Toll increase to address priorities identified by boat owners
A 13% increase in navigation tolls for the coming year is being considered by the Broads Authority on Friday September 30th to help pay for improvements to the waterways advocated by boat owners.
This level of increase would provide a net increase of only 6% in income from tolls, which amounts to an estimated additional £157,000 in 2006/07, having taken into account inflation and the impact of the declining hire boat fleet. These proposals follow a comprehensive review of the tolls system by a group of users and a survey of all 10,000 tollpayers.
A total of 1,500 (15%) of toll payers responded to the Broads Authority’s questionnaire. Of those who commented on the recommendations of the Tolls Working Group, 92% supported them. Over 80% of respondents considered that the value for money offered by tolls was fair or better (34% good and 3% excellent), while 15% considered it to be poor.
It is recommended that £100,000 of the additional income should be earmarked for new moorings and bankside facilities, £40,000 for clearing trees and scrub from the riverbanks and £17,000 for new measures to enforce the speed limits.
These priorities are in line with the responses from toll payers to the questionnaire circulated this summer and with the views of the Broads Forum, representing a wide range of users, and the Broads Authority’s Navigation Committee.
The £157,000 to be spent on these specific projects will be complemented in 2006/07 by an extra £250,000 to be spent on dredging, funded from the additional National Park Grant awarded to the Authority. In raising the Authority’s grant in January, the Minister for Rural Affairs made it clear that he expected users of the waterways to make an appropriate contribution to the maintenance of the system.
Under these proposals the toll for a 22 square metre motorboat will rise by about £18, from £138 to £156, and an 11 square metre yacht with an auxiliary engine by £9, to £79. An 11 square metre sailing boat will pay £49, representing an extra £5.50.
The toll for a 22 square metre hire boat would rise by approximately £38 from £416 to £454, only a 9% increase, making allowance for the competitive environment in which the industry operates.
Broads Authority chairman Professor Kerry Turner said:
“Tolls on the Broads remain excellent value for money. The increase in tolls, together with our increased National Park Grant, will help us start to tackle the backlog of maintenance and provide a high quality infrastructure for people’s greater enjoyment of the delights of the waterways.”
The proposed increase in tolls will be given preliminary consideration by the Broads Authority on 30th September. The Navigation Committee will then be consulted on the report in October. The Broads Authority, having heard the views of users, will then make a decision on the level of tolls at its meeting in November. The new toll charges will come into effect from 1st April 2006.
26/09/2005
Click here to download a copy of Navigation Tolls 2006/07: The Priorities for Additional Expenditure and Strategy for the next 5 years Report by Chief Executive (Word doc. 39KB)
