After over 40 years of being able to book a pontoon as a group to events such as the music festival, regatta week and mid-summer group weekends, Totnes Boating Assoc­iation has recently been told by Dart Harbour they will no longer be allowed to do this and will in future have to come down as individual boats and find individual moorings that may or may not be available.

For decades, regatta week was the highlight of the TBA calendar and this has now been denied us even though Dart Harbour were made aware.

The Westerly Owners Assoc­iation, which also has a long tradition of visiting Dartmouth in the summer, has also been told they are no longer welcome as a group and, as a consequence, upwards of 70 boats are going to Salcombe this year.

The reason given for this change of policy are that Dart Harbour can earn the same amount of fees without the inconvenience of allocating a pontoon for groups.

Given the fact that the TBA, as a stakeholder, pays yearly harbour dues, I find this attitude astonishing.

It begs the question are all decisions concerning the river going to be made on the basis of whether it is an inconvenience to the staff?

With austerity influencing boat ownership, I am surprised Dart Harbour can afford to pass up the revenue afforded to them by group visits.

The financial figures for this summer should make interesting reading.

Nick Walbridge

West Town Meadow Bishopsteignton