A FORMER bank manager who has moored an 86ft barge on foreshore he owns at one of Cornwall’s most picturesque quays is facing two years in prison on a matter he claims is legally wrong.

Dean Richards is being prosecuted by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) on a count of “carrying out a licensable marine activity without a marine licence”. His case is due to be heard at Truro Crown Court on October 31 and November 1.

He is also facing enforcement from Cornwall Council and legal action by a second homeowner who has a property in the waterside village of Point, near Truro.

But Dean says it feels like there’s a vendetta against him as he’s done everything required by law to anchor his barge, which he wants to live on with the eight-year-old son he co-parents.

“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,” said the exasperated boat owner.

He has spent years researching marine rules and regulations in a bid to defend what he says is his legal right, and argues that prosecution would set a “very dangerous precedent” for others in similar circumstances.

Dean, who works as a carer for adults with additional needs, says both statutory bodies have made U-turns 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, extending halfway across the creek at Point.

He told us: “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 goal posts and I now face up to two years in prison as they are trying to prosecute me.”

Dean, 43, also claims Cornwall Council spent two years and taxpayers’ money on an expensive court case to claim part of his land and three miles of seabed from the head of Restronguet Creek to Devoran.

“They hired a really good barrister, a land registry expert, all these people to write big reports about why their document superseded mine. Luckily, I had everything which pre-dated their documents and won that case.”

Dean was then told by the council that he needed planning permission to anchor his barge on his land. “I queried this as there are other vessels, barges included, anchored in the same area, some for over 20 years. They said I would need to apply for a lawful development certificate to prove the activity was legal.

“I did and, after a fight, was finally granted a certificate of lawfulness to moor boats on the foreshore.” Dean did so in 2022, but “they have also done a U-turn and served me with enforcement, which I am currently appealing.”

It was then that his battle started with the MMO, which initially told him that anchoring on your own land is exempt from needing a licence. A year later, that advice changed.

“They told me there was a new regulation and I needed a licence to drop my pin anchors [also known as spudlegs]. 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; it took 82 weeks to give me a decision of ‘no, you can’t have a licence’. I appealed the decision and it did not go my way.”

Dean claims the Environment Agency, Natural England, the Royal Yachting Association (RYA), Trinity House and Historic England all approved the barge mooring on his land. He also disputes the existence of a regulation regarding spudlegs.

“I now look like Public Enemy No 1 because as far as everyone is concerned, I put it here illegally without a licence,” he said. “I’m looking at two years in prison, because it’s a criminal offence to carry out a marine activity without a licence — yet when I go on to do a marine licence check, their website still says I’m exempt!”

Dean believes he is being punished despite doing things the “ecologically sound way”.

“The muddy bed here is contaminated with mine waste including arsenic, so chain and anchor will disturb it every time. My way of anchoring because it makes a disturbance on the day it’s deployed and the day it’s removed.

“I don’t want to disturb it because it’s a precious area. My mum grew up on this road, my grandfather owned properties here and kept his boat on this creek. It’s dear to me despite some people around here thinking I don’t care.

“The MMO’s offices are in Hayle – they’re faceless and voiceless. There’s no dialogue to be had. It was put in a position to protect the marine environment and yet they’re coming for me for being environmentally friendly, which is odd.”

Dean mentioned a similar case in Bembridge on the Isle of Wight in 2020 in which the MMO investigated a houseboat community for using spudleg moorings. Boat owners reportedly fought the investigation, resulting in the MMO deciding not to take legal action.

“There were around 100 of them,” says Dean. “I think they’re going for me — one person who can’t afford to fight it — and they’ll get precedent to then be able to take anyone anywhere in any gentrified area.”

A second homeowner with a property in Point is also taking Dean to court for trespass and nuisance, which he believes is a way to seek an injunction to force him to move his barge.

“I get people have paid seven figures for their house,” he said. “I get what I look like and I get this boat looks a mess because all my time, money and resources are going into fighting them as opposed to going into making this look beautiful.”

He added: “If you buy a waterside property, expect boats in front of your window.”

Dean added his boat would enable him to live a carbon positive lifestyle, and leave no mark after his passing.

But he is currently sleeping on a sofa at his 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.”

Dean added: “These U-turns made by Cornwall Council and the MMO are simply a mechanism to stop me keeping my barge on my own land. It sets a very dangerous precedent — if allowed, they are actually removing my public right of navigation.

“On the Truro harbour website, you will see they offer long-term lay-up of vessels in the same AONB as me; as long as you keep paying your boat can stay as long as you like. They are trying to remove this right, as foreshore owner, from me.”

The MMO said it can’t comment on an active legal matter. A spokesperson for Cornwall Council said planning decisions are made on the merits of each case. “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.”