Your say / floating harbour
‘Bristol docks need to be preserved rather than eroded’
I am utterly frustrated and tired of the complete lack of change. From the Bristol Harbour Review and the outcome of that, we were meant to be seeing all of these fabulous improvements within the harbour.
But we have yet to see any tangible difference to any basic provisions provided despite the likelihood of a third year of above-inflation fee increases for boaters. If anything, it’s getting worse.
There are currently 40 empty berths and there are many more people than that who want to leave the harbour but can’t.
is needed now More than ever
I think people are fed up of the battle. There are some areas of the harbour where boats are getting the provisions that people need, but those areas are few and far between.
Many people still don’t have the basic provisions: no water, no electricity, no safe access, no post, no bins.
I want to see those basic provisions provided for everyone that has got a boat in the harbour, especially if they are living on that boat; not just those few lucky enough to have the high-spec moorings.
At every opportunity, we have stated very clearly what people need to live aboard their boats.
As well as the need for heat, water and electricity, it’s the ability to access a doctor and education and to vote, all of those normal things that are quite easy when you’re in a house.
When we heard the changes were coming along with a commercialisation strategy, we got together. That brought a whole united community of boaters together and that has been absolutely fantastic.
Those that have been sticking together continue to be strong but it has been diluted as many people no longer have the energy or the effort to put up with it anymore.
A number of people who have been in the harbour for decades have quit the fight because they don’t want to be here any longer.
It’s really sad. People have left in some really horrible circumstances: poor mental health, feeling totally overwhelmed by the situation or they can’t afford their fees and have had their boat impounded.
Other people are still here, they are clinging on by a thread, but they haven’t got any spare money to maintain their boats, and it’s just spiralling.
There are so many empty berths, people want to get out but can’t sell their vessel, or they are just upping and leaving and relocating to another marina.
I’m still here because I live and work in the harbour. This is my life. I’m here day-in, day-out, every day. If I didn’t live in the harbour, my family and I couldn’t afford to live in Bristol. I have bought into my life here, and I live and breathe it.
It’s how I’ve lived for the last few decades but I feel like it’s being swept out from under my feet by the lunacy that is happening within the council.
We’re really hoping that there will be some change. I want to see the live-aboard community in the harbour recognised.
The focus of fees should not just be on those who are on the water in an area of Bristol which is one of the best days out for everybody.
We want it to be more inclusive, we want more people to come to the docks, but how on earth can people who live on the water fully subsidise this harbour?
Why shouldn’t big businesses based in glass office buildings that benefit from overlooking the water pay a fraction of their rates into the docks pot?
There is nothing like Bristol docks in the whole of the UK. It is a phenomenal place in the brilliant city that is Bristol.
But it needs to be preserved rather than eroded, because at the moment the community who live there, who have been a part of this area for decades since it closed as a commercial port, seem to be being eradicated.
As a boater, my fees just increasing year on year is never going to get the harbour in a position to break even, especially if there are so many people who want to leave but can’t leave.
If these live-aboard licenses are going to work, they have to be affordable. Boats are an affordable means of accommodation but we also need the basic provisions to live.
Amanda Sharman and her daughter Prim are among the families who live on the harbour – photo: Martin Booth
This is an opinion piece by Amanda Sharman, co-chair of Bristol Boaters Community Association and a live-aboard boater with her family for 15 years
Main photo: Martin Booth
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