Boaters denied chance to launch judicial review against council

A judge has ruled that Bristol’s boating community are unable to launch a judicial review against Bristol City Council.

The judicial review would have looked at the legality of the council’s decision to increase fees for people living and working on the docks.

Bristol Boaters Community Association (BBCA) say that the “oppositional nature of this city council’s approach to boaters has been taken to heart by many, with the implication being that boat dwellers are unwelcome and a detriment to the city”.

Marvin Rees has previously called people who live on boats in Bristol’s docks “a privileged few”.

In a statement following the decision of High Court judge Mr Justice Jay not to grant a judicial review, BBCA said that they “are saddened that legal challenge has been necessary to fight this stigma”.

The BBCA statement added: “While we are disappointed with this outcome, our wish to work closely with Bristol City Council to repair the somewhat broken relationship between BCC and our community – and to build a vision of Bristol’s historic harbour which protects the interests of all stakeholders, including boaters – remains.”

Boats and boaters are an integral part of what makes Bristol’s docks special – photo: Martin Booth

BBCA claim that the new fees will force lots of people to leave their homes or sell their boats, with the city council “failing to engage in a consultation with our community despite many promises to do so”.

“We received no notification that the consultation process had been dropped, despite regularly enquiring, and the council instead increased licence fees by an unreasonable amount and with very short notice.”

Boaters also claim that the council benchmarked new fees with four privately-run marinas “which provide significantly better facilities and services and are simply not comparable”.

Shipbuilding used to take place at Hotwell Dock where Pooles Wharf Marina is today – photo: Martin Booth

A spokesperson for the mayor’s office said: “We are very pleased that the application for Judicial Review was dismissed.

“The costs awarded to the council go some way to recouping the time spent defending the process of January’s decision.

“As we have said throughout, the mayor and cabinet want a harbour that is an asset for the benefit of our whole city, one which is financially sustainable, accessible, and contributes to our wider aims of climate resilience and biodiversity.

“Following a benchmarking exercise we reviewed mooring fees and increased them to a market rate for the first time in 20 years.

“To date we have received 220 applications for licences of boats in the harbour, including the newly introduced liveaboard licences, which shows that the revised rates are reasonable and the majority of boaters understand the need to make a fair contribution to the operation of the harbour.

“Separate to the Boaters Association’s legal action, we are about to engage on a longer term vision for the harbour and its uses.

“Working in collaboration with the city’s communities, landowners and those who have an interest in the harbour we are looking to build an understanding of the harbour that Bristol wants.

“This will guide and shape the on-going regeneration of the harbour as we make it financially sustainable and respond to decades of underinvestment in infrastructure.”

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read next:

• Marvin Rees heckled by boaters over harbour fee hike
• ‘Bristol’s boat dwelling community could be completely swept aside’
• Floating cafe reopens two years after sinking

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