Scott Macdonald and Amanda Rodgers in Coal Drops Yard, King’s Cross

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BOAT DWELLERS question “is this even the canal anymore?” after they say that daily mooring charges being implemented on them will push them out and off the canal.

The mooring charges enforced by The Canal & Rivers Trust are known as “chargeable visitor moorings” and are an extra charge per night on top of what boaters already pay for their licence fee in specific parts of the canal network.

In the Islington Eco Mooring, on both sides of the Islington tunnel, the charges are £35 extra a night and are affecting ‘itinerant boaters’ people who continuously cruise the canals.

The “chargeable visitor moorings” are being implemented on desirable, popular ‘hotspots’ of the towpath when previously boaters could stay there for 7-14 days for no extra charge.

Scott Macdonald, who is currently mooring in Kings Cross and who has lived on his historic wooden boat for more than six years said the risk of extra charges worried him.

“It makes me so anxious I feel like I’m falling to bits. I feel like I have no rights as a boater.” he said.

“The Canal and River Trust is like some sort of an agency that makes you feel like you’re doing wrong constantly. “I pay my licenses, they are all up to date, I pay my insurance, all up to date.

“The charges are affecting all the best bits of the canal, the hotspots. And now these areas are all empty because people don’t want to pay the extra charge. No boater is having any part of it because it’s wrong.”

Mr Macdonald said the Trust could not be allowed to “effectively privatise” specific locations of the canal network.

He said: “They’re putting up our fees every year and now this. It’s not going to stop, which is such a shame. If boaters are removed is this the canal anymore?

“The canal creates a sense of community because people drop into the canal for various reasons, and there is a vibe around the canal that is good mental wellbeing.”

Moorings on the Regent’s Canal towpath

The National Bargee Travellers Association which represent itinerant boat dwellers living on and around London’s waterways are calling for a reversal of the charges to all spots on the canal network which they call discriminatory.

It said the policy has been implemented despite 72 per cent of liveaboard boaters in the London area surveyed by the Canal and Rivers Trust in 2022 reporting it would make their lives harder.

Marcus Trower, Chair of NBTA London said: “The introduction of these new chargeable moorings is yet another example of the Canal & River Trust’s (CRT) ongoing war on itinerant boaters, and their determination to push us out of London and off the water altogether.

“With these chargeable moorings already standing empty, it seems that the CRT would rather see the towpath returned to the bad old days of unlit no-go areas than simply let boaters continue to live in peace, contributing to the safety, vibrancy and culture of London.

“However, just like when the CRT attempted to introduce bogus safety zones on the River Lee, boaters will continue to resist their dispossession and show that London is better with boats.”

A Canal & River Trust spokesperson said: “Boaters are a vital part of the fabric of London’s canals, and over the past decade the number of boats on the capital’s waterways has more than doubled.

“Our charity works to balance the needs of all users – licence holders who choose to continuously cruise as well as those with a home mooring.

“The vast majority of mooring in London is still free, but the addition of a small number of prebookable moorings ensures visiting boaters who are worried they will have nowhere to stop are not excluded from being able to visit our very busy London waterways, and can share the space.

“We’re doing all we can to increase the number of moorings where demand exists, and have added over one kilometre of free towpath moorings in central London over the past few years.

“Following a review of the usage and impact of all our prebookables, we have decided to return the Camden section to seven days free mooring.”