The NBTA is asking members to comment on the draft proposed EA procedure for the removal of unregistered residential boats under Article 16 of the Environment Agency (Inland Waterways) Order 2010, which made it a criminal offence for a boat owner to keep an unregistered boat on EA waterways. The consultation ends on 28th September so please comment by 21st September to give time to finalise the NBTA response. The EA is only inviting consultation responses from organisations, so we want to know what our members think. Send your comments to secretariat@bargee-traveller.org.uk to be included in the NBTA response.
Before the Environment Agency (Inland Waterways) Order 2010 became law, Nick Brown on behalf of the NBTA made a legal challenge to the proposed power to remove an unregistered boat that might be used as somebody’s home.
As a result, the EA undertook not to remove an unregistered residential vessel without consulting on appropriate procedures, which include obtaining a court order, to safeguard the rights of those affected. This has meant that for the last 15 years, the EA has not exercised the power to remove unregistered boats that are people’s homes because it has not completed a consultation process. Indeed the EA did not start the consultation process until 2023, when it carried out what it now refers to as an “initial consultation” on the initial draft procedure for removal of unregistered residential boats.
According to the EA at the time, the responses to the 2023 consultation were so polarised that the EA was unable to move forward. Some respondents were concerned that the procedure was too lengthy and bureaucratic, with the risk it would be inefficient and not used; whilst others told us it was too heavy-handed and did not address human rights issues. Since then, the EA has “analysed all the responses to the consultation, sought additional legal advice and revised the proposed procedure accordingly”.
You can download the EA’s proposed procedure for the removal of unregistered residential vessels here 2025 Article 16 Residential Vessels – Consultation – PDF Version
You can download the Undertakings made in 2010 by the EA to Nick Brown on behalf of NBTA here 2010-05-11 EA Undertakings re TWAO
To contact the EA about this consultation email navigation@environment-agency.gov.uk