From Steve R's Link ( a good one) - thanks Steve
Access to rivers, lakes and canals
Access to the land surrounding a water body does not necessarily give you the right of access to the water, or to fish, launch a boat or swim. There is no general right of access to river banks and towpaths - they all belong to somebody and that landowner may or may not choose to allow access. However, many footpaths and other rights of way do run along river banks and towpaths, as these are often the routes people have used for many years. A canal towpath or the bank of a navigable river is legally a part of the waterway.
In England and Wales, any questions about use of inland waterways are probably best first addressed to the Environment Agency.
Access to beaches and the foreshore
Beaches are owned, although almost all beaches allow public access, often because of the practical impossibility of preventing it. However, there is no right to cross private land to gain access to a beach. If a beach is closed to the public there should be a sign saying so or a fence to prevent all access.
The foreshore is the area between the high water mark and the low water mark. When the tide is in there is an absolute right to navigate through the water (although not necessarily a right to land a boat or launch one) and so it is not possible to fence off foreshore areas, as this would limit navigation. All foreshore belongs to the Crown unless it has in the past been sold or given away. This has occurred in a few places. However, there is no legal right of access to the foreshore. There are often bylaws prohibiting baitdigging on or near the foreshore, which is probably the most common reason for people to use such areas. In any case such baitdigging is usually prohibited on an SSSI, although for the same reasons this is almost impossible to enforce.
Rights of Navigation on inland waters
From CRN News Volume 4 Number 2 June 1996
Catherine Etchell summarises the rights of water users in England and Wales
Under English and Welsh law there is, at present, no general right for one person to exercise rights over property belonging to another and there is no general public right of access to property belonging to another. The right to fish and the right to navigate are governed by the same law. The equivalent of a public right of way on land is the public right of navigation.
Historically, rights of navigation are based on commercial need and recreational navigation has followed more recently. In relative terms recreational navigation and canoeing in particular are young sports. Angling has a history going back hundreds of years. The result is that the law relating to fishing rights is well established.
It is a general principle of English law that the owner of land bordering on a watercourse also owns the bed of that watercourse up to an imaginary line drawn down the middle. The common law concerning trespass relates to water in the same way as it does to land. The owner of land fronting onto a watercourse can stop people travelling over or to that part of the watercourse owned by them in exactly the same way as they can stop people walking over their land without permission or fishing from their land into the watercourse without their permission.
So, whilst those who canoe may wish to use someone else private property for their enjoyment, in the same way that I may wish to enjoy the use of their garden for my private enjoyment, they have, no legal right to do so unless such a right has been granted in law.
Forcing such a right to be granted over the wishes of the legal owner sets a precedent that should not be set (in my view) unless you are happy to live with the logical conclusion of right of access to all private property - including your own
Red
- you gonna join me and Bushwacker for a pint at the Bowman soon?
