Despite not being able to articulate an actual problem which needed to be addressed, and a consultation in which licensing and congestion was low on the priority list of boaters in general, the Commission’s recommendations have given CRT unlimited permission to pursue a long-held wish list of changes which will enable it to even further marginalise boaters without a home mooring.
From further ad hoc differential (discriminatory) pricing and regional licence rationing, to a draconian increase in enforcement powers and the removal of the Rivers Only discount to name but three, the Commission’s recommendations give CRT the ammunition to seek the legislative changes which would threaten the very existence of our community.
We are currently working on a detailed response to the 82 page long Commission report, but the campaign to challenge the legitimacy of its findings and any attempts by CRT to use it to attack our community begins today.
You can start by emailing your MP, or the MP where you are currently moored, to make them aware of how our community will be damaged if CRT attempts to use any legislative instrument to realise the Commission’s recommendations.
You can find template emails here: https://bargee-traveller.org.uk/get-mps-on-side/