Just under 300 permanent moorings in central London are managed by Waterside Moorings – a relatively small proportion of the available permanent moorings in the capital.
Following the price review, which took place over the past year, 16% of London customers will see prices increase between inflation and 1% above inflation. Prices for 8% of Waterside Mooring customers in London will remain the same and receive no increase. To bring their prices in-line with the market rate, the remainder of customers will see prices rise more significantly, but the Trust will cap annual increases to a maximum of 10% for a transition period of up to five years.
Mark Evans, head of waterside moorings, comments: “I appreciate that any price increase is unwelcome. We want our customers to stay with us rather than go elsewhere, so I can assure them that any price change will still ensure that our moorings are in line with prices charged for comparable moorings elsewhere in London.
“I understand and appreciate that making the necessary financial adjustments to afford the new mooring fee may be tough for some of our long-standing mooring customers. We are therefore not going to impose the full increase straight away, but rather, phase the increase over the next five years.
“I believe that our London moorings remain good value for money, and we will continue our programme of improvements to ensure that we maintain their quality.”
Following representations from customers, and after conducting meetings with mooring and boater's groups, Waterside Moorings had its price review process examined by an independent third party who found that its methodology and process was both fair and reasonable.
Waterside Moorings manages 3,600 moorings across England and Wales, with all profits being returned to the Trust to help keep the nation's waterways working and available for people to use and enjoy. The moorings provided by Waterside Moorings are places where boaters can permanently keep their boat. Waterside Moorings does not look after the Trust's visitor moorings which are stretches of towpath where boaters cruising around the network can moor for up to 14 days at a time for no charge at all.
