When Canal & River Trust (CRT) come up with a new policy or strategy, they have a favourite word to cover up the subtext: fairness. Safety Zones – fairness; extortionate pre-bookable moorings – fairness; converting casual moorings into restricted time visitor moorings – fairness; the licence surcharge for itinerant boaters – fairness. But who loses […]
Birmingham to include moored boats in Smoke Control Order but enforcement will be deferred
Birmingham City Council has decided to include moored boats in its new Smoke Control Order. However, due to the fact that the vast majority of respondents objected to the Order being extended to moored boats, no enforcement against boat dwellers will take place until the Council has developed a Moored Vessels Enforcement Policy.
Birmingham protest, 8th November, Farmer’s Bridge locks
Birmingham Protest! Join us to protest, leaflet and engage with the public at Farmer’s Bridge Top Lock, Birmingham, this Saturday 8th November 2025 from 11.30am to 3pm. Help us to raise public awareness of the threat to the homes of the itinerant boat dweller community from the CRT licence surcharge and its review of boat […]
Ask CRT awkward questions at its online Public Meeting on 20th October
For members on Canal & River Trust (CRT) waterways, CRT is holding its Annual Public Meeting online on Monday 20th October 2025 at 2.30pm.
Nomadic Litterpickers first outing 18th October, Tottenham
Would you like to do some litter picking with other boaters on the towpath in Tottenham, on the River Lea in north London? Many boaters regularly pick up litter around their boats where they are. We have set up the Nomadic Litterpickers to bring travelling boat dwellers together and promote the good things our community […]
All members invited to NBTA Committee meeting, 19th October
All NBTA members are invited to the meeting of our new, bigger Committee and to take part in decision making and helping the NBTA to organise what we do. The Committee meeting is online on Sunday 19th October 2025 2pm- 5pm.
NBTA response to Licence Review survey
National Bargee Travellers Association Response to ‘Findings of an engagement survey of Canal and River Trust waterway users: Report for the Commission of the Trust’ (June 2025) September 2025 Executive summary This document presents the response of the National Bargee Travellers Association (NBTA) to a report commissioned by the Canal and River Trust (CRT), carried […]
Help get MPs on side
With the option to change boater legislation on the table for CRT, we need to get more MP allies to help stop any law change. We have put together an easy-to-use online form for you to write to an MP and to collect information on what MPs have said about boaters to help us direct […]
Environment Agency (EA) consultation on proposed procedure for removal of unregistered residential boats, please send comments to NBTA by 21st September
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 […]
Selling us up the Swanee
While CRT complains about the reduction in government funding and uses it as an excuse to increase our licence fees, we must remind ourselves that the reason given by the Tory government for the creation of CRT was so that the waterways could eventually be self-sustaining and not need any government funding. Putting aside the fact […]