Tottenham business not-barges launched

We name this barge - Tottenham Journal

The new 'business barges' at Tottenham Hale were officially launched (in a PR sense, not a boating sense) last week. These were the ones I wrote about a few weeks ago.

The Tottenham Journal doesn't mess about.  Getting to the point, it calls them 'huge £1million floating offices', not boats.

As usual with North London waterways issues, the local rag rents a quote from the indefatigable Del Brenner, and I think he gets near the target:

They are a land-based use taking up valuable water space. If there really was an urgent need for office space, there is plenty of space on the wharf. They are not a legitimate use of our waterways.

But Del Brenner's not quite spot-on.  They don't take up valuable water space - the river Lee at that point is reasonably wide with a fair bit of passing room. 

However, they do take up valuable mooring and wharf space, and that's the quay issue, so to speak.  Boats that are simply bolted to the wharf and never move aren't boats.  They are planning permission loopholes.

Del Brenner's evidence to the EFRA Parliamentary Select Committee on this subject (in April 2007) is here.