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Why don’t you finish the job?

- 29-Apr-2005
River authorities are being told to stop passing the buck and own up to who's responsible for towing away the rotting eyesore boats that are spoiling the river Thames for the good citizens of Brentford and Chiswick.

Following on from the success of last Friday's Brentford river clean-up, the Times is launching a campaign to have the rotting boats that still litter the Thames towed away and dismantled.

The clean-up by over 250 volunteers was hailed a huge success as over seven-and-a-half tonnes of rubbish were collected and disposed of.

It was a superb effort by the volunteers, who cleared huge amounts of debris, but the boats were simply too big a job for them.

Now the authorities need to finish the job. The boats have rotted away there for years - as our regular readers will be aware, and whenever the issue of clearing them up has arisen the authorities pass the buck over who's responsibility they are.

The Port of London Authority would appear to have the main jurisdiction, but after being contacted by this paper a spokesperson said PLA would have to verify the exact location of the boats in order to take action.

There is a chance that Hounslow Council have some responsibility as the boats would have once been tied to the pilings, which the council may hold the licence for.

Neither will admit any responsibility.

Some of the boats have become so badly broken up that only their hulls remain. These can cause navigational problems for other crafts, while the contents of the boats are washed out into the river, adding to the pollution of the water.

Nigel Moore, owner of Ridgeway boatyard in Brentford, said: "The wrecks pose a very real danger to navigation and to moored craft, imposing for that reason alone a responsibility on the PLA for their safe breaking up and disposal.

"Many of us have been trying for years to get this done, meeting only lame excuses from everyone. Instead of continuing with years of argument over who is responsible for paying the costs, I would suggest that the public spirited approach would be for both the council and the PLA, perhaps with the sponsorship of some local big business, to combine in ridding this very special foreshore of these unsightly and dangerous remains.

"Let's urge them to do this quickly, so that the smaller and lighter debris that will inevitably be left behind can be sorted out by the next local clean-up effort while it's still summer! Ten or more years of buck-passing is too long."

Nigel pointed put that while PLA have not taken away the larger boats they did play a big part in the clean-up on Friday: "We as a community here in Brentford owe them a vote of thanks. We'd just like the opportunity to thank them for that little bit extra!"

Source: Brentford Chiswick & Isleworth Times

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