River Access

[MartiniDave]

Hope this isn't deemed too political, if it is would one of the moderators please remove it.

I just got this from my canoe club, if anyone here would like to follow the link and help it would be appreciated.

Dave


The "Club Name Deleted" Committee strongly urges all its members and anyone else to do a very simple and quick task inorder to promote river access in the UK. There are thousands of canoeists who have access issues but now we need to prove that we have large numbers of people who consider the access situation to be unjust and want a change. In short, canoeists only have access rights to about 2% of rivers in England and Wales and the Campaign is trying to substantially increase this. All you have to do is go to

www.riversaccess.org

and the Log your Support is one of the buttons on the Home Page. Nice and simple and takes hardly any time. Now that you have read this request, why not click on the link and finish the job off now?

 

[Doc]

Good site.

In Scotland there is a right of responsible access to nearly all inland water. The system works well.

I hope a similar reform will take place in England and Wales. I have to say I find the idea of one person 'owning' a river quite bizzare.

 

[JonnyP]

I'm all for opening up waters for canoe users, I am one myself, but on the other hand at my local wildlife reserve where I am a volunteer, there were a couple of people in canoes paddleing about on the lake when the grebes and swans etc were nesting on and around it. I think that perhaps there should be a close season, like in fishing and areas where canoes are not permitted at all, as in a wildlife reserve

 

[Tony]

Hope this isn't deemed too political, if it is would one of the moderators please remove it.

Mate, it's fine and a just cause. As long as this doesn't turn into a political rant for people. The way this is organised is the right approach to making yourself heard on issues that are important.

So, the threads fine and I hope that there's a lot of good response to the campaign.

 

[Marts]

It's quite pleasing to find the form actually asks for your considered comments on the current situation and asks for suggestions for the future. So many support sites seem to be simply 'click here to add your support'

Done it BTW

 

[BorderReiver]

Not a canoeist but I have signed up.

I am in favour of responsible access to all natural features.

 

[MartiniDave]

Thanks everybody! :You_Rock_

Dave

 

[bambodoggy]

I'm all for opening up waters for canoe users, I am one myself, but on the other hand at my local wildlife reserve where I am a volunteer, there were a couple of people in canoes paddleing about on the lake when the grebes and swans etc were nesting on and around it. I think that perhaps there should be a close season, like in fishing and areas where canoes are not permitted at all, as in a wildlife reserve

That doesn't sound unreasonable Jon...and if we had more access to the rest of the rivers the rest of the time then I'd like to think that most canoeists would be responcible enough to respect this type of limitation

Bam.

 

[JonnyP]

Amen brother

 

[EdS]

I'm not a canoeist, but I'll sipports you. Just make your case early and loudly as the NERC Bill has delt a death blow to legal sensible "green laning" and opinion has it, it is only the first group to suffer.

Please note no comment re pros and cons of MPV on unclassified roads - i'm just reporting the facts.

 

[JFW]

Responsible access for all, whether it's hill, field,or water. Living in Scotland I always feel so lucky to have the access rights that we do and I tend to forget this when I visit my southern cousins. In Scotland we are now protected by a legal act for access - both for users and owners.

Cheers

JFW