On 21 January 2011 14:15, Richard Fairhurst <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Tom Chance wrote: > > Can our resident waterways experts comment on the most appropriate > > tagging for navigable rivers in the UK? > > For example, I see you’re allowed to use a boat on the Thames along > > navigable parts with a license… does that mean it should be “boat=yes” > > or “boat=permissive”? > > Short answer: I'd say boat=yes. You have to tax a car, get it through its > MoT etc. to use public roads but we still tag them as motor_vehicle=yes > rather than =permissive (well, it's implied by the highway tag, but you > know > what I mean). It's pretty analogous to that. > > Long answer: there is actually a public right of navigation on the Thames > and several other rivers. The right is subject to boats being "registered" > (that's what they call it on the Thames, as opposed to "licensed" on the > canals) with the successor body of the Thames Conservancy, which is > currently the Environment Agency. But as long as you fulfil the > requirements > of registration (fee paid, current Boat Safety Certificate, etc.) then you > have a legal right to use the river. That's why the red and yellow boards > at > Thames locks tell you that navigation is discouraged in times of flood > rather than prohibited. > > There is no such right on the canals: it was abolished by the 1968 > Transport > Act (IIRC). Your navigation is by permission of British Waterways. In > practice there's no difference to rivers like the Thames - you pay your > licence, you get your BSS, you're allowed on - but there is a theoretical > difference in law. So if there were a case for =permissive tags it would be > on the canals, but again, I'd say that since this permission is always > granted and is what's expected for such thoroughfares, =yes is more > appropriate. > > Waterway law is fascinating, archaic, uneven and rarely understood. BW's > lawyers still have to refer to a 13th century Act to tell them what the > organisation is permitted to do on the River Lee, for example. > > Thanks Richard, you can always rely on talk-gb for interesting arcania! Tom -- http://tom.acrewoods.net http://twitter.com/tom_chance
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