Barby pools marina at Onley

I have been having a look at the site of the proposed 550 berth marina at Onley. It is to be built along the Oxford canal near to the Rye hill and Onley prisons seen in the top half of the picture below.
I suppose boaters will have differing opinions about another marina being built 2 miles from the 120 berth Barby marina that has yet to be fully occupied. Again just 2 miles further on  Blue Haven marine under the name of Hillmorton Wharf Marina (bridge 73) have applied for a 125 berth extension.
 Boaters seeking a mooring in this area might have the opinion that the more berths available the better the price. Those already moored in the area might view the extra berths as leading to congestion when they cruise.
 It seems Barby and Onley Parish Council and the Onley Park Residents Association support the marina. Me? Well as a much travelled Continuous Cruiser I feel any congestion will for me be limited to a short period when travelling through the area so I have no view either way. The council`s decision is due on the last day of this month and I think it will be approved but will it ever be completed? Kings Orchard marina

 © 2012 original picture, J marine.

A big protester to this development is Tim Coghlan of Braunston marina and at one stage legal action was threatened so I hereby duly acknowledge the copyright of the above image and wish to clearly state I am not part of any protest group and am merely using the image for my readers information. Also the picture below is my own taken from a public footpath. I wonder if the footpath will still be along the left towards bridge 81 and beyond or will they want to re-route it away from the marina. In fact looking at maps there are footpaths across the site. It will be interesting to see what happens because they surely can`t just do away with a public right of way.


This panoramic picture was taken from the top end of the development. The Oxford canal is to the left just behind the hedgerow and the prisons are to the right, the marina will stretch out of sight to the right and as far as you can see on the left hand side of the picture. In a short time the view here will be moored boats.

Barby marina, 2 miles away from Onley

 

In the November issue of   Towpath Talk on page100 there is an interesting letter from Paul Lillie M.D. of Pillings Lock Marina Ltd.

Other reading on the web was Canals and River Trust state a 37% increase since 2007 of boats registering as Continuous Cruisers(no permanent mooring). As Jaq and I are under this category it means we are now one of 4,400.  They (CaRT) also state a total of 35,000 boats registered on their canals and rivers.
The latest  survey by CaRT  of 3588 boaters states 31% of continuous cruises want a home mooring! I wonder how many C/c`s actually took part in the survey. Ok just checked 12% of 3588 is 430 which means 133 C/c`s are looking for a home mooring. Now if they moor at Onley that leaves 417 berths to be filled. Perhaps I can earn some money here.
 
Of course the most  successful way to fill the berths is to give away these.
Checking here it seems comparethemooring.com is available. Perhaps a business opportunity here, please remember you got the idea here.