Ruthless Eviction of Liveaboards from Fens Marina

[Roger Gunkel]

Popes Corner Marina near Ely at the junction of The Cam and the Great Ouse, has today (Thursday) given all liveaboards a written notice of eviction.

 

This follows a recent sudden increase in the mooring charges by 25% and a failed attempt to penalise liveaboard boat owners with a £550 liveaboard surcharge. The owners o the Marina are the huge local landowners and international food growers and suppliers Shropshires. The previous managers of the marina were given their marching orders a couple of years ago and the Shropshires have since installed their family member Davina, to run the marina. She has systematically applied all of her lack of knowledge of anything to do with boats and waterways, to modernise the marina and start to give it a more upmarket image as a garden marina. According to a number of friends and acquaintencies who live there, this has resulted in a number of 'improvements' that has resulted in increased difficulties for the over 60 liveaboard boats. This has included the removal of a number of personal sheds, installing of new toilets and showers at a considerable distance from the boats, new car parking prventing owners from parking near their boats in many caes, stopping of craneage for boat blacking and a whole raft of other changes.

 

The recent 25% hike in mooring costs, followed supposedly secret meetings with owners of more upmarket marinas in the area to match mooring costs. One of the local marina owners refused to join in the talks and let slip the information, which is tantamount to price fixing. The attempt to impose the liveaboard surcharge seems to have failed on a legal basis and now a further 3 weeks down the line, a letter has been sent to all berth holders informing them that the marina is to be closed for modernisation and improvements. Liveaboard boaters will not be able to reapply for moorings. The eviction notice gives 13 weeks for boaters to clear the marina..

 

This means in effect that over 60 liveaboards will be left with no mooring at the very coldest time of the year. Some of those liveaboards have lived there for over 10 years, some with young families settled in local schools, and one woman very ill with cancer who requires weekly treatment. There are not enough alternative moorings in the area for that number of boats, so the Environment Agency are very concerrned that the boats will descend on Ely and surrounding 48 hour moorings in an attempt to continue their lives. I understand that social services are also concerned.

 

What sort of eletist mentality does anyone have to posess to show such a total disregard for people's lives and welfare, in the pursuit of ever increasing greed and profit. Do liveaboard boaters have no rights at all and is the local council suddenly going to be expected to somehow house some of these suddenly desperate people? They have supplied the marina owners with a good income for years, have kept themselves quietly in a comfortable sustainable environment with no pressure on local housing, only to be treated as sub human and of no value whatsoever.

 

I am fortunate that I have moved to a new mooring 3 weeks ago from my long term mooring at Upware Marina, and have a superb new mooring with privacy, land and half the costs, but I am outraged at how many of my friends have been treated by this wealthy family.

 

Roger

[Wanted]

It's disgusting. I wonder if they may all be better off staying put and letting the owners go to court to seek eviction. It would give them more time and would also allow the LA time to get involved.

 

Anyone up for a Banter.....

[tree]

to be honest I was quite speechless when I read this thread but very angry. If this was happening to me, then I would set about organising a support group, contact my local MP ecterea and also go to the papers, local and national. Because sometimes its best to let as many people know, as possible of the unfair situtation that you are in. As a future liveaboard I find it quite worrying and I hope that all the people FIGHT this and get support not only from other boaters, but also anyone else who can help them find a fairer solution.

I am sure that there are lots of people on the forum who can give excellent legal advice.

 

I would willingly sign any petition if need be and hope that a solution is found very quickly as I can only imagine how the people affected are feeling, devastated comes to mind

 

Lorraine. edited : for typos cos ime very cross right now.

Edited October 5, 2012 by tree

[Starcoaster]

THIS kind of thing is precisely WHY I think the introduction of new marina's at the expense of online moorings is a bad idea.

 

Most marinas either do not have planning permission for liveaboards, do not allow them, charge them an inflated premium for nothing or are apt to act like this when the urge hits them. CART policy of reducing online moorings is going to end up being a disaster for liveaboard boaters over the next few years, and I worry this is just the beginning.

Edited October 5, 2012 by Starcoaster

[Roger Gunkel]

It's early days as yet, but if they are allowed to get away with it, the repercussions could be big, with other marinas deciding that they can make money from leisure boaters without any need for responsibility or facilities for liveaboards. Of course it could all blow up in their face as the leisure boating industry is in recession and they may have no takers for their new moorings. They might just find that the liveaboard market might be the only way to fill their empty marina again.

 

I'll keep updating as things develop and more information is forthcoming.

 

Roger

[Lady Muck]

Sounds like it's already happening elsewhere, Roger.

 

Do liveaboard boaters have no rights at all

 

I don't think we ever did have.

