Proposed Byelaw by the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames to Prevent and Supress the Nuisance of Unauthorised Mooring

Overview

The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames (LBRuT) is experiencing numerous problems with boats mooring without permission along the banks of the River Thames on land owned by the local authority. The problem of unauthorised mooring on Council land has persisted over several years, but has now increased significantly with around 15-25 vessels usually moored on one small stretch of riverbank at any one time. Most of the boats effectively use the riverbanks as permanent or semi-permanent moorings. 

Despite repeated requests by the Council's officers, most of the boat owners refuse to leave and many boats remain moored on the riverbanks for several months at a time. The Council is now proposing to introduce a new byelaw to suppress the nuisances and encourage the boat owners to stop mooring their boats along land belonging to the Council.

A breach of a byelaw is a criminal offence which can be prosecuted in the Magistrates' Court. The byelaw, if implemented, would make it an offence to moor any boat on any part of the riverbank owned by the local authority.  

LBRuT asked for comments in relation to the proposed new byelaw.  The timeframe for this consultation was for 12 weeks running from Monday 16th January 2012 to Friday 6th April 2012.