Troubled water: Boaters and rowers clash over River Lea traffic plans
Tight squeeze: a pinch point on the River Lea. Photograph: Lea Rowing Club
Proposals to stop canal boats mooring in narrow parts of the River Lea used by rowers have hit a wave of criticism.
The Canal and River Trust (CRT) says its plans, which would see boats barred from parking up in sections of the river less than 60 feet or 18 metres wide, will “improve navigation” for rowers.
CRT mooring ranger Alexander Gudmestad said: “The idea is to ease congestion so that the rowers can use the river with reduced risk. Most of the proposed changes are what we at the Trust deem as navigational improvements on this part of the river.”
He said the Trust had “concluded that the width of navigation needed for boats and rowers to pass each other without risk is 18 metres”.
The areas mentioned in the CRT’s proposal include sections of a stretch of water, between Old Ford Lock in Hackney Wick and Tottenham Hale Lock, used by Lea Rowing Club (LRC).
In an email, seen by the Citizen, to Marcus Trower of the National Bargee Travellers Association (NBTA), LRC’s general manager Stephen Mitchelson states: “The point of rowing is to win races and therefore to go as fast as possible. Slowing down or stopping interferes with training programmes.
“Ideally we would like to be able to continue training without having to stop every few minutes.”
Mitchelson, who lives by the river, says there are more than 350 regularly moored boats on the stretch covered by CRT’s proposals, up from around 30 just five or six years ago. He added: “The number of collisions and near misses is substantially on the rise. I have experienced it first-hand as a rower and a coach.
“Sooner or later there will be a serious accident. Think a large truck hitting a small cyclist but with the added hazard of drowning.”
Mitchelson revealed a 75-year-old club member, who has been rowing most of his life, was taken to hospital recently with broken ribs after colliding with a boat. He is now back on the river.
Dr Ben Bowles, a research assistant at London School of Economics, said: “In light of claims made by LRC, myself and two assistants undertook a pilot study to ascertain if the club’s estimation of boat traffic on the stretch of the River Lea downstream of the club’s location at Springfield was accurate.
“Boats were counted at a location on the proposed stretch over four summer days. When these four days of observation are averaged, there are 20.25 boats per day, or an average of 1.125 boats per hour.
“It is clear that boat traffic is infrequent on this stretch when described using any reasonable measure.”
But Mitchelson said Bowles has “missed the point”, adding: “We are referring to the change in the number of moored boats which has increased from 35 to 350 in the last five or six years, not to moving traffic.
“We hope the mooring proposals will allow rowers and boaters to pass safely past one another. All we are looking for is a shift in mooring at a few pinch points so we can share the river with the barges, as we have done for 150 years, be safe and train effectively.
“We are really keen to have a shared understanding of the issues and have offered to meet Marcus from NBTA a number of times to talk. The offer still stands.”
Commenting on CRT’s proposal, NBTA spokesperson Graham Ryder said: “It goes too far. Parts of the River Lea are not even 60ft and demanding this much is unrealistic. It is a policy which only serves to evict people, and waterways are for everyone.”
Helen Delmar, who lives on her boat and travels up and down the River Lea, said of the plans: “Taking up 60 feet of the canal doesn’t sound like sharing to me, it sounds like rowers getting priority over those living here, be that boaters.
“Let’s dispel this myth that the CRT proposal will be for the benefit of sharing – it is a river grab and would leave beautiful stretches of the river inaccessible to boat dwellers wishing to moor up. It’s completely unacceptable and I won’t stand for it.”
Gudmestad went on to say: “The overall aim of the proposal is to ensure that the river is navigable for boaters and rowers, reducing near misses and improving navigation on some of our busiest stretches.”
CRT’s boater liaison manager Sorwar Ahmed said: “London’s waterways are busier than ever before and the Canal & River Trust, the charity that looks after them, is doing all it can to ensure the space is shared fairly. We’ve been in dialogue with the NBTA London and the Lea Rowing Club around sharing the water space on the River Lee Navigation, as part of developing a London mooring strategy.
“The proposals referred to in the article are initial proposals for discussion after some survey work to look at pinch points on the river. They are not formal proposals, and certainly do not advocate a 60ft channel between Old Ford and Tottenham. Unfortunately, the Hackney Citizen has not contacted the Trust and has relied on private emails between the stakeholders to present a story that is out of context. There will be an opportunity to comment on our proposals when they’re published as part of the draft London mooring strategy later in the summer.”