 

I guess I'm fortunate because I'm freelance and have no kids or ties to the area. If I were evicted, I would be fine and I'd be able to continuously cruise the whole canal system without any bother, but I think I might be the only one here able to say that.

Edited October 5, 2012 by Lady Muck

[saltysplash]

I dont think we have ever had any rights, If it was to happen to us heaven forbid, well, there is some very nice tow path directly opposite our mooring

[alan_fincher]

THIS kind of thing is precisely WHY I think the introduction of new marina's at the expense of online moorings is a bad idea.

 

Most marinas either do not have planning permission for liveaboards, do not allow them, charge them an inflated premium for nothing or are apt to act like this when the urge hits them. CART policy of reducing online moorings is going to end up being a disaster for liveaboard boaters over the next few years, and I worry this is just the beginning.

For clarity, could Roger please explain whether these were residential berths with planning permission, or was it just previous permissive use for live-aboards ?

 

Of course, being pedantic, if the marina involved is not on BW/CaRT waters then BW/CaRT policy does not really affect things there.

 

I think it is fair to say that live-aboards have no security at most BW/CaRT controlled mooring sites. Almost all use of these for "residential" is neither supported by planning permission, nor with any security of tenure. If CaRT decides at any future date that anyone using such a mooring for residential should not be, I'd be amazed if they didn't have the power to enforce it.

 

Very sad for the people involved here though - the application of what was called euphemistically a "high user" charge at a local marina, basically targetting unofficial live-aboards, has resulted in many of them now joining our local "continuos cruisers", at savings of up to (I was told) £4,000 per annum.

 

I dont think we have ever had any rights, If it was to happen to us heaven forbid, well, there is some very nice tow path directly opposite our mooring

Precisely!

 

What has happened near here - in most cases not because people wee actually told they must go, I think, but because they claim to have been forced to by price hikes.

[GUMPY]

Unless they are full residential moorings with planning permission for the same then the marina owner is quite within their rights to ask livaboards to leave.

Im afraid that even if it is a full residential mooring then the security of tenure is limited, but if not then there is no securirty at all.

The same rules by the way govern towpath moorings so things are no better there.

The only thing to hope for is that we get more mooring places available than boats to fill them and then at least "residential" boats may well be welcomed back.

[sueb]

This has happened before and is usually legal

[rubblequeen]

What would happen if everyone refused to move? Don't know how many live aboard boats there are, but I guess it would cost the owners a fortune to start forcibly moving anyone. If they start towing you out - buy an old wreck and sink it in the entrance oops. Every one en-mass go down to the local housing and sign on the waiting list with you eviction orders, see what they say.

 

If some of the boats are like the ones where I'm moored I doubt if they would get too far, many have removed the engine or hasn't been started in years.

 

Fight them and fight dirty not dangerously! Sorry this is what happens when your a child of the 60's

 

As an aside where I live in a small close - 95% retired people - a developer wanted to build on some land that would affect us badly - we objected through the right channels to no avail. It was when he said to me (65yo) "Don't know what you lot are complaining about you're not going to be around for all that much longer" - Not a clever thing to say to "Children of the revolution" that made us totally determined and we used everything possible and in the end his plans have had to be scaled down to 50% of what they were.

SO FIGHT

[Biggles]

A business can't survive without customers. Kicking 60 out of there will really seriously dent the cash flow, and I really can't see a massive influx of new customers.

 

Where are going to come from? I already know of people leaving other marinas due to costs and now living a CC/M ers.

 

I think there is enough people affected there to form an impressive action group. I would think the cost of cort action to revolve all of them will run into many many thousands to the owners. Looks like the Human rights act could be finally used for the good of decent people.

 

WHAT IS IMPORTANT THOUGH. They must continue to pay their fees, if they don't this will seriously dent their case if it ever came to court.

 

I wonder how the limited taps and pump outs wll cope with an extra 60 boats bobbing about.

[kris88]

its very sad when one humans or companies greed causes misery and suffering for fellow humans,

unfortunately this is more and more common in the world we live in

but i believe it can arrested

people who want to continue to liverboard on the waterways are going have to a get active and very vocal.

Stop buying into these divisive stereotypes of moorer and continuous cruiser realize we all have common interest

(the tactic of divide and rule is a very old one)

start believing that we do have rights,the land based traveling community has to be provivded halting sites by every council by law(the law that covers this is a good starting point)

i dont have all the legal knowledge at the moment but you can bet im going to get it as knowledge is power

 

regards kris

[dor]

We keep hearing about these fancy marinas opening, and in fairness, at least round here, they are well occupied even at the quite high rates. But surely what is needed is simple no-frills marinas with ,say, 50% of the moorings having residential status. Rates could be similar to online moorings with the residential boaters paying their own council tax. In return given some security of tenure, even if it is only say 12 months (still more than what you could expect from renting a property).

