiral]

I doubt if the much maligned Spirit of Breydon is a significant cause of this proposed rise.

It appears to be due more to Mutford Lock rebuilding costs, together with the proposed renewing of Breydon's posts.

I'm renowned for defending the BA, but such a complex and expensive piece of machinery should have at least 50% of its costs born  by the Association of British Ports, if not entirely, as it previously had been.

Absolutely and ditto with the Breydon posts... if the Yellow Post's cost is anything to go by then it will be a small fortune to replace the Breydon ones...........

[Liberty]

In the grand scheme of things when running a boat, it is not a significant rise, and the area in which I choose to spend my spare time needs a cash injection.  I don't have an issue with it.  No investment = no improvements.

[Oddfellow]

It's more than £500 on our annual tolls which are already crippling. 

The rebranding fiasco of the BA wasn't listed as a reason by JP in the newspaper report; has anybody seen any costs for this? 

It will make me think carefully about any possible expansion and may even contribute to a hitherto unmade decision to contraction of the fleet. When inflation is virtually zero and the economy faces to real possibility of deflation, rises like this will be wholly unsustainable. 

 

 

 

Edited October 15, 2015 by FreedomBoatingHols

[JennyMorgan]

Andy, does that £500.00 include the multiplier? You are talking a tenner a week which is divided by how many boats? Is a fiver a week on the hire charge going to put customers off?

Clive, comments please!.

Alan, £22.00 may not be much to you.

We need to remember that around 50% of our tolls is wasted on Authority overheads, to make up for government cuts. Spend tolls on navigation requirements, not waste it on flawed projects such as rebranding the Broads as something it's not for example.

Mutford Lock should never have been taken over by the Broads Authority. It is outside their executive area, clearly outside their area of expertise, it is unused by the vast majority of toll payers. It was nothing other than unnecessary expansionism at a huge cost to the toll payer.

Edited October 15, 2015 by JennyMorgan

[Oddfellow]

Andy, does that £500.00 include the multiplier? You are talking a tenner a week which is divided by how many boats? Is a fiver a week on the hire charge going to put customers off?

No, I was simply adding 6.2% to our tolls of approximately £11k without thinking. If we end up with a £1500 increase it will be remarkably difficult to justify retaining a fleet of nine cruisers. 

JP is quoted "...The toll will continue to represent excellent value for money. Furthermore, the lowest ever increase last year and the decrease in navigation income from hire boats provides no room for manoeuvre.”

One of the reasons hire tolls revenue is down is that the tolls are too high to start with. Many smaller operators struggle to make a profit that makes all of the knackering hard work worthwhile. I regularly ask myself why I bother and, at some point, the enjoyment that I get from it won't be nearly enough. 

[NorfolkNog]

I would have thought that the hire fleet was actually expanding. New boats are  being built and bigger ones too which would attract higher tolls? Granted yards are closing but in most cases the boats are transferred to another hire yard eg Swancraft. 

 

Wonder if JP uses the same statistics as Ray Hollocks (insert naughty smiley)

[JanetAnne]

"Its 'just' a small percentage so it wont cost me too much"

Its just another small percentage on top of last years and the years before etc etc. Meanwhile the rivers get 'just a bit' shallower and we run aground 'just a bit' more. And it all gets 'just a bit' more intolerable

It's good to see that nowhere is yet too shallow for the rangers launches to get to.....

[Oddfellow]

There are three boats fewer for 2016 from one small yard already and a significant likelihood of a number of others being sold out of hire from one other yard. At least one northern yard appears to be shrinking too. 

Some of this contraction may be taken up by new builds which I am not keeping up with, but only two smaller yards appear to be building anything. We can only afford to build our small pod vessels (and not many either). It's just 19ft long, but the toll for this was around £460 this year. 

 

[JawsOrca]

It's good to see that nowhere is yet too shallow for the rangers launches to get to.....

Actually JA.. There is the breydon mud which the SOB can't get to because it's built for maintenance work on wind farms and not rescuing people from the norfolk broads...

[Guest]

Actually JA.. There is the breydon mud which the SOB can't get to because it's built for maintenance work on wind farms and not rescuing people from the norfolk broads...

What class of boat would be better suited to Breydon mud then ?

WhereasThe BA have taken on a significant and unnecessary overhead in becoming responsible for Mutford Lock, which will be paid for by inland toll payers, of whom less than 1% (I would estimate) will ever want to make use of it, (and certainly no hire craft).

Let's hope they don't try to do a similar deal with British Rail for the swing bridges....

[JawsOrca]

Strowager.. Perhaps a hovercraft, an air boat or perhaps a low draft alloy jet boat.   The RNLI do employee hovercrafts on the mud flats here on the thames/medway estuary and it certainly seem to work and save lives. 

[Guest]

Yes, the only craft that could operate on Breydon mud would indeed be a hovercraft, rather than any sort of boat.

I'm grateful that the BA chose to buy and run a "heavy weather launch", rather than the huge costs of a professionally owned hovercraft.

Their primary remit on Breydon is patrol, not rescue.

(I'm still very disappointed that they took over the running costs of Mutford Lock though....)

[Poppy]

"Its 'just' a small percentage so it wont cost me too much"

Its just another small percentage on top of last years and the years before etc etc. Meanwhile the rivers get 'just a bit' shallower and we run aground 'just a bit' more. And it all gets 'just a bit' more intolerable

It's good to see that nowhere is yet too shallow for the rangers launches to get to.....

Especially those hidden side dykes where the tips of the bow can sometimes bee seen peeping out. Doing their paperwork, no doubt 

[Lucky]

In our case this 6.2% increase would cost less than £22, which is hardly worth debating in boating costs.

Regards

Alan

With all due respect and purely out of interest, what amount would be "worth debating" Alan?

Based on this years probable increase, this would cost us a further £38 next year. Add this to the increases over the last five or six years then this is quite a lot of money would you not agree?

A little bit here, a little bit there is how our system of tax started. So, today, out of every £1 you earn, how much is actually really yours ?  20p / 30p .... less ??

 

[littlesprite]

My concern with these above inflation increases for a specific reason, is why does it not get reduced after the project is complete. I'm all in favour of dredging and mooring repairs but once completed will my Toll be reduced again and if not where will the money go then?

[Lucky]

My concern with these above inflation increases for a specific reason, is why does it not get reduced after the project is complete. I'm all in favour of dredging and mooring repairs but once completed will my Toll be reduced again and if not where will the money go then?

Yes agreed !! That reminds me of the Dartford Tunnel Toll. "Once the cost has been recovered there will be no charge"....... hmmmm....

[Bound2Please]

Yes agreed !! That reminds me of the Dartford Tunnel Toll. "Once the cost has been recovered there will be no charge"....... hmmmm....

Keep dreaming on that one........................................

[ChrisB]

We have an RNLI hovercraft in Norfolk. The "Hunstanton Flyer" I am pretty sure that these twin (VW) engined Griffons were about £300K ex works Southampton and that was a few years back.