London’s #StopTheBoatCull protests see a centuries-old institution fighting to stay afloat
London's #StopTheBoatCull protests see a centuries-old institution fighting to stay afloat Caught between rising house prices and obscure by-laws, London's historic boating population risks being swept aside by a tide of gentrification Alice Kemp-Habib The face of London is changing. This year, average property prices exceeded £500,000 for the first time in history. According to a report released in August, the need for genuinely affordable housing is nearly eight times greater than supply. Allegations that the capital is becoming a haven for the rich don't seem far off, and while some are choosing to leave, others are opting for less conventional solutions.
According to the Canal and River Trust (CRT), the number of boats on London's waterways has more than doubled in the past decade. Parallel to the housing crisis, there has been a steady increase in the number of people opting to live afloat.
Rory is one of them. A continuous cruiser (this means he must move his boat to a new location every two weeks), he has lived on his boat for just over a year. "Since house prices have gone up, it is a much cheaper way to live," he tells me when we speak in August. "People have been priced out of the city, where they would have lived before, and started moving on to boats." But now, people like Rory fear they are being pushed off the water, too.
In June, the CRT began rolling out plans for two "water safety zones" along the River Lea: one between Tower Hamlets and Tottenham Hale, and the other in Broxbourne. If implemented, the zones would limit space for continuous cruisers. The CRT cites reports from Lea Rowing Club and Broxbourne Rowing Club as a justification for its plans, which suggest that 240 safety incidents took place within the proposed zones between 2014 and 2019.
In response, the National Bargee Travellers Association (NBTA) organised two floating protests this summer. Anyone strolling along the River Lea in recent months will have noticed a proliferation of posters reading Stop The Boat Cull! and Boats Are Homes!
"We don't believe that it's actually about safety," says Nick Corrigan, a liveaboard boater and spokesperson for the NBTA. "We feel we're being pushed out in order to make room for corporate and leisure users."
The belief that private developers and watersports clubs are being prioritised over continuous cruisers is common and compounded by a few factors. Firstly, liveaboard boaters were left out of initial consultations about the zones, something the CRT has since apologised for. Secondly, canalside regeneration across the country has often led to a reduction in mooring rings and facilities. In 2019, for example, the CRT sold off 12 mooring spaces that were previously used by continuous cruisers in Paddington, King's Cross and Hackney Wick. A host of "business boats" moved in to replace them.
"It's really hard to link them together without seeming like a conspiracy theorist, because each of these changes has its own theoretical merit," says Corrigan. "But how they all come together… there is never anything positive or compensatory done for liveaboard boaters. We get the things that make our lives harder – and none of the things that could make it better."
In this sense, canals are emblematic of wider changes in the city. People have lived on London's waterways for hundreds of years, but it's only since the "canal renaissance" of the 20th century – when volunteers transformed them from abandoned remnants of the industrial age to charming urban oases – that planners began to see them as assets.
Metres away from Rory's narrowboat is the Lock 17 development in Tottenham Hale, a 21-story housing block in which a studio flat (charmingly called a "suite") can go for upwards of £300,000. It is located in the London borough of Haringey, which has the third-highest rate of households in temporary accommodation in the capital (roughly 28 per thousand).
Natalie is moored close by, on a quiet stretch of the Lower Lea, and shares similar sentiments to Rory. She bought her boat two days prior and it has all the trappings of a home yet to be made: unpacked boxes, tools strewn about the place and empty kitchen shelves. "I can't afford a mortgage. I can't get a land house like my siblings who are married," she says. "I was born and raised in east London and I can't afford to buy a place in east London. So, I get a boat and then I hear about the cull…"
Critics say that limiting space for continuous cruisers will exacerbate an already existing crisis. The zones would place particular restrictions on those with wider craft and those who double moor (two boats next to each other), both of which are often used by families, and there is concern that they will be disproportionately impacted. Less space to moor means, potentially, having to move further away from schools.
The NBTA claims that a combined 550 mooring spaces will be lost under the plans, but this is open to debate. The CRT says the figure is exaggerated and has been calculated based on all spaces being double moored. It also argues that the figure does not consider the space between boats.
The Trust's national boating manager, Matthew Symonds, says the zones would have little impact given they comprise less than a quarter of the River Lea's total length. Besides, he says, continuous cruisers have signed up for an itinerant lifestyle. "At times, you will be further away from your school," he says, "but as you have not got a permanent mooring, you have sort of chosen to live this way. Connections to transport, particularly on the Lea, are good. So, actually, it's not too complicated to get around." According to Symonds, many of the safety concerns arise from boaters mooring where they shouldn't – on bends and under bridges, for example. Many of the restrictions introduced by the zones, he says, would simply reinforce rules that already exist.
Given the steep increase in boaters on London's waterways, it's unsurprising that there are safety concerns. That's not to mention the impact of the pandemic. As home working has become more viable and people have reevaluated their living situations, life afloat has become far more appealing.
But the number of people using the water for leisure activities – think rowing, kayaking and paddle boarding – has increased, too, and many of the continuous cruisers I speak to believe they are being unfairly targeted. A survey from 2019 suggests the number of people who own boats for recreational purposes has increased by around 800,000 since 2005. Remember those floating protests? One of the most prominent banners read Homes Over Hobbies.
Lars is moored next to Rory and has lived afloat for two years. He was sick of paying sky-high rent for a tiny flat. The freedom of boat life, as well as the opportunity to own a living space, eventually won him over. He recently passed through Broxbourne, the site of one of the proposed zones. "It was an absolute nightmare, simply because of the sheer number of leisure boats, which have no clue how to steer them."
Rory chimes in, "We live here; they just come to visit." Both Lea Rowing Club and Broxbourne Rowing Club declined to comment.
Alternative approaches have been suggested, such as improving education among leisure users and liveaboard boaters alike. Corrigan also suggests dredging areas of the canal that are currently impossible to moor in, in order to create more room. But he emphasises that the NBTA is "reluctant to provide solutions... Because we don't believe that the problem [the CRT] is talking about is the problem they're trying to solve."
After a fresh round of consultations (this time including the NBTA), the CRT appears to have put its plans on hold, saying that it is keen to "involve stakeholders in reviewing and discussing these proposals". According to the report, it will focus on implementing existing no-mooring rules for now. The NBTA says it will continue to fight. "CRT still believes that the 'safety zones' are necessary in some form or another, so our work on this is not necessarily finished," they said over email. "We shall not just stand by while they make any new attempts to introduce measures that will have a negative effect on our community."
Continuous cruisers on the Lea are staying put for now. But safety zones aside, they may struggle to resist the tide of change as riverside locations continue to be transformed into hip – and high-priced – enclaves. Corrigan stresses that he is not opposed to sharing the waterways, but feels his community is being left on the back foot. "Our activity made the canals safer and cleaner, but now people like us are being pushed out," he says. "We're not against people moving onto the canalside. We're not against rowers. We're not against all the other groups that can and should share the beauty of our waterways. What we're against is when one group is prioritised over another one. That's gentrification."
INTRODUCING...  GQ Recommends GQ's edit of all the best products, deals and launches, from fashion and grooming to tech, home and fitness, delivered straight to your inbox in our new newsletter
Queries about this email? Contact datacontroller@condenast.co.uk |
Commentaires
Enregistrer un commentaire
Thank you to leave a comment on my site