National Bargee Travellers Association STATEMENT 9th December 2022 ENERGY BILLS SUPPORT SCHEME: AN UPDATE FOR CONCERNED BOATERS Over the past few months, there has been a lot of understandable confusion and anxiety within our community over the situation regarding boaters’ access to financial assistance during the UK’s ongoing fuel and cost-of-living crisis. We at the […]
Energy Bills Support Scheme – still no definite answers for itinerant households
The NBTA has been working with Friends, Families and Travellers (FFT) to try to get the promises made by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in the spring about the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) to apply equally to itinerant boat dwellers and Travellers on land alike. It has been […]
DEFRA guidance on applying Smoke Control Areas to boats
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has issued guidance to local authorities on the application of Smoke Control Areas to moored boats under the Environment Act 2021. If a local authority wishes to extend a Smoke Control Area to include moored boats, it must first carry out a public consultation and it […]
ONLINE PUBLIC MEETING 6th December – Include off-grid households in Government £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme
There will be an online campaign meeting on Tuesday 6th December 2022 at 7-9pm to share ideas on how to progress the campaign and to discuss further action, including when and how to deliver the petition.
Roving Canal Traders get legal advice that they are unlikely to need a Street Trader’s Licence
In 2021 a group of Roving Canal Traders on Canal & River Trust (CRT) waterways raised funds for a Legal Opinion on whether it was lawful for a Local Authority to demand that a Roving Canal Trader should hold a local authority Street Traders Licence for the area. They have now obtained a Legal Opinion […]
What to do if you get a notice under CRT’s Improper Mooring Process
Canal & River Trust (CRT) has added yet another layer of enforcement to its already heavy-handed enforcement policy. Inevitably this will impact most severely on Bargee Travellers, who are on the waterways all year round and who will now face the possibility of their boat licences being terminated for mooring in places where CRT has […]
Please complete CRT consultation on minimum standards for boater facilities by 21st November
Canal & River Trust (CRT) has announced a consultation on minimum standards for boater facilities. This is the first stage of a longer review and consultation regarding boater facilities and aims to gather information in order to agree a minimum standard of boater facilities that CRT will provide. This initial consultation closes on 21st November […]
NBTA General Meeting 22nd October log-in details
The NBTA General Meeting will be held on on Saturday 22nd October 2022 at 2-6pm. The meeting this year will be held by Zoom. There are phone numbers to join the meeting for anyone without internet access. The purpose of the General Meeting is to review and plan what the NBTA does over the next […]
Bath Council Boat Dweller Accommodation Needs Assessment, closes 21st October
If you are on the Kennet and Avon Canal, Bath and North East Somerset (BaNES) Council’s Planning Department will be carrying out a Boat Dweller Accommodation Needs Assessment as it is required to do under Section 124 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 as part of the assessment of all housing need in the […]
CRT census extended to October 31st, please complete it!
Canal & River Trust (CRT) has announced that it is extending the deadline for its Boater Census until 31st October 2022. The NBTA encourages liveaboard boaters to complete it. Worried it’s not anonymous?