Steve Wood wrote: > Ron Jones wrote: >> Brian on Harnser wrote: >>> Ron Jones explained : >>> >>>> I can't see any way of BW being able to force any marina owner to >>>> drop his mooring fees just by reducing his connection fee - unless >>>> BW own the marina - which mine does BTW :-) >>>> >>> Market Forces, >>> BW reduces all their mooring by the same amount as they collect >>> extra from the new licence charge so other marinas in the area drop >>> theirs to match so not to lose custom. The same reason Shell and BP >>> reduce the price of petrol when Tesco does. >> >> I don't think so... That would imply that there are far more >> moorings than boats. Not the case. It won't work. In some places >> the marina may be the only one for miles - no way will they change >> their fees. >> > Just as I was thinking I was the only one who understood the logic > that overall costs would not change by a simplification of the > system, Brian came along and proved me wrong. Thanks Brian. Now Ron > has thrown a spanner in the works and I don't know what to think any > more! My (less than serious) previous assertion that the market only > increases prices seems to be right after all. How depressing.
I agree, depressing it is. The only one who is going to lose out is the boater (as usual). I was speaking from a position of knowledge - my last marina was over 1 day away from any other marina, always had a waiting list, paid (AFAIK) nothing to BW - he not only owned the mill stream but had the Millwrights as well, which means he even controlled the water level. So there would be *no way* he would drop his fees - he even divided up the council tax evenly over the number of boats, so that was an extra fee each July. Ron Jones Process Safety & Development Specialist Don't repeat history, unreported chemical lab/plant near misses at http://www.crhf.org.uk Only two things are certain: The universe and human stupidity; and I'm not certain about the universe. ~ Albert Einstein
