On Sun, Sep 28, 2008 at 10:54 PM, qwertybjg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > To solve this problem, I think that there should be a licence fee for > each waterway. E.g. you can buy a licence for "all waterways a > 70ftx7ft boat fits on" (ticking them off on a form) OR just "The > Kennet and Avon Canal" OR whatever.
The problem is that many boats (continous cruising or otherwise) sit on the same canal all year. This would reduce the amount available to BW unless they put the price on each canal so high as to get the same amount now. If you actually wanted to navigate the canals (this year we will have done the following navigations: Trent, Trent and Mersey, Shropshire Union, Worcester and Birmingham (about 1/2 mile), Birmingham Main Line, Wyrley and Essington, Walsall, BCN Old Line, Birmingham and Fazey, Coventry Canal, Oxford (North), and Grand Union Canals (plus some others I've probably forgotten about). You could not pay full wack for each canal, as you would soon go broke, so there would have to be a discount for wanting more than one canal. Since BW say there is no extra maintance costs of navigating boats (however I dispute that, how much is spend each year on replacing broken brickwork thanks to poor drivers, let alone boats hung in locks), why should it cost me more to actually enjoy more than one canal! The Driffield Canal has a fixed licence cost, £25? a year, no matter the size of boat, or how much you use it. However if the same was done on BW canals it wouldn't be long before everyone had huge boats clogging up all the moorings. The answer, I'm not sure, but the status quo isn't particulary working well is it? Cheers, Mike -- Michael Askin http://shoestring_DOT_zapto_DOT_org/
