--- In [email protected], "John Slee" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > BW has announced that the price of self-drive hire boat licences will > increase by inflation. > 3.3% inflationary increase from April 2008. > > but Sally Ash continued... > "The agreed inflationary price increase will only apply to full priced > licences for hire boats. Businesses such as low turnover freight > carriers and floating shops who already receive discounted licences > which bring their cost in line with pleasure craft rates are likely to > see the same increases as private boat licences. This will be > established as part of a 12-week written consultation period which > will formally begin towards the end of the summer." > Is the consultation with freight carriers and floating shops, or with > private boaters? Both I hope. > > But Ms Ash also said, > "Hiring a boat is one of the major influences on people's longer term > decisions to become a boat owner. We are seeing a long term decline in > the number of weekly hire boats on our network and we want to ensure > that our policies do not deter investment in the sector." > > From my reading of forums and newsgroups, I would say that because of > the rate of increase in licence fees, there is a long term decline in > the number of long term enthusiastic boaters. I hope (dare I?) that BW > will adopt the same policy for them. > > One solution would be a reduced licence fee for pensioners who have > owned a boat for at least 12 months (say). The condition is to prevent > pensioners jumping on the "band-boat". >
They priced me off the canal about a year ago. The statement is very two faced of BW when they are destroying what could be starter boats snatched under section 8 on one hand, whn they could sell them cheap to people thinking of boating, plus closing slipways and charging for other, previously free slipways, and imposing 500% increases in day licences in the last few years. If they want more people to come in to canal boating, they need to think of the cheaper end of the market instead of restricting the canals to shiney steel boats costing well in to 5 or even 6 figures. Perhaps BW management have never used small boats, and only see the 'Rosie and Jim' image they are trying to acheive. They cannot honestly state they are encouraging 'new blood' to the canals and to me this simply sounds like a PR exercise to appease the hard working boat industry. Mooring and Licence structures now completely favour more expensive craft, and many more boatyards are now imposing minimum charges that didn't before, and we are now seeing marinas who exclude all but steel boats. They won't get me back on the canal until the situation is restored to how it was a few years ago. Perhaps a more knowledgable and boat experienced management team like BW used to have should be employed. We only have business people now.
