Canterbury council Slipway use from April 1st

Oldman2 · 27 February 2021, 15:46

From 1 April 2021, if you want to launch a personal watercraft from any of our public launch ramps, you'll need to be registered with us as a member.

Membership costs £150 per watercraft, per year and runs from 1 April 2021 until 31 March 2022.

canterbury.gov.uk/watercraft

Neptune main ramp, Herne Bay (public), view on a map
Neptune small ramp, Herne Bay (public), view on a map
Studd Hill, Herne Bay (public), view on a map
Whitstable Harbour (public)

How membership works

It costs £150 per watercraft, per year. This year, membership will run from 1 April 2021 until 31 March 2022.
You can register up to five people (including yourself) to be able to use your watercraft, and they must be at least 14 years old.
Each person registered will need:

a colour passport style photo
for PWC users (jet ski or jet bike), an RYA personal watercraft profiency certificate
for powerboat users, an RYA powerboat level 2 or above certificate

The watercraft owner will also need to have insurance, with minimum £3 million third party liability.
You'll be able to register for this year in March.

Looks like they will be waiving the RYA cert for this year as the courses seem all booked up.

The 2 local fishing clubs have been given reduced rate of £30/member & insurance is assumed, but only for existing members. Members joining expecting lower fees will have to wait 12 months for that.

horacebat · 27 February 2021, 20:44

It's an excuse for Canterbury to make a bit more cash .. Thanet are also doing the same for Ramsgate and Sandwich slips, and a similar amount.

Will be interesting to see how they police it too, and what the appetite for the rest of the Kent powerboating community to pay an annual amount, rather than a pay as you go for parking for a car and a trailer.

mikehhogg · 27 February 2021, 21:42

Is it not an oxymoron. register and pay to use the Public property.Public meaning already paid for by the hard working tax payer

Oldman2 · 27 February 2021, 22:16

Thanet council have for a few years now been gating all the slips and were charging £20/year for access. The last couple of years its been £60/year plus insurance of course.
Canterbury charge also for a proper car & trailer car park next to the main slip. Those with sibs have to find parking elsewhere as single cars with no trailer attached in the boating car park attract fines.
This for Herne Bay was in answer to last summers explosion in PWC users on the slips with some causing problems.

mikehhogg · 27 February 2021, 22:49

yes it is clear that all the new legislation etc is to do with past encounters with dare I say it JET SKIS. Here in Ireland the same is happening but local authoroties do not seem to know the difference between PWC and recreational craft.

horacebat · 28 February 2021, 08:26

It's been a few years since I've launched from there, but previously it's been like the wild west! It's a bit narrow minded of Canterbury and Thanet, tourists like to watch the boats out and in the harbours, and this is only going to put off people launching from these places.

I'm from the local area, but will be launching and boating from Chatham!

lakelandterrier · 01 March 2021, 21:13

Well it will put anyone but locals off from using the area for boating!

Pikey Dave · 01 March 2021, 21:45

It’s all very well having annual fees/registrations etc if you’re local. It doesn’t help or encourage (maybe that’s the point[emoji57]) the visiting boater who maybe just passing through for a couple of days. We tend to choose our holiday locations based on good facilities for boats & campervans.

Oldman2 · 01 March 2021, 21:47

Well at considerable expense I expect, the council has had railings put around the slipway so no sneaking a boat down the sides. They have put a down gate & an up gate (both open atm) and the lock posts in the middle are just wide enough to get a PWC on its trailer through the gap between them so I think its back to the drawing board for a quick rework on that. The gate widths are 11ft 6inches so I guess it wont be long before someone destroys a post or two as the slip has been so wide for so long it forgave even the worst of reversers.

new gates 11ft 6inches.jpg

Oldman2 · 20 March 2021, 08:46

OK so the council have now put railings in to stop the gap in the picture above being used to launch through.
They have also had a rethink due to demand by local fishermen who dont want to join a club to get the £30 reduced fee for fishing boats. They will get a fee of £50 per season.
The RYA courses are not required for PWC & other users this season as the lack of bookable courses meant it was an unjumpable hurdle for most.
The council employees are hoping for a very wet and cold Easter bank holiday, I think many are still having nightmares about being overrun last year, which is why all the new rules for this year.

