Canal system may be privatized

[belboid]

my friend has two boats at Tinsley Lock and she has been warning this was going to happen:, its clear they want more 'luxury/property/leisure' style moorings, etc,

I dunno, I'd suspect that they (labour) are simply trying to find any other bit of revenue they can lay their hands on. I dont see there being a very big market for 'luxury moorings' - and especially not at Tinsley! There might be a market in the city centres, but there a glut of all those city centre yuppie flats to get rid of first.

Shitty move, either way tho.

 

[treelover]

Actually there are plans for developments and massive mooring price rises at Tinsley Lock, my friend is organising a major public meeting about it all, with invites to all who value open public spaces as well as the canal boat owners.,


What was that old album, selling england by the pound? ( yes i know that was a right wing attack by the band supertramp)

I dunno, I'd suspect that they (labour) are simply trying to find any other bit of revenue they can lay their hands on. I dont see there being a very big market for 'luxury moorings' - and especially not at Tinsley! There might be a market in the city centres, but there a glut of all those city centre yuppie flats to get rid of first.

Shitty move, either way tho.

 

[belboid]

genesis, in fact, more liberal leftie really in those gabriel days.

Of course prices are going to go up, but thats 'just' ripping people off rather than necessarily being a watery version of gentrification.

The new developments sound interesting tho, I'll keep me eye out for news

 

[gosub]

And boats still aren't cheap, my sister paid some fifty-five grand for one in good condition, and there's no way in hell you'll be able to get a mortgage on one. Nevertheless, I reckon they'll become more popular soon with the housing market becoming more absurd every week.

Got one built new for that with a mortgage a few years back. Did it because didn't believe House prices were sustainable, was not expecting the extending of the growth curve by relaxing of the lending laws. Thought I'd fucked up for a while, slightly more relaxed now.


If you kick out the bottom rungs of a ladder, all you do is make a bubble

 

[pinkmonkey]

And boats still aren't cheap, my sister paid some fifty-five grand for one in good condition, and there's no way in hell you'll be able to get a mortgage on one. Nevertheless, I reckon they'll become more popular soon with the housing market becoming more absurd every week.

We've got a mortgage on ours - but having bought a house before, it's an absolute nightmare getting one, compared to a house. You can't get a mortgage without a mooring.

We've seen boat builders try and market to executive types, but TBH, I think thats daft. A boat is not a cheap house, its a boat. It's not going to suit everyone.

http://www.metrofloat.co.uk/

The boats on this site look just like houses, but it will in reality be a very different experience once you move onto one.

Anyone who's ever lived on a boat would run a mile from cream carpet. I have wood floors and rugs that I take out and wash.

The power requirements on these boats mean you'd really need an electric hook up, not common on most BW moorings, otherwise you'll be huddling around a candle or forced to run your engine for hours on end, because the battery bank is pretty big. The luxury audio visual equipment will cane your batteries.
These boats are a nightmare to drive, you'll struggle through many bridge holes because of the width and they don't swim very well.

Theres no getting away from, however posh your boat is, you're going to have to see your shit twice. Emptying the bog in the dark is the bane of the winter boater. Plus it'll cost you £15 for the pump out. If the pump out machine is bust, you face carrying a tank of shit around for weeks with a bog you can't use. I don't really care about emptying the bog, but they seem to be marketing this boat to people who would! You have to also keep an eye on the amount of water and gas you use, we always seem to run out of water at the most inconvenient time.

As much as BW keep trying to get more money out of us boaters, it does seem to be two distinct groups using the waterways. Theres the well off retired couples (AKA Shiny Boat brigade), driving along tutting at you if your license is a month out of date. Then there's the alternative types. Our mooring warden told me that the shiny boat brigade prefer posh marinas, they're not interested in moorings like ours, because of us! So I think theres a limit to what people will pay for moorings near us. <Hopes>

 

[gosub]

Those boats do OK on the non Tidal Thames, but agree would be a pig on the London ring, Wey, Kennet, or Oxford canal. Bow thrusters would be a must. Can see a few probs on spec same as you, agree eat batteries but think they have been a bit lazy LCD tv originally developed at Farnborough for putting in Challanger tank could be 12v and stuff like DVD's eat current - have 12v PS2 but hardly use it for reasons given. Its the current draw for spinning up discs that does it. Solid state developments may make practical in say five years. Washing machine means you would need a geny as no marine is going to let you use it in their marine. No renewable energy options listed either.

Prefer cassette, and carry a trench shovel incase of emergency (never actually used it). Do 26kg propane a year (but is only running cooker and oven) would kill for freezer.

Not entirely agreed on demographic segmentation.

On non tidal Thames is plastic v metal with the plastics showing fuck all competence in locks and then getting nervous as a steely glides in, slick as fuck

Biggest divider is summer v winter, at the queues for locks no matter what the waterway, always seem to have longer chats with the boats I see in the winter. Though this summer was a bit different having got stuck for days at Pangbourne because of weather, and a spot of white water narrow boating on red boards that blow half my battery stack (fuck up of joining river with Lock keepers from two different organizations not communicating) conditions made for bonding with some of the "fair weather" boaters.

Was a lot of retirees when I started, have found younger peeople numbers iincreasing due to house prices, not easy though as if you haven't got residential (I don't) have to spend a fair amount of time moving (which I love) but makes for interesting commuting, fortunately for me don't need to be in the office 9-5 Monday-Friday

 

[Roadkill]

What the fuck is the point of privatising the canal system anyway?

It's not as if it's a big drain on public money, and a privatised system wouldn't benefit anyone - except a few property developers who would doubtless stick mooring fees right up to attract 'the right sort of boater, dahling' and flog off canal-side space for flats.

Which, actually, is probably the point. Welcome to Brown's Britain - or, more accurately, Thatcher's, since precious little has fundamentally changed: tax-evading property-developers make a fortune, whilst everyone else gets shafted.