[Athy]

It's evident that Roger is extremely upset by the story which he has heard, and other forum colleagues have understandably been in agreement with him.

What we have not yet heard is the marina owner's side of the story. It would make interesting reading.

[carlt]

What would happen if everyone refused to move? Don't know how many live aboard boats there are, but I guess it would cost the owners a fortune to start forcibly moving anyone.

SO FIGHT

I suppose it depends on how successfully the company, their PR people, lawyers and the local authority can vilify the residents.

 

Look how the Dale Farm residents were portrayed as utter scum when they tried to stop being evicted from their homes...on land that they actually owned.

 

With absolutely no security of tenure there is little that boaters can do in this situation unfortunately.

[boathunter]

Slight aside - I live in Ely and member of the local pit sailing club. The Marina in Ely itself is owned by a rather blunt Yorkshireman.

 

The sailing pit and some surrounding land was owned by Parsons charity, but was suddenly sold reportedly for a snip to the marina owner.

 

He set about felling trees, laying in cables etc to turn our sailing pit into a marina. The pit is very small as it is for sailing but it's a cosy club. He started laying down the law as to when and where we would be allowed to sail. He threatened the club and it's commitee with personal ruin for daring to object, while continuing to accept the palty rent for the pit.

 

Sadly for him, the terms of our lease were negotiated by a former member who was a judge and sailing club have sole navigation rights on the pit. Also the Environment agency and some rare nesting Bitterns added to the mix, he had to stop work, reinstate the destruction he caused and is now sitting on a wothless lemon.

 

Though it sounds bad for the Popes corner inhabitants, Marina owners don't always get their way. I hope they find a way to fight the evictions but it doesn't sound good.

[Athy]

Will he be once Bittern, twice shy?

[jenlyn]

It really is time to form some sort of boat dwellers organisation. In the long term, I only see this situation getting worse. Liveaboards in reality don't have rights and are vulnerable. Time to stand up for what we pay for. It's not like we are freeloading, we just choose a simpler lifestyle. We pay our way. As many say, it's probably as expensive living on a boat as in a house-flat. I don't see it's much cheaper to live on a boat, yet we have no protection whatsoever.

[BlueStringPudding]

its very sad when one humans or companies greed causes misery and suffering for fellow humans,

unfortunately this is more and more common in the world we live in

but i believe it can arrested

people who want to continue to liverboard on the waterways are going have to a get active and very vocal.

Stop buying into these divisive stereotypes of moorer and continuous cruiser realize we all have common interest

(the tactic of divide and rule is a very old one)

start believing that we do have rights,the land based traveling community has to be provivded halting sites by every council by law(the law that covers this is a good starting point)

i dont have all the legal knowledge at the moment but you can bet im going to get it as knowledge is power

 

regards kris

 

[carlt]

It really is time to form some sort of boat dwellers organisation.

You could call it the "Residential Boat Owners' Association"...oh, hang on...

[Keeping Up]

We keep hearing about these fancy marinas opening, and in fairness, at least round here, they are well occupied even at the quite high rates. But surely what is needed is simple no-frills marinas with ,say, 50% of the moorings having residential status. Rates could be similar to online moorings with the residential boaters paying their own council tax. In return given some security of tenure, even if it is only say 12 months (still more than what you could expect from renting a property).

 

In order to achieve this, the council would have to grant planning permission for the residential use. The local land-dwellers are often incredibly hostile to such applications; near my mooring, for example, a village campaign was stirred up against "hordes of rampaging waterborne gypsies" (their words not mine) when the application was for just two residential berths. Imagine what they would have said about a whole marina.

[jenlyn]

You could call it the "Residential Boat Owners' Association"...oh, hang on...

I've been in touch with them and Ivor Caplan, when I get replies from NABO, I will post it all.

[carlt]

I've been in touch with them and Ivor Caplan, when I get replies from NABO, I will post it all.

Good stuff!

 

I'd award you a greenie but I've run out already.

[Ally]

Could the RBOA help here? They are, after all, a 'boat dwellers organisation', if more of us joined, there would be more impetus behind them.

This is a sad story that I suspect we will hear more and more of, and if we are to gain any rights, or even keep those few we have, a common voice is important. Big fancy marinas are all very well, but they need to serve the needs of boaters in the area, not the moneyed land living folk who like to sip a cappuccino whilst watching the pretty boats (who may cease to be in view soon!)

 

 

edit.......cross posted!

Edited October 5, 2012 by Ally