TURN ON THE WATERWAYS

The struggle is intensifying for travelling boat dwellers trying to protect their homes and way of life. Changes currently ‘in the pipeline’ for the waterways authorities include stricter implementation of rules regarding boats without moorings. This targets a marginalised sector of the population, Bargee Travellers - from Romany families who have been on the canals for generations, to ‘New Wave Travellers’ looking to for the quay to a better life. These measures will leave thousands vulnerable to homelessness – needlessly shunted on to the housing lists and dole queue.

The government is making canal overseers British Waterways a charity and wants to give it more power in the process – including the ability to force entry, stop and search and make subordinate legislation. While the prospect of unregulated quasi-police jumping aboard your vessel uninvited is daunting, it’s the latter that’s causing the most concern for the 6,000-10,000 people living on boats trundling up and down the canals.

British Waterways has spent years trying to get those “continuously cruising” to cough up and settle down. The body tried to criminalise boaters without moorings when the 1995 British Waterways Act was being debated – pushing for a £1000 fine for living as a traveller on the waterways.

Parliament stopped this on human rights grounds. It included in the final Act a ‘14 day’ rule on stopping in one place but never stated just how far a boat has to travel between moorings. British Waterways has since waged a harassment campaign against boat travellers, threatening in letters to “remove and demolish” homes it considers to have contravened the made-up-as-it-goes-along rule.

Making people homeless is not the usual remit for charitable bodies, something which has been brought up by boat dwellers during the government’s “consultation” period.

* For more info see www.gypsy-traveller.org/where-you-live/boat-dwellers and
www.bargee-traveller.org.uk