From 1808, a number of detractors argued that the navigation was in a poor condition, hoping to force Hollis to concede water rights to mills, and traffic declined. Another Act of 1811 allowed Hollis to raise the tolls, and eight years later, he held a meeting at the Winchester Guildhall, explaining why he needed to raise the tolls further. The meeting asked him to postpone his next Bill for a year, in return for which they would give him £1,200 for one year's tolls, wharfage and rent, he would spend £600 on repairs, and the remaining £600 would amount to 5 per cent interest on the estimated value of the navigation, which was then £12,000. He obtained his Act of Parliament a year later, which raised the tolls, but the Commissioners reduced freight charges at the same time, resulting in the operation being more profitable for Hollis and less so for the barge owners.