Bristol's harbour community needs your support. The Council has published new fees for the harbour to be implemented with just 3 months' notice and no consultation with Harbour users or an Equalities Impact Assessment . For some boat dwellers there is a potential immediate increase in mooring fees of up to 177% depending on the location and licence offered. There is no phasing of the dramatic increases (in the past there have been yearly cost of living fee increases e.g. circa 7% in 2022). Many boat dwellers are key workers and are amongst the poorest most vulnerable in society.  These increases are potentially unachievable for many families and the dramatic change could significantly impact quality of life: health, education, or standard of living. Many families will now need to turn urgently to Housing Benefit provision or other charitable provision. 

The ferries, the boat dwellers, community organisations, leisure users and vast majority of the citizens and businesses who live and work in the harbour were not consulted by the Harbour Review Board beyond an initial "introductory meeting". The Board have not conducted even a basic impact assessment. We ask for a transparent democratic process of communication before implementation of this onerous price rise to ensure the protection of people's livelihoods, homes and families. It should be noted that the aforementioned groups have been trying to initiate a dialogue with Harbour authorities for the past year without success.

We urge Mayor Marvin Rees to get a full understanding of how the new charging structure will impact harbour stakeholders before implementation - for example learning activities take place on the harbour for children from some of the most disadvantaged families in Bristol and the provision of these harbour based youth activities may no longer be possible going forward.

Boat dwellers are not mentioned in Bristol City Docks-Fees and Charges Review North Bristol Local Plan. It is evident that there is a lack of understanding about this sizeable community. We believe now is the time for consideration of the boating community to be part of council planning and decision making. 

The iconic Ferry companies and all businesses operating in the Harbour could now face severe financial impact and some will close. We believe that an understanding of the impact of the new charges on Bristol's iconic harbour businesses means involving them fully in this democratic process. Please don't ignore them or just assume they will be able to pass the charges on to consumers. 

The facilities around the Harbour are very outdated compared to other harbours and marinas across the Southwest. Users regularly face poor sanitation, pump out facilities not working, ,water turned off on winter months plus lack of security. Often these issues are not communicated before or as they arise and put a strain on basic family hygiene. Yet boaters are the eyes and ears around the harbour and regularly report safety issues to the authorities. 

ACT NOW and sign/share this petition to request that Mayor Marvin consults urgently with Harbour users and delays the proposed fees increases until a thorough equalities impact assessment has been undertaken by engaging with all impacted stakeholders.