Andrew J Instone-Cowie wrote: > On Tue, May 8, 2007 7:28 am, Michael Clarke wrote: >> You can summarise all of what you say above to - "if there is a long >> queue to buy tickets, it is OK to push in at the front of the queue and >> say, sod you lot, I have more money" No wonder the UK is going downhill >> with that attitude. > > That pretty much sums my response to the proposal as well. This tendering > process is all about driving prices up, and does nothing to address the > shorttage of moorings. >
And mine. I've just got back from a two week cruise of the BCN and am just going through the various threads posted whilst I was away. I must say that what I have read so far on this (and other subjects) horrifies me. Adrian, I have been a long term admirer of much of your thinking (though by no means not all) but the posts you have made on this subject are, IMO, plain rubbish. There is only one way to solve the mooring problem and that is make more moorings available. All that waffle about queues is smoke-screen; if there were enough moorings to supply demand the only queues would be for those moorings that offered the best mix of of value:location:facility. To my mind it should be part of BW's role to ensure that there are enough mooring s available for the expanding number of boats on coming on the market. Thinking up 'novel' schemes to release available is doing skit to solve the main problem; that is, not enough moorings. I also fail to see the argument that moorings are under-priced. It seems obvious to me that the reason mooring prices are rising is simply because there are not enough to meet demand. Make more available and the price will stabilise to its true natural level (probably downwards) not one that is artificially inflated because of short supply. Where has this auction idea come from? Where any boaters involved in the process? If so, I'd like to meet some of them in an open debate. Cheers Will -- Will Chapman Save Our Waterways www.SaveOurWaterways.org.uk