I will add this as its got some links for slips elsewhere.
https://mapping.canterbury.gov.uk/webap ... oundaries/ Thats the CCC boundaries from Graveney through to the river Wansum which marks the boundry with Thanet council. This as you can see on the map covers whitstable too. https://www.canterbury.gov.uk/watercraft is where to find further info, permits are £50/yr for fishing boats, other craft costs are higher.
Canterbury say they have rules in place to stop beach launching but these have yet to be tested, I would suggest if you were to launch from a beach that had little use there would not be much chance of being reported, the problem comes from powered craft not mixing well with swimmers and kids.
Take a good look at Thanet launch sites https://www.thanet.gov.uk/info-pages/water-users/ you will see its quite good value for £60 per season you get a key to launch at 7-8 different slipways, more than at Canterbury.
Further round the coast to Sandwich bay, if you pay the private beach toll then I believe beach launching is free and allowed.
Dover has a slipway in the harbour, but you really need marine radio to exit and enter due to harbour control & ferries. There are slipways at Folkestone harbour but the difficulty there is car parking close to slips.
Many of the beaches are shingle or soft sand or very steep so are only suitable if you can carry your boat to the water or use beach rollers, normally 2 handed.

HDAV · 20 March 2021, 15:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikehhogg

but local authoroties do not seem to know the difference between PWC and recreational craft.

There is no difference

they are are all small powered recreational craft

Maximus · 20 March 2021, 21:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

It’s all very well having annual fees/registrations etc if you’re local. It doesn’t help or encourage (maybe that’s the point[emoji57]) the visiting boater who maybe just passing through for a couple of days. We tend to choose our holiday locations based on good facilities for boats & campervans.

Yep VERY short sighted policy!....Numptys!

Oldman2 · 20 March 2021, 22:24

I believe the policy was set to discourage the casual PWC from visiting the area at all as last year the council got overwhelmed by the amount of users.

They think by having a registration policy only the committed will pay annual fees & those will be accountable for their actions.

jakew009 · 25 March 2021, 19:38

Why do fishing boats get to pay so much less?

What makes a boat a fishing boat?

HDAV · 25 March 2021, 23:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by jakew009

Why do fishing boats get to pay so much less?

What makes a boat a fishing boat?

lakelandterrier · 26 March 2021, 09:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by jakew009

Why do fishing boats get to pay so much less?

What makes a boat a fishing boat?

A fishing rod? I fish from my RIB, so do I have fishing boat?

Is PWC a "boat"?

Oldman2 · 26 March 2021, 15:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by jakew009

Why do fishing boats get to pay so much less?

What makes a boat a fishing boat?

Cause we are generally poorer folk having to fish for our supper.

A council official on the launch ramp has the final say as to what is a fishing boat, strapping a rod to your jetski just will not impress him.

jakew009 · 26 March 2021, 19:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oldman2

Cause we are generally poorer folk having to fish for our supper.

A council official on the launch ramp has the final say as to what is a fishing boat, strapping a rod to your jetski just will not impress him.

It seems virtually impossible to police to me.

If I load a lobster pot on the back of my jetski, am I then a fishing vessel?

lakelandterrier · 26 March 2021, 20:08

[QUOTE=Oldman2;831111
A council official on the launch ramp has the final say as to what is a fishing boat, strapping a rod to your jetski just will not impress him.[/QUOTE]

I bet there'll be a training course to qualify them to make their judgements

Lee argyle · 26 March 2021, 22:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by jakew009

It seems virtually impossible to police to me.

If I load a lobster pot on the back of my jetski, am I then a fishing vessel?

Yep........
https://www.sea-doo.com/gb/en/models.../fish-pro.html