Adrian wrote: snipped: > If you really want BW to use "willingness to pay", then you must > surely support the idea of BW raising its charges on all boats > (irrespective of beam) to the level that maximises its revenue. That > would surely remove a lot of boats from the waterways. Hey, that > would help deal with lock queues, eh?
I'm not sure from where you get the idea that raising licences and charges until the pips squeak will ever *remove* a significant number of boats from the waterway. If BW raises charges to the point that there is a significant reaction from boaters then those boaters can do the following: 1. Crush their boat, losing any capital that the may have otherwise recouped by selling it. Unlikely scenario. 2. Move their boat abroad. Unlikely in sufficient numbers to really affect the UK and revenue stream. 3. Lift their boat on to the land and not use it. Unlikely due to the space required and the charges that they will incur for storage of an unusable asset. 4. The next option is that more people don't bother to licence their boat. A very likely scenario but one that does not physically remove any boats from the water, it merely reduces BW's revenue. 5. What a massive hike in charges WILL do is to reduce the numbers of boats coming onto the water and we've already seen evidence of more builders going bust (whether through lack of orders or business incompetence though, I'm not qualified to say). This is not a removal, it is a reduction of the rate of increase. It will also significantly affect the aforesaid builders and other businesses offering services to boaters. So, in no way will increased charges result in a significant drop in the numbers of boats currently on the water and this is where BW think that they can get away with it. IMO though the major shift will be towards number 4 and BW have proved themselves unwilling or unable to do anything to significantly control/remove unlicensed boats despite the recent high-profile spin that they have been feeding us. What they will be able to do if their charges encourage yet more people to go unlicensed, when they cannot control those that already do so now, presents a very worrying scenario for the future. Roger