Update: this article was amended at 13:43 on Friday 14 July 2017 to include a response from Lea Rowing Club manager Stephen Mitchelson to the pilot study undertaken by Dr Ben Bowles.
Update: this article was amended at 15:20 on Tuesday 8 August 2017 to include a response from Sorwar Ahmed of the Canal & River Trust.
This is totally ridiculous and on top of the Canal and River Trust making much of this part of the River Lee paying moorings. It will have a huge impact on boating not just permanent cruisers but leisure boaters it will mean nowhere to moor for people taking a trip up to Bishop Stortford and Hertford. In fact it is unbelievable. I’ve never seen a problem. I
Kevin, thanks for your comment and for raising this directly with the Trust. I’ll call you later.
At the Trust we’ve been in dialogue with the NBTA London and the Lea Rowing Club around sharing the water space on the River Lee Navigation, as part of developing a London mooring strategy. The proposals referred to in the article are initial proposals for discussion after some survey work to look at pinch points on the river. They are not formal proposals, and certainly do not advocate a 60ft channel between Old Ford and Tottenham. Unfortunately, the Hackney Citizen has not done its research, and relied on private emails between the stakeholders to present a story that is out of context. There will be an opportunity to comment on our proposals when they’re published as part of the draft London mooring strategy later in the summer.
Has anyone fact checked the 350 boats claim?
I am interested to know why the 4mph limit does not seem to apply to rowers? The way the trainers cycle not looking where they are going shouting with a megaphone into peoples windows and poor birds nests at 6am should be addressed also, my grandfather used to be a member of this working mans rowing club and he was shocked at how rude and gentrified they were becoming. I think the boaters home lives should be put first rather than the few peoples’ hobbies. If they are training for speed canoeing the Lea is not the place for it anymore.
The proposal which we in NBTA London got from the Canal and River Trust (CRT) said ‘here are our proposed changes for the Lower Lee
between Tottenham Lock and Old Ford 19.’
‘we have concluded that the width of navigation needed for boats and rowers to pass
each other without risk is 18meters.’
Sowar, you were copied into the same email when I got the proposal from the East London CRT Ranger, Alexander Gudmestad (who you line manage). When I questioned Alex on the 18 metres(nearly 60ft), you were all cc’ed and you stayed quiet.
I’m happy to hear you say ‘certainly do not advocate a 60ft channel between Old Ford and Tottenham’. This is different from before and is an improvement on the unrealistic proposal that was sent to us.
P.s. If you want a copy of the proposal, email nbtalondon@gmail.com and I will send it to you.
I would love to row on the river but the congestion is the reason why I don’t. Imagine all the local kids who could get active and potentially be our next Redgrave? Such a shame… Surely the barge boats can move somewhere less inhibitive to sharing the river.
Telling people to go somewhere else, isn’t sharing the river.
Let’s be honest, a lot of “continuous cruiser” aren’t doing “bona fide navigating”. It’s just become an angle, the latest or last scam for cheap accommodation in a desirable part of London, now that squatting has been shut down.
I used to like seeing the odd narrow boat now and again, but I think it’s gone too far now.
A few days I was riding over the bridge to Victoria Park and looked along the canal. It used to be empty, except for a few coots and swans – and now it is congested with boats parked up two deep, and filled with a smokey diesel fuggy haze.
Sure, there’s a housing crisis and it’s effecting everyone but that is not “navigation”. It’s taking the p***, exploiting an ambiguity in the terms and conditions of the license.
How many of them need to be in Hackney, how many just want to be, and how many go more than the 20 miles they are supposed to (and not just back and forward? It’s just another part of the London problem … too many people wanting to be here, and not enough space or provisions for them.
I read the canal trust’s new proposals are for a 200 or 300 mile touring requirement. In other words, proper cruising. They should work out a London cap too. Apparently more than 800 extra boats have moved into London over the last couple of years, with no home moorings available.
I read that 5,000 of the 32,000 canal boats (more than during the Industrial Revolution) has no home mooring. They pay nothing to moor whereas proper moorings cost from about £2,300 to £5,800 a year.
And that’s what it’s mostly about, paying nothing.
The air quality issue is not even being spoken about. Isn’t Hackney a designated smoke control area?
If a row of houses put out as much smoke, the environmental people would be down on them like a tonne of bricks.