Ruthless Eviction of Liveaboards from Fens Marina

[MtB]

If it's any help there are residential moorings at Priory Marina in Bedford, however since BWML were forced to apply to the council for planning permission the cost of residential berths is an eye watering £5600 (ish) a year.

 

This is exactly the point I was making earlier in the thread. Start demanding 'rights' like residential and security of tenure and you'll find they come with a whopping price tag.

 

Abusing a leisure mooring by using it as residential instead, then complaining when stopped shows an astonishing lack of realism. When it happened to me, I was just pleased I got three years of low cost, below-the-radar living on my boat before being eventually evicted by the council.

 

Mike

[smileypete]

It all seems very sad, there must have been something that triggered this change as it would appear the Marinas income is likely to be the same. I wonder what it was.

Greed.

 

If the 'garden marina' doesn't pan out, they can sell the marina on (to developers?) with vacant possession

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

[lydfordcastle]

 

 

............It has been suggested that I have exaggerated numbers because an ancient picture on Google Earth shows less boats,

It has been suggested that residents have been evicted because of lack of planning permission- pure speculation.

It was queried as being odd that nobody from the marina had said anything on the forum, so casting doubt on my report.

Suggestions that people had refused to pay the surcharge so had been evicted as a result.

Various other comments to suggest that maybe my report was one sided.............

 

 

 

I really think you should re-read the posts to which you refer above as to my mind they don't actually say what you have accused them of. Forum members who have posted comments which you have interpreted as 'anti' and unhelpful were simply querying the situation to try to glean more information as your original post was unclear in many respects. This is always the problem with the written word. If a post is not absolutely clear and unambiguous, there is a danger that it will be misinterpreted. Oh and by the way, your original post was totally one-sided. How could it be anything else?

[sueb]

I really think you should re-read the posts to which you refer above as to my mind they don't actually say what you have accused them of. Forum members who have posted comments which you have interpreted as 'anti' and unhelpful were simply querying the situation to try to glean more information as your original post was unclear in many respects. This is always the problem with the written word. If a post is not absolutely clear and unambiguous, there is a danger that it will be misinterpreted. Oh and by the way, your original post was totally one-sided. How could it be anything else?

Correct. I was trying to be helpful not anti

[Tuscan]

Greed.

 

If the 'garden marina' doesn't pan out, they can sell the marina on (to developers?) with vacant possession

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

 

 

 

That doesn't quite work, if they have increased the fees to the same as nearby Ely which the OP stated then closing and spending money just to reopen at the same level of fees is commercially stupid, if selling then you sell as a going concern, after all as we have seen there is no security of tenure. I can only think of two reasons the hassle of dealing with liveaboards or something to do with the council planning, council tax etc.

[cobaltcodd]

How much community charge have these permanent residents been paying over the years? Or has it been quietly forgotten, and everyone has, well, got away with not paying. I'd love to have saved nearly £15,000 for the last 10 years.

[matty40s]

Wake up and smell the coffee, before more of us start drowning in it :

Roger

PS sorry for the rant but I am angry

 

Roger, send in a couple of your 12V computer fans, I am sure they are up to sorting out this issue like they sort everything else...

 

;)

[Roger Gunkel]

The sense of comradeship and sympathy on this forum for the the boaters who are shortly to be evicted has completely overwhelmed me

 

I was driving home tonight when I came across this vehicle which had fun off the road and had hit a tree. A fire had started under the bonnet and the driver was fighting to free himself before he burned to death. A group of people watched from a safe distance commenting that the vehicle had probably been stolen. Someone else commented that the road tax appeared to be out of date and a further spectator theorised that the vehicle was probably not insured. A discussion was also going on about the driver maybe not having a licence and had crashed because he had no experience of the conditions. As the vehicle exploded in a ball of flame and the driver expired with a final scream, the group turned away muttering that it was a private road and they probably couldn't have done anything anyway.

 

I apologise to those better informed members who know far more than me or the residents about the evictions, and will from now on mind my own business.

 

Roger

[boathunter]

Edited to avoid getting off the subject.

