East Anglia Press Releases for the Norfolk & Suffolk Broads with Press Releases and Articles from the Broads Authority in East Anglia, and the East of England UK.

The Norfolk and Suffolk Broads Act 1988, which established the Broads Authority in 1989, has served the area well, but in a changing world it needs amending, particularly to address safety issues for the boating public. Safety on the water is obviously a key issue for the Broads Authority, particularly following the Breakaway V accident, in which a motor hire cruiser capsized on the River Bure in July 2003. The Authority has been advised that the most appropriate way of achieving the necessary changes is through a Private Bill, and Defra has provided additional National Park Grant to help the Authority do this.

The Authority intends therefore to deposit a Private Bill in Parliament in November of this year. It is important that everyone with an interest in the Broads has as much time as possible to input into the process. I am therefore sending you an advance copy of the Chief Executive’s report to the Broads Authority on 24th March. You will see this contains an outline of the Bill’s contents and a draft timetable. The latter anticipates a circulation of the 1st Draft of the Bill together with an explanatory note in early April.

The Draft Bill will cover three important areas:

Public Safety
The Authority is seeking powers for example to:

   • implement the national Boat Safety Scheme
   • require compulsory 3rd Party Insurance for relevant boats
   • manage water skiing
   • enter private land to remove vegetation overhanging the navigation
   • give general directions to vessels, and
   • amend the navigation area to include Breydon and the Lower Bure.

Name of the Area and the Authority
The Broads has the same status as the national parks in England and Wales but this is not recognised in the name of the area or the Authority. Widespread public consultation over the last four years has shown considerable support for changing the name of the area to The Broads National Park. The Authority has three duties, the two national park purposes and the third important role of protecting the interests of navigation with the extra responsibilities as the third largest inland navigation authority. There is currently no priority given to a particular purpose and the Authority is not seeking to change this.

Modernising
The Authority is taking the opportunity to update the 1988 Act to take account of changing circumstances, for example the demise of Norwich as a commercial port with the result that there is no longer a need to appoint a Norwich Navigation Officer, and replacing the requirement for a separate navigation account with safeguards on the spending of navigation income.

Reproduced by kind permission of Broads Authority - Prof R K Turner CBE.