Will Chapman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >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.
Aw, come on Will! Don't be shy. Say what you really think. > There is only one way to solve >the mooring problem and that is make more moorings available. First we need to agree what "the mooring problem" is. My definition of it is that it is impossible at present for the average person to get a mooring when and where he needs one. What's yours? > 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. A shortage is a mismatch between supply and demand. In a well-functioning market, shortages are removed by movements in price. A higher price both reduces demand and increases supply (by making supply more profitable, thus encouring more to be produced). At the market-clearing price, there is no shortage (by definition), because (as you say) there will be "enough moorings to supply demand". Adding to supply reduces the market-clearing price. But that is addressing a different problem, i.e. wanting to pay less, as opposed to wanting availability. It would be nice if there were more moorings. I'm sure all of us would like to pay less for our moorings. The trouble is, it is very difficult to create new moorings. The high land prices today make many schemes for doing so uneconomic. The ever-increasing regulation, and the negative attitude towards such development in many local authorities, can make approvals effectively impossible to get. >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. How is it doing to do that? It has little more clout than any other developer with respect to getting approvals for new moorings. It has none with respect to economics (moorings produce much less revenue/ha than, e.g., housing, no matter who owns the land). OTOH, BW actually is trying quite hard to get more moorings created, through (e.g.) its New Marinas Unit. It claims there are now several thousand in the pipeline over the next decade. However, even this number will not be enough to ensure availability at current prices. >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. The "natural level" for the price is the market-clearing level. The lack of vacancies is proof that current prices are below that level. You have actually agreed with that in your last paragraph above, by saying it "is simply because there are not enough to meet demand". But what you have left out is that this occurs *only* if the prices are too low. If the mooring price were £1 million/year, perhaps five moorings would satisfy the whole demand on the network. OTOH, if moorings were priced at 1p/year, I guess it would be impossible to create enough to satisfy the demand. Somewhere in between, there is a price where supply and demand balance. Current prices are below that. >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. If you're going to be at Hertford, let me know. There's a good venue there for such debates (by happy coincidence, it is called "The (Old) Barge". Adrian Adrian Stott 07956-299966
