Owners of Orwell-based yachts will be paying particular attention to a Court of Appeal case starting on the 23 July. Two mooring holders have successfully challenged Ipswich Borough Council’s claim, as owners of the river bed, for rent for the laying of tackle on their land.

The High Court has held that, because of the statutory background of the Port of Ipswich, the Borough is not entitled to claim a rent. The Court of Appeal has also been asked to rule on the general principle that mooring, as an extension of short term anchoring, is part of the free public right of navigation and therefore should not be subject to the landlord¹s rent.

Rents for moorings for pleasure craft have only been demanded by most landlords (including the Duchy of Cornwall, Crown Estate Commissioners and the Duchy of Lancaster) since a controversial case in 1967 was decided in favour of a private landlord in Chichester Harbour. This case arguably overturned centuries of practice of free mooring, and opened the floodgates of mooring charges made by landlords.

The implications for the users of swinging moorings around the country are far reaching; the Crown Estate Commissioners have applied for consent to intervene in the case (ie in effect to be heard as a party to the case) and the RYA Council has resolved to intervene to represent the interests of yachtsmen throughout the country.