Adrian Stott wrote: > "Roger Millin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: >
> For example, for moorings in a basin, it is appropriate to charge by > length x beam,, because some of the (limited) area in the basin is > consumed by mooring the boat. > That applies to mooring on any part of the waterway. Especially at busy moorings where boats breast up and where two boats going in opposite directions cannot pass because of limited width. > However, for navigation, it is not appropriate to charge by craft > size, because there is no shortage of water surface area on the > waterways in general, and because a vessel (of a size within the gauge > of the waterway) passing along the waterway effectively "consumes" the > same amount of space irrespective of its beam. > See above. > One could argue that a larger vessel takes more room in a lock, and in > the extreme one such vessel requires a lock(ing) all to itself while > two smaller ones could share. It is not only about locking. It is about getting through bridge holes, passing in narrower stretches of waterway. Just like a wide-load on the road, special care needs to be taken passing wider boats. However, BW has calculated that the > marginal cost of of any vessel navigating a waterway is so small that > it is not worth charging for, so the difference between "so small" and > "half so small" is not significant enough to reflect in the charges. > You keep saying that. Could you please provide a reference/quote? > Also, two vessels which could share a lock may actually not do so but > each lock through by itself. And how many times does that happen? I recall doing that once in a dozen years of narrow-boating (when the other boat was manned by such a pillock that I decided to let him go ahead). > > The same arguments apply to length as to beam. So there is no logical > argument for the current BW practice of levying a higher navigation > charge on a longer boat than on a smaller one. > Oh, really? And have you made that case to BW? And if that is so, do you claim that BW have calculated this to be so? -- Will Chapman Save Our Waterways www.SaveOurWaterways.org.uk
