National Bargee Travellers Association

Calls grow for residential boaters to be recognised in housing and planning policy

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June 3, 2026

Thousands of people make their homes on Britain’s canals and rivers, but many residential boaters say they face mounting barriers to healthcare, basic services and legal security, with campaigners warning that unclear rights and patchy recognition are leaving a significant community exposed. PRESSURE is growing on ministers to confront what campaigners describe as a blind…
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Greater enforcement powers are not the answer to antisocial behaviour, say boaters

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March 2, 2026

Reports of littering and antisocial behaviour on the Kennet and Avon have been ‘seized upon’ by the Canal & River Trust as evidence of the need for ‘draconian enforcement powers,’ claim boater representatives. THE Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, Wera Hobhouse, opened an adjournment debate highlighting escalating antisocial behaviour along the Kennet & Avon Canal…
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Elements of report are ‘unworkable’

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February 28, 2026

FOLLOWING the report’s publication, the NBTA responded with a message of dismay. Chair Pamela Smith said: “The report contains many recommendations that are simply unworkable. This is the result of the absence of direct representation of itinerant boat dwellers on the commission. I am outraged by the harshness – for example, imposing fines for minor…
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SMOKE CONTROL ORDER not applied

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October 11, 2025

IN a victory for the bargee traveller community, Hackney Council will not apply its proposed Smoke Control Order to moored boats. Following representations from the National Bargee Travellers’ Association (NBTA) and its members in the council’s consultation in 2024, the authority decided not to apply the controls to boats. A key reason was “greater recognition…
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THE END for itinerant boaters?

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February 3, 2025

THE National Bargee Travellers Association claims a new review into licensing could see the end of travelling life on the UK’s waterways. The association, which represents 2000 boat owners who travel the waterways but don’t have a home mooring, believes the Canal & River Trust’s (CRT) new independent review of licensing may try to remove…
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‘INHUMANE’ RULES: NBTA want rethink

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August 22, 2024

The National Bargee Travellers’ Association, which represents thousands of itinerant UK boat dwellers, calls for end to the Canal and River Trust’s current enforcement policy. THE trust which manages most of the UK’s inland waterways has published the full results of its Boater Census first conducted in 2022, which highlights the issues and challenges faced…
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Boaters march on CRT office in licence fee protest

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Scootering Web Editor

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May 15, 2024

HUNDREDS of boaters took to the towpath of Paddington Basin in London to demonstrate against the Canal & River Trust’s licence fee increases. They were also protesting at plans to introduce differential pricing based on mooring status. Activists from the boater community were joined on Easter Saturday by members of other groups in solidarity, including…
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Cost of living petition presented at No 10

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July 26, 2023

Boaters joined a flotilla to take their Energy Bills Support Scheme plight to the capital. Sally Clifford finds out more. SLOW cruisers took their campaign to the doorstep of Britain’s political power. The boaters travelled to London to protest the continued exclusion of itinerant boat dwellers and others without a fixed address from receiving the…
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Historical moorings contradict Water Safety Zones – NBTA

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May 27, 2023

THE River Lee in London has long been a multi-use space shared by all kinds of craft, states the National Bargee Travellers Association. But it claims that in recent years, the Canal & River Trust has emphasised the rights of some river users over others. NBTA has drawn attention to two sites near rowing clubs…
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Mooring rings removed from East London towpath

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March 8, 2023

HISTORIC bollards and mooring rings have suddenly been removed from a strip of towpath at Marshgate Bridge 15, near Homerton, according to the National Bargee Travellers Association. It claims that at 9am on Thursday February 2, the Canal & River Trust began removing them even though some were still in use at the time. Boaters…
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Energy bills support scheme – off-grid households still out in the cold

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January 26, 2023

After months of broken promises and mounting distress from off-grid households facing the second major cold snap of this winter, the government has still failed to design a system capable of extending either the Energy Bills Support Scheme – Alternative Funding (EBSS-AF) or Alternative Fuel Payments (AFP) to thousands of households without a fixed address,…
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ENERGY BILLS SUPPORT SCHEME: AN UPDATE FOR CONCERNED BOATERS

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Mark Lancaster

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December 17, 2022

This in from the National Bargee Travellers Association (NBTA) Over the past few months, there has been a lot of understandable confusion and anxiety within our community over the situation regarding boaters’ access to financial assistance during the UK’s ongoing fuel and cost-of-living crisis. We at the National Bargee Travellers Association (NBTA) therefore think it…
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Hundreds sign petition to include off-grid households in government energy bills support

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August 30, 2022

A petition to include off-grid households in the Government’s £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme has so far been signed by over 1600 people. The Government announced on 26th May 2022 that UK households will get at least £400 off their energy bills as the Energy Bills Support Scheme is being doubled and made into a…
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Lottery boost for pilot mental health support for boaters

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May 31, 2022

A PILOT psychotherapy and mental health skills coaching service for boat dwellers without a permanent mooring was launched during Mental Health Awareness Week. The National Bargee Travellers Association (NBTA) was awarded nearly £10,000 by the National Lottery Community Fund to support the low-cost service. NBTA chairperson Pamela Smith said: “Our heartfelt thanks go to all…
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