There have been a number of postings into the “Tinsley Marina” thread on the CanalWorld Discussion Forum, before the thread was deleted by the moderators. To be honest I thought the original posting was a bit petty in nature. Most of what has been going on, has happened without my knowledge. But then as we are not live-aboard boaters and for the vast majority of the time we are away from the marina, that does not come as a surprise.
Having recently retired I had some time to take an interest in and to reflect on the situation arising at Tinsley. I initially thought that there was some issue of personality differences between individuals that was fuelling the discord. Like in every other walk of life, some people cannot rub along with each other. However, from my conversations with various people on or around the marina. It would seem that there is much more than a personality difference. There are four different groups of people with very different perspectives about how the marina should be organised and operated.
For want of clarity, I shall describe the four groups as:-
Having recently retired I had some time to take an interest in and to reflect on the situation arising at Tinsley. I initially thought that there was some issue of personality differences between individuals that was fuelling the discord. Like in every other walk of life, some people cannot rub along with each other. However, from my conversations with various people on or around the marina. It would seem that there is much more than a personality difference. There are four different groups of people with very different perspectives about how the marina should be organised and operated.
For want of clarity, I shall describe the four groups as:-
- The pro-active boat owners.
- The laid-back and relaxed boat owners.
- The fence sitting boat owners.
- British Waterways
I fit into the fence sitting grouping.
A group of the pro-active boat owners have joined together and created the Tinsley Marina Boat Club. This in itself I think is a good idea and has some merit. One representative voice for all the boat owners, live aboard and leisure moorings alike. Everyone should be playing a part in this. Everyone should also feel that they have an interest within that group and have a part to play.
Pro-active over zealous actions, if channelled in the wrong way can turn out to be counter productive. If people feel that the club does not truly represent their concerns. It becomes a recipe for a conflict of interest and the resultant ill-feeling.
My understanding is that the pro-active boat owners who have formed the Boat Club are only representative of a small number of the overall head count of people owning boats moored at Tinsley. However, I don't have the actual membership figures and so I am flying my kite on anecdotal evidence.
When we were looking for a mooring, we saw Tinsley in the BW auctions site. We then visited Tinsley marina, we met a small group of people who made us most welcome. After winning in the mooring auction we were very happy and looking forward to joining a friendly group of boat owners.
When we first arrived with our boat to our new mooring. We were advised about the Boat Club and that we were welcome to become members. At the time it was also pointed out by someone else, that the boat club was trying to make some changes to the mooring terms and conditions. One of which, was a ban on having dogs on the Marina. You can imagine our dismay at this prospect as we have a couple of dogs.
We immediately felt alienated from any possible membership of the Boat Club. Therefore, we decided not to join as it would effectively be like Turkeys voting for Christmas. As dog owners we would be giving tacit agreement to something we opposed. So essentially, we have played no part in the Boat Club and their activities. We have continued to get along with our boating neighbours in or outside of the Boat Club group without any problems.
A group of the pro-active boat owners have joined together and created the Tinsley Marina Boat Club. This in itself I think is a good idea and has some merit. One representative voice for all the boat owners, live aboard and leisure moorings alike. Everyone should be playing a part in this. Everyone should also feel that they have an interest within that group and have a part to play.
Pro-active over zealous actions, if channelled in the wrong way can turn out to be counter productive. If people feel that the club does not truly represent their concerns. It becomes a recipe for a conflict of interest and the resultant ill-feeling.
My understanding is that the pro-active boat owners who have formed the Boat Club are only representative of a small number of the overall head count of people owning boats moored at Tinsley. However, I don't have the actual membership figures and so I am flying my kite on anecdotal evidence.
When we were looking for a mooring, we saw Tinsley in the BW auctions site. We then visited Tinsley marina, we met a small group of people who made us most welcome. After winning in the mooring auction we were very happy and looking forward to joining a friendly group of boat owners.
When we first arrived with our boat to our new mooring. We were advised about the Boat Club and that we were welcome to become members. At the time it was also pointed out by someone else, that the boat club was trying to make some changes to the mooring terms and conditions. One of which, was a ban on having dogs on the Marina. You can imagine our dismay at this prospect as we have a couple of dogs.
We immediately felt alienated from any possible membership of the Boat Club. Therefore, we decided not to join as it would effectively be like Turkeys voting for Christmas. As dog owners we would be giving tacit agreement to something we opposed. So essentially, we have played no part in the Boat Club and their activities. We have continued to get along with our boating neighbours in or outside of the Boat Club group without any problems.
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