Plans to charge people more to sail on the Broads have led to growing dissent among boaters and prompted calls for ramblers, cyclists and birdwatchers to pay as well.
The Broads Society has posed the idea as part of a seven-point plan to help reduce the "significant burden" a potential 10pc toll fee hike will incur on people who use the network of rivers and broads.
A charge for visitors should also be introduced, the group has said, which would go towards supporting the BA's navigation maintenance costs, such as dredging work and weed clearance.
It follows a warning from the Broads Authority that it needs to plug a £394,000 gap in its funds.
If the increase goes ahead, it will mean toll fees have risen by about 30pc in three years.
TOLLS COULD RISE
The BA determines the toll fee prices each year.
The revenue raised is used to fund its navigational duties that ensure the waterways can be safely used by boats.
It has blamed a decline in boat numbers and rising costs caused by inflation and environmental pressures for the funding shortfall.
A BA spokeswoman said: "We are facing some difficult choices."
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'A SIGNIFICANT BURDEN'
In response, the Broads Society, chaired by Dr Mark Collins, has issued a seven-point action plan of alternative cost-saving measures that could be implemented.
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This includes a new policy to make visitors, ramblers, cyclists and birdwatchers pay a contribution to the Broads Authority.
Charges for mornings currently offered for free by the BA should be brought in and the construction of new mornings should be paused, the group has said.
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A spokesman for the Broads Society said: "We firmly believe that private toll payers bear a disproportionate share of the Broads' costs.
"Despite there being only 10,000 private toll payers, they account for 29pc of the Authority's expenditure.
"This places a significant burden on a small group, especially when compared to the approximately 7.5 million annual visitors who contribute very little financially to the upkeep of the Broads.
"The Broads navigation is not purely a private benefit to boat owners, and all other beneficiaries and visitors, such as ramblers, cyclists, birdwatchers, and photographers, should contribute to the BA's navigation income."
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Here are the Broads Society's seven ideas...
1. Raise toll fees by just 4pc to raise £250,000.
2. Continue to put pressure on the government to provide an annual "navigation supplement" as well as national park grants.
3. Diversify revenue streams by making ramblers, birdwatchers and cyclists contribute to the Broads Authority's costs.
4. Create a visitor-giving scheme to "offset general maintenance and help to address climate adaptation and nature recovery".
5. The BA should freeze construction of any new moorings with land access unless these are to replace moorings that are being or have been lost. Greater use should be made of low-maintenance moorings without land access, such as dolphins (groups of pilings) and pontoons, particularly for short stops, including re- and de-masting.
6. Introduce charges for the more than 60 free moorings currently offered by the BA.
7. Changes to toll fees should not be at the disadvantage of young people.
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