Thieves force mooring move for water taxis
Water Taxi moorings.
More than £23,000 has been spent moving the moorings for Spalding’s water taxis after a spate of vandalism and theft.
The boats had been moored at the yacht club in Cradge Bank when not in use ferrying passengers along the Welland and Coronation Channel from the town centre to Springfields.
But after they were targeted by vandals and thieves, who were making off with up to £5,000 worth of batteries from each boat, the decision was taken that it would be safer to move the boats in a bid to get them out of harm’s way.
They are now moored on the opposite side of the river on an island, which water taxi operators Broadgate Homes hope will provide better facilities to enable the popular attraction to expand in the future.
Ian Canham said: “We were getting a lot of vandalism because people had worked out that the previous moorings were not overlooked and the batteries were being stolen. Each boat has eight batteries and they were taking the whole lot, which were worth £4,000 to £5,000 in total.
“The move meant we had to provide a three-phase power supply to the new moorings, so I think it has probably cost about £23,000.
“But that means we have the opportunity to expand our day boats service in the future, meaning there are bigger moorings, more parking and people can take the boats out for a day and moor up there.
“It gives us more potential for the future.”
The move has been part funded from Spalding section 106 money, which is given to the council by developers to be used in the community.
Mr Canham added: “This is just the sort of thing that section 106 money should be used for as it will work for the benefit of the town.”
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Weather for Spalding
Monday 20 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 10 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: North
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Temperature: 7 C to 13 C
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