Tag: Kayak Ban 2018

The local administration in Venice introduced an almost complete ban on kayaking in Venice city last August, and Venice Kayak has taken the city to court over the ban. We have written about this several time previously.

The TAR Veneto (Tribunale Amministrative Regionale del Veneto) has finally pronounced its sentence, and they have decided in our favour.

In practice this means that Venice now returns to the rules as they were before August 1st, 2018, which allowed kayaking in Venice with some time restrictions.

Below Venice Kayak’s press release of March 20th, 2019, is reproduced.

Venezia, March 20th, 2019

Press release

Venice Kayak Srl, one of the very few zero-impact companies in Venice, which takes pride in the professionalism of its guides and the safety of the clients, has decided to take legal recourse in front of the TAR (the regional administrative tribunal) of the Veneto, against the decision with which the City of Venice – with a measure with no prior warning which entered into force on August 1st, one single day after its publication – has banned, for stated reasons of safety of navigation, kayaks and canoes from transiting the main waterways of the city centre.

The TAR of the Veneto has today, March 20th, 2019, accepted the legal recourse in all in principal points, cancelling the decision. This reinstates the previous rules of navigation, which have in any case proven to be sufficient in assuring the safety of navigation.

In fact – underlines the owner René Seindal – Venice Kayak has never been involved in any accident, nor has it ever received any kind of fine, during its activity.

The company intends, also after the tribunal’s decision, to continue working, focusing on the safety of its clients and not less of everybody else who with whatever means moves on the waters of the city of Venice.

Mr. Seindal continues, adding that the accidents that have happened on the water ways of the City of Venice, have all been between other types of vessels, almost always by motor propulsion, and they are mostly caused by the way the vessels are conducted, and not by the type of vessels.

Venice Kayak has sought a dialogue with the City of Venice well before the publication of the city’s decision, without any result, and the company – the owner guarantees – remains available for the city administration for any dialogue or contribution, to promote the common good of assuring the safety of navigation for all, whether by oar or by motor, large or small.

Mr. Seindal explains: it is not justified punishing and blocking ecologically sustainable activities that do not cause damage to our city, to (maybe) favour who pollutes and causes damaging waves. That way Venice cuts a very poor figure.

The company Venice Kayak has suffered substantial economic damage from the illegitimate acts of the City of Venice, and is has been forced to lay off almost all the employees, all Venetians, some with mortgages and children to maintain.

Now – concludes Mr. Seindal – we hope to be able to return to work with the old professionalism and seriousness, and – he adds – with a serene mind that we will not have our daily bread taken away unjustly from one day to the next.

Venice Kayaks thanks the lawyers Giovanni Falcomer and Francesco Mazzoleni, who have taken care of the technical/legal presentation of the legal recourse at the TAR Veneto, defending the interested of the society.

Court hearing of February 6th

The local administration in Venice has introduced an almost complete ban on kayaking in Venice city last August, and Venice Kayak has taken the city to court over the ban. We have written about this several time previously.

The definitive hearing of the TAR (Tribunale Amministrative Regionale del Veneto) was held on February 6th, 2019, after a preliminary hearing on October 3rd, 2018. This which is very soon as these administrative cases can often take years here in Italy.

There is no final sentence yet, however, and there is little certainty about when it will be published.

Formally the judges have sixty days from the final hearing to publish their decision, but as the law doesn’t stipulate any consequences for not abiding by the limit it is not always respected, so the sentence could be published tomorrow, or in months time.

We have to wait.

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The city administration of Venice has issued an almost total ban on kayaking for entirely fictitious reason of safety of navigation.  We have written about it previously on August 1st , August 6th, September 9th, and September 23rd.

The TAR Veneto (Tribunale amministrativo regionale del Veneto) has held a preliminary hearing on October 3rd, to express judgment on the suspension of the kayaking ban awaiting the final hearing which will lead to the final judgment in the case.

The outcome was neither victory nor defeat.

The judges decided to non suspend to city’s ban on kayaking, but to hold the final hearing in the case, leading up to the final judgment, on February 6th, 2019, at 9am.

The final judgment will be issued sometimes afterwards, in principle the day after, but more likely one to two months later.  We might only know the outcome around Easter 2019, even though we hope it will be earlier.

The city administration of Venice has issued an almost total ban on kayaking for entirely fictitious reason of safety of navigation.  We have written about it here (Aug 1st) and here (Aug 6th) and here (Sep 9th).

This post explains in more details where you can go kayaking and when in Venice with the August 1st 2018 ban in force.

The current situation

The canals in black have a total ban, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, no exceptions.  The ‘black’ canals arethe Grand Canal in Venice, Canale Cannaregio and all the canals in the Sestiere San Marco. The Grand Canal on Murano is also black, and so is for a period in the summer the canal on the Lido di Venezia which leads to the Venice Film Festival venue.

The ‘violet’ canals are off limits from 7am-5pm on Monday-Friday, 7am-1pm on Saturday and free on Sundays and national holidays.  This limitation covers all day light hours for most of the year, making it practically as bad as the total ban on the ‘black’ canals, except for a short period around summer solstice.

The canals painted brown are the ones that are either unreachable due to the limitations of ‘black’ and ‘violet’ canals, or which becomes de facto dead ends because they lead to a ‘black’ or ‘violet’ canal with no way forward.

In the ‘red’ canals kayaks are banned 8am-3pm on Monday-Friday, 8am-1pm on Saturday and free on Sundays and national holidays.  These canals are all the remaining canals in Venice, and also included the Giudecca, Murano, Burano and the Lido di Venezia.

There are no canals in Venice without restrictions.

How it was before

Comparing with the previous situation the scope of the August 1st ban becomes obvious.

