A dad is facing up to two years in prison after mooring a barge on land he owns. Dean Richards is due in court after he left the 86ft vessel on foreshore at a picturesque quay in Cornwall.
The Marine Management Organisation has elected to prosecute the former bank manager, despite his claims that the case is legally wrong. Dean is also facing action from Cornwall Council and a homeowner in the waterside village of Point, where the barge is docked.
In spite of the cases against him, 43-year-old Dean feels like he has done everything by the book in terms of mooring the boat, on which he wants to live with his eight-year-old son, Cornwall Live reports.
Dean, who has spent years researching marine rules to defend himself, said: “I get why they would have it in for me because I do look like an incompetent, law-flouting hippy, but I did 17 years in banking and was a bank manager.”
Dean claims that the MMO and the council have U-turned on legal requirements to moor his former Royal Navy munitions barge on land he bought in 2017, which includes the foreshore and the seabed on which the boat sits. The seabed extends across the creek at Point, meaning it is underwater much of the time, with the boat afloat.
Dean, who works as a carer for adults with additional needs, said: “The MMO told me twice I did not require a marine licence to anchor my barge on my own land because anchoring is an exempt activity. They did a U-turn, moving the goalposts, and I now face up to two years in prison as they are trying to prosecute me.”
Dean, who is due at Truro Crown Court on October 31 and November 1, added: “Cornwall Council got wind of my plans to moor my barge and decided to spend two years and an expensive court case claiming part of my land, as well as three miles of seabed from the head of Restronguet Creek to Devoran.
“They spent so much of taxpayers’ money – they had a really good barrister, a land registry expert, they hired all these people to write these big reports about why their document superseded mine. Luckily I could blow them out the water as I had everything which predated their documents. I won that case, but all that time I was paying to keep the barge 200 metres away at Penpol boatyard.”
Dean said: “I moved my barge to my foreshore in 2022 and they have also done a U-turn and have served me with enforcement which I am currently appealing.”
At that point, the battle with the MMO began. Dean claims they initially told him he didn’t need a licence for anchoring on his own land, but changed their advice a year later.
Dean said: “They told me there was a new regulation and I needed a licence to drop my pin anchors [also known as spud legs]. I asked them for that new regulation and they couldn’t provide me with it. I applied for the licence which is supposed to take 12 weeks and it took 82 weeks to give me a decision and the decision was ‘no you can’t have a licence’ even though all their consultees including Cornwall Council eventually approved the barge coming here.
“The Environment Agency, Natural England, the Royal Yachting Association (RYA), Trinity House, Historic England – they all approved it coming here. The AONB (area of outstanding natural beauty) didn’t, in fairness, but the boat had already been here for several years anyway. It was only a case of moving it 200 metres from the yard. I appealed the decision and it did not go my way.”
Speaking about the potential punishment, Dean said: “I’m looking at two years in prison for this now, because it’s a criminal offence to carry out a marine activity without a licence. However, the MMO website still says I’m exempt when I go on to do a marine licence check.”
An exasperated Dean opened up on the impact the situation is having on his personal life. He said: “I co-parent my eight-year-old son and I want to provide a home for him. All my savings have gone into this boat. I can’t afford to walk away.
“This is my only choice now – I’m sleeping on a sofa at my parents’ house in Truro. The stress is huge as I’m having to represent myself in court because I can’t afford not to. This has taken its toll.”
The MMO said it can’t comment on what is an active legal matter. A spokesperson for Cornwall Council said: “Planning decisions are made on the merits of each case, as a matter of fact and degree.
“Decisions may indeed vary if the facts of the development undertaken differ. There is a right of appeal, which in this case has been exercised, and the Planning Inspector will consider the facts of the case independently of both parties before making a decision.”
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