AT & Welsh canoeing

Your Help Needed To Fight for Sustainable Canoe Access in Wales.

Conflict on the Riverbank/Sustainable Access Campaign Cymru

We have been very busy over the past few months working on the issue of canoe access in both England and Wales and we need your help (see how at the bottom of this message).  It’s important to state up front that the Angling Trust is not anti-canoeing, and we think that there should be more canoe access to rivers, but we simply believe that access should be controlled so that it doesn’t damage fish and fishing.  We live on a small island with 60 million other people and we need rules to avoid conflict between users of natural resources.  Anglers have close seasons, bylaws and other restrictions on what they can do and where they can go (and we pay licences and permits).  Why shouldn’t paddlers?

This week, we have launched a dossier of evidence documenting the rise of unlawful canoeing, the role of the UK’s Canoeing Governing Bodies in blocking the England and Wales Governments’ policy of Voluntary Access Agreements and the impact on fisheries, anglers, angling clubs and riparian owners.  Please CLICK HERE to read the press release and download the dossier.

Last week, the Angling Trust and other partners launched the Sustainable Access Campaign Cymru (www.accesscymru.org) in response to proposals being mooted by the Welsh Government for universal access for canoes to all rivers in Wales.  We heard yesterday that the green paper on this subject that was going to be launched this autumn has now been put back until late January at the earliest.  We believe that this is a result of our campaign and the hundreds of letters that have been sent to Assembly Members by anglers, farmers and landowners, but we need to keep up the pressure.

How can I help?

To support this initiative, please visit the web site and sign up as a supporter, which takes less than 1 minute.  There are also instructions about how to contact the politicians in Wales if you have time to do a bit more.

Sent by the Sustainable Access Campaign Cymru, established by Angling Cymru, Angling Trust, Countryside Alliance, Country Land and Business Association, Fish Legal and the Welsh Salmon and Trout Angling Association

Campaign under way!

Dear Supporter,

Many thanks for registering your support for SACC on the web site.  We have nearly 1,000 supporters already!

Please encourage everyone you know to sign up as well and tell them how quick and easy it is to do.  Since launching our campaign, the volume of letters that have been sent to Ministers and Assembly Members seems to have had a positive impact; we heard at the end of last week that the Green Paper has been delayed until at least the end of January.  It was originally scheduled for the autumn.  We believe that this is because of the noise that we have made as a community.

However,  it's really important that we keep up the pressure on the politicians and officials, so please do take the time to follow the instructions on the SACC website and write them even just a short letter or e-mail.  They need to know how important protection of the countryside is to us, as constituents and voters...

This week, the Angling Trust launched a major dossier of evidence documenting the rise of unlawful canoeing, the role of the UK's Canoeing Governing Bodies in blocking the England and Wales Governments' policy of Voluntary Access Agreements and the impact on fisheries, anglers, angling clubs and riparian owners.

Please CLICK HERE to download the dossier.

Please do spread the word so that we can have a really impressive number of supporters and lots of letters going to the politicians.

If you or your organisation would like to make a donation to support the river access side of the campaign, then please either send a cheque payable to the Angling Trust to: Eastwood House, 6 Rainbow Street, Leominster, HR6 8DQ, marked “Sustainable Access Campaign Cymru”, or click on the new Donation button on the web site HERE.  All funds will be ring-fenced for work on this campaign.

Finally, if you belong to a club or organisation, please encourage them to get added to our supporting organisations page HERE.

With all best wishes and many thanks once again for your support,

SACC