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A large proportion of boaters on the Broads are not paying tolls, with the number of people dodging fees more than trebling in recent years. Officials have served 1,708 boat owners with notices for not paying the necessary fees in 2024 - about 14pc of the 12,000 vessels that use the waterways each year. The Broads Authority says this can push costs up for other users, who have faced a 30pc increase in tolls in three years.
The Broads Authority yard on the River Yare in Postwick (Image: Denise Bradley) Bill Housden, a senior officer responsible for collecting the fees, said up until a few years ago he would only issue about 400 notices a year. "It has spiralled in recent years and we need to tackle this growing problem," he said. John Packman, chief executive of the BA, added that tracking down people not paying tolls takes up a lot of time for officials.
"We have already had 6,000 people pay their tolls with great alacrity but others dishonestly do not pay. The high cost of that is borne by everybody else." John Packman, chief executive of the Broads Authority (Image: Newsquest) The findings coincide with efforts to tackle the rising number of wrecks and abandoned vessels in the Broads.
Many boats in poor condition will "likely not have paid toll fees for years", said Daniel Thwaites, a navigation committee member. This prompted calls for the BA to impound boats with unpaid tolls. READ MORE: Broads boat amnesty proposed to tackle rise in wrecks However, there are limited actions the BA can legally take.
Rob Rogers, director of operations at the Broads Authority (Image: Broads Authority) Rob Rogers, director of operations, said the BA does not have the power to impound vessels and that it can only take control of boats if they are deemed unsafe. It can prosecute people in court for not paying fees, with 60 individuals already set for hearings this year. Six boats have sunk in the River Yare in the first four months of 2025 alone.
A wrecked boat is recovered from the River Wensum by Broads Authority staff (Image: Archant) The problem has been blamed on a trend of "gifting", where boats in poor condition are being given to people for free or sold cheaply so owners avoid the hassle of disposing of them. A boat amnesty scheme has been proposed to "nip the problem in the bud", according to Mr Rogers, which could be implemented later this year..