Before August 1st, 2018, it was possible to paddle the entire city, with some limitations on the main canals 8am-3pm Monday-Friday, 8am-1pm Saturday, while Sunday and national holidays were free. It was possible to cross the Grand Canal in a handful of spots, even in the period when navigating along the canals was illegal.

The city of Venice has gone from a situation of almost free albeit regulated paddling, to almost totally illegal with just a few exceptions of limited applicability.

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The following press release announcing the legal recourse at the TAR Veneto against the decision 433/2018 of the City of Venice, has been sent to the local Venetian press on Monday, September 3rd, 2018:

Venice Kayak Srl, one of the very few zero-impact companies in Venice, which takes pride in the professionalism of its guides and the safety of the clients, has decided to take legal recourse in front of the TAR (the regional administrative tribunal) of the Veneto, against the decision with which the City of Venice – with a measure with no prior warning which entered into force on August 1st, one single day after its publication – has banned, for stated reasons of safety of navigation, kayaks and canoes from transiting the main waterways of the city centre.

However – underlines the owner René Seindal – Venice Kayak has never been involved in any accident, nor has it ever received any kind of fine, during its activity.

Mr. Seindal continues adding that the accidents that have happened on the waterways of the City of Venice, have all involved other types of vessels and are for the most part provoked by the way the boats have been conducted, certainly not by the type of boat.

From this derives the necessary formal reaction of the company which, through its lawyers Giovanni Falcomer and Francesco Mazzoleni, has presented a legal recourse at the Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale against the decision.

We all agree that it is right to guarantee the safety and preserve the beauty of the historical centre of Venice, says Venice Kayak, but this is certainly not achieved by banning from one day to the other, the smallest boats – in number and dimension – from transiting in good order along most of the waterways of the centre.

Very different measures were expected, directed at confronting the danger of accidents.

Further – and not a secondary thing – the company offers a niche service to its clients, giving work to several persons.

The consequence is – closes the owner of the company – that the possibilities of finding itineraries for the clients are reduced to almost nothing, and it will force Venice Kayak to reduce its activity drastically, laying off highly qualified employees, while accidents will continue to happen between other types of boats, non of which are afflicted in any way in this decision of the city administration.

There will be a court hearing soon, where the request for the urgent suspension  of the decision of late July will be discussed.

The City of Venice has introduced a ban on kayaks and other small boats in practically all the city canals. The change of rules were announced less than 24 hours before they bacame operative, so we have had very little time to adjust.

According to the new rules, we are no longer allowed on the Grand Canal and a handful of other canals where we rarely go.  The few canals where there were some time limits earlier, have had those limits tightened, and further time limits have been introduced in all the remaining canals.

We are no longer allowed anywhere in the city of Venice, or on Murano, Burano, the Giudecca or the Lido before 3pm (1pm on Saturdays), and we can only paddle in four distinct ‘reservations’ after 3pm.

Naturally, taxis and other high powered motorboats are free to roam the city day and night.

This is a very severe restriction on our movement, and it leaves us very little room to still offer tours in the city.

What we can do with the new rules

We can still do all the tours offered in the lagoon.

In the city of Venice we can still do the afternoon tours (with meeting time on the Certosa at 2.15pm or 2.45pm), but with a limited itinerary as we’re restricted to just one of the four ‘reservations’ in which kayaking is allowed after 3pm.

We should be able to do morning tours in Venice on Sundays and national Italian holidays.

We should also be able to do the mixed lagoon and Venice on weekends and national Italian holidays.

What we cannot do with the new rules

We cannot do any of the old tours that entered the city canals before 3pm.

These include the morning tours (except maybe on Sundays), midday tours, full day tours and history tours.

We cannot do evening tours any more, at least not as we’ve done in the past, since the Grand Canal is now off limits 24/7.

We cannot do any bespoke tours to the Giudecca, Lido or Murano before 3pm.

Our future plans

We don’t know what the future will bring, and working under a municipal administration that active favours the powerful lobbies with the huge motorboats, at the cost of those who try do

Reasons and justifications

The city administration gives the safety of navigation as the main cause of the ban on kayaking in the city canals, but without giving any concrete examples or explanations.

In the ten years Venice Kayak has operated, there has not been one single serious accident involving a kayak. In the same period there has been numerous serious accidents, in and around the city, also fatal accidents, all inevitably involving motor boats.

Venice Kayaks has never been fined or accused of any wrong doing.

The sources of danger in the water traffic in Venice all stem from too many, too large and too powerful motorboats, too often conducted in a ruthless and reckless way, putting others in danger needlessly.

The response of the city administration is to remove those exposed to the dangers, while doing nothing whatsoever against those who cause the danger.

It is a typical example of victim blaming.

Why not encourage paddling and rowing?

Rather, rowing and paddling in Venice should be encouraged and supported.

Rowed and paddled crafts have zero environmental impact, and they cause no damage to the city fabric, unlike motorboats whose wake and displacements is grinding down the city.

The presence of kayaks and similar boats in the canals of the city also have a moderating effect on traffic in general. The larger boats, taxis and cargo boats, are forced to go slower because of our presence, thus limiting the damage their boats cause the city.

All other major cities tend to exclude polluting and damaging traffic from the city centres and encourage more environmentally friendly means of transport. Venice now does the opposite.  The city of Venice actively excludes most low impact boats, while doing nothing whatsoever to counter the much more damaging motorboats.

Venice Kayak is not opposed to regulation of paddling in Venice, and we have tried to enter into a constructive dialogue with the city administration. We have had a meeting with the official who have signed the new ban on kayaking, but they obviously don’t care.

Venice Kayak intends to oppose this unjustified ban on kayaking with all means at our disposal.