Edited October 8, 2012 by boathunter

[bowten]

Hi guys, I am one of the unlucky residents at popes corner, we got our letter left in our letter box and didnt actually check until Friday so unlike some we were two days behind finding out the news, by the time we knew it was too late to make alternative arrangements and we are now rushing around trying to locate a mooring in the local area.

 

my partner is a carer and is constantly back and forward to the boat during the day, being at popes corner this is ideal for the area she covers. having to move is going to require a huge change in how she operates on a day to day basis.

 

we are extremely upset by the way in which this has happened and how little sympathy there has been from the marina owners, I spoke to James (Davinas husband) on the phone Friday and was basically told that hey had done more than they were legally required to do and that there would be no exceptions to the eviction date. being told that having live aboards would not compliment there future business plans.

 

when asked about the future of the marina he wouldnt confirm what they had planned, only that out of 83 leisure boats 7 had confirmed that they would be returning in April. he also claimed that there were 50 live aboards that would not be allowed to return.

 

I was on the residents committee and at no point was there any mention of the redevelopment involving this amount of work. the impovements that they have made so far seem to be being made redundent as they have redecked the central area, in my conversation with the owner he confirmed that this area was going to be removed completely to increase mooring spaces.

 

I feel for those who have not recieved any notification, I know of at lease one person who is travelling and has left her boat unattended, if they have not been contacted I dread to think what they may return to?

 

I wish that if this was the only way that they could have waited. let us move at a better time of year, avoiding lock closures, poor weather and allowed us more notice to locate moorings,as im sure we will all be fighting for the moorings that those that continously navigate would be looking for during the winter months and i just dont think there is enough to go around.

 

this has really taken us both back, our confidence in living aboard has been knocked, we are even thinking of selling up as we are worried that this will only happen again.

 

I appologise if i'm not making sence as im sure you can understand this is a stressful time for us

 

Carl

A Residents Committee,that would not go down well with the owners.

[MtB]

The sense of comradeship and sympathy on this forum for the the boaters who are shortly to be evicted has completely overwhelmed me

 

<emotional stuff snipped>

 

Ok, my turn now for a rant.

 

I'm not sure why you expect comradeship and sympathy. I am entirely happy for boaters to fly under the radar and take advantage where possible, but when boaters take a leisure mooring and misuse if for residential, paying leisure prices then good luck to them while they get away with it. But when the party finishes and they get called on it for whatever reason, its hardly an unexpected big shock is it? We have boats for goodness sake, the whole point of a boat is they move. If security of tenure in a fixed location is so important then a caravan on a residential caravan site would have be a far more prudent choice of home than a residential boat parked up on a leisure mooring.

 

Rant over.

 

My apologies as my POV obviously offends you but this IS what I think.

[Cootwatcher]

"The whole point of a boat is they move." (sic) What's the point of a caravan then?

[eightpot]

If it's a Touring caravan, they move. If it's a Static caravan, it's a structure that's designed effectively as a planning dodge.

[sueb]

The sense of comradeship and sympathy on this forum for the the boaters who are shortly to be evicted has completely overwhelmed me

 

I was driving home tonight when I came across this vehicle which had fun off the road and had hit a tree. A fire had started under the bonnet and the driver was fighting to free himself before he burned to death. A group of people watched from a safe distance commenting that the vehicle had probably been stolen. Someone else commented that the road tax appeared to be out of date and a further spectator theorised that the vehicle was probably not insured. A discussion was also going on about the driver maybe not having a licence and had crashed because he had no experience of the conditions. As the vehicle exploded in a ball of flame and the driver expired with a final scream, the group turned away muttering that it was a private road and they probably couldn't have done anything anyway.

 

I apologise to those better informed members who know far more than me or the residents about the evictions, and will from now on mind my own business.

 

Roger

Roger you rejected my way of helping and said you preferred direct action. So what do you think we should do to help?

[Carl.m]

A Residents Committee,that would not go down well with the owners.

 

The residents committee was introduced by the marina owners, was intended to inform and relay information from residents to owners and back again, only seemed to work for a very short time.

[Black Ibis]

The Cambridge News is running a story about it today, which seems to imply that they will all be allowed back once refurbishments have been completed. But people here seem to suggest that residential boats will no longer be welcome.

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/News/New-owners-give-80-families-three-months-to-leave-for-major-revamp-09102012.htm

[Cootwatcher]

I was trying to point up the fact that boats and caravans are both basically moveable structures. How you slice it up after that is irrelevant. Why should those who live on moveable structures on water have less protection than those on land?

[Biggles]

Why should those who live on moveable structures on water have less protection than those on land?

 

I don't think they do really. There are always stories of static sites shafting it to their residents with charges and conditions. And not many sites will allow you to let your home become an eyesore, and when it reaches an age or condition they think is not in keeping with their ideal you will be told to remove it.

 

There are plenty of stories of site owners being less than fair with their tenants.

[AJLintern]

Is there a chance that they are saying they won't have any residential moorings when they reopen because they don't currently have any 'official' residential moorings? So perhaps people will be able to return there and moor up, but just spend 'a lot of time' on their boats...? I would agree that it's not been handled at all well, but where there's no proper contract drawn up and people are just living there because that's how it's always been, I'd think it sensible to have something to fall back on should such a situation arise. Having a boat with no engine would need an even more elaborate back up plan due to the difficulty of moving it elsewhere!

[smileypete]

Ok, my turn now for a rant.

 

I'm not sure why you expect comradeship and sympathy. I am entirely happy for boaters to fly under the radar and take advantage where possible, but when boaters take a leisure mooring and misuse if for residential, paying leisure prices then good luck to them while they get away with it. But when the party finishes and they get called on it for whatever reason, its hardly an unexpected big shock is it? We have boats for goodness sake, the whole point of a boat is they move. If security of tenure in a fixed location is so important then a caravan on a residential caravan site would have be a far more prudent choice of home than a residential boat parked up on a leisure mooring.

 

Rant over.

 

My apologies as my POV obviously offends you but this IS what I think.

Dunno, are/were the moorings ever marketed to the boat owners as being residential? Someone please remind me?

 

Seems you're implying they're all 'misusing' leisure moorings, which I'm not sure is the case.

 

cheers, Pete.

Edited October 9, 2012 by smileypete

[Tuscan]

The sense of comradeship and sympathy on this forum for the the boaters who are shortly to be evicted has completely overwhelmed me

 

I was driving home tonight when I came across this vehicle which had fun off the road and had hit a tree. A fire had started under the bonnet and the driver was fighting to free himself before he burned to death. A group of people watched from a safe distance commenting that the vehicle had probably been stolen. Someone else commented that the road tax appeared to be out of date and a further spectator theorised that the vehicle was probably not insured. A discussion was also going on about the driver maybe not having a licence and had crashed because he had no experience of the conditions. As the vehicle exploded in a ball of flame and the driver expired with a final scream, the group turned away muttering that it was a private road and they probably couldn't have done anything anyway.

 

I apologise to those better informed members who know far more than me or the residents about the evictions, and will from now on mind my own business.

 

Roger

 

 

 

 

 

Perhaps always focussing on the emotive rather than the objective is the problem, you omitted to mention that the driver had perhaps planted the tree.

[Cootwatcher]

Reply to Black Ibis. The original letter was quite plain, no liveaboards were to be allowed back. If they have had a change of heart recently they have not informed us at the marina. I think it is a convenient omission to slant the story. These people are not fools and they don't want to admit to what they are doing in the local press.

[Athy]

 

I was driving home tonight when I came across this vehicle which had fun off the road

 

[quote

 

Not that much fun, judging by the rest of your story. Should it, by the way, be filed under "fiction" or did it really happen?

[Black Ibis]

Wow, this has caused quite a heated discussion on the Cambridge News website: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/News/New-owners-give-80-families-three-months-to-leave-for-major-revamp-09102012.htm

[sprigrat]

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.

as a fellow boater and ex resident at the f/d i feel for them have good mates there, they r told there not residentle but the letter they got says they are, they should make up there minds