Campaign Comment and News

 

This section will provide you with news and views concerning what is happening on or around our waterways.   Please click on the headline to access the full article.

 

 If you have news or views to add please e mail info@riversaccess.org

To Correct Misinformation from the Angling Trust!
Canoe England Response - Access and issues surrounding it are a major part of the work of the Waterways and Environment team Canoe England through the Rivers Access Campaign is continuing to call for clarity and certainty of access to and along all waterways whilst taking environmental matters into consideration. Rights are sought through the restoration/recognition of historic rights or new primary legislation for non-powered craft, to include swimmers etc, whilst recognising that not all waterways are suitable for powered craft. The access situation is not a canoeing v angling one!

Canoe England Statement ? Canoeing In Dovedale
Canoe England is the English home association of the British Canoe Union (BCU) with a role to increase opportunities for paddlers to use our rivers, lakes, coasts and other waterways throughout England. The British Canoe Union is recognised by Government as the National Governing Body for canoeing.

We have no rights to our rivers while Richard Benyon's interests are served
Over the last day or so, The Canoe England Waterways & Environment Team continue to comment directly upon George Monbiot?s Guardian Blog regarding river access. Read our thoughts ...... Richard Atkinson represents the views of Canoe England

The Triennial Review of the Environment Agency and Natural England February 2013
Canoe England has completed the response form but has grave concerns about the process and the outcomes. One of the major concerns that CE has is the recreational function of promoting the use of the outdoors on land and water (although set in statute for the EA) seems to have significantly diminished in both of these organisations

Canoeists and Canoe England Call for Action
Virtually since people came to this country the waterways have been used for a huge variety of activities including routes to travel on by raft, boat and canoe. Yet the right to access to and along waterways in England and Wales is still debated.

Canal and River Trust CEO to Step Down
After ten years as chief executive of British Waterways and (since July 2012) the Canal & River Trust, Robin Evans has decided to step down at the end of May 2013.

Canoe England Statement
Canoe England (CE) are extremely concerned and disappointed by the news article posted on the Angling Trust (AT) website - ?Benyon rejects canoeist campaign to paddle over anglers? rights?.

River Tavy River Clear Up
A team of volunteer canoeists collected 11 footballs, garden mower, largish inflatable, lamp posts, traffic cone, paper, bottles, carrier bags plenty, dead rat in a Doritos packet, giant golf ball and some other bits and pieces from the River Tavy. In doing this river clear up, with support from the EA, they received very positive feedback from the locals ... but one individual chose to take a lonely stand against it and has had an own goal.

Canoe FOCUS ? A New Direction from 2012
Canoe FOCUS has been the official members? magazine of the British Canoe Union for over 20 years. Over those years paddlesport has changed beyond all recognition and now it?s time for a change for Canoe FOCUS too. For 2013 Canoe FOCUS has a new editorial team and a new direction to make it truly a showcase for our sport. From the December issue the BCU will be working alongside the leading producers of paddlesport media in the UK, Warners Group Publications PLC, the team (all keen paddlers) that?s responsible for commercial titles such as Canoe & Kayak UK Magazine and the annual GO Canoeing Bookazine.

NEW APPOINTMENT OF WATERWAYS OMBUDSMAN
The Waterways Ombudsmen Committee, which oversees the operation of the Waterways Ombudsman scheme, is pleased to announce that they have appointed Andrew Walker to become the new Waterways Ombudsman with immediate effect.

The darkness deepens
Eighteen months ago I published a booklet in which I claimed that ?historically there was a public right of navigation on all usable non-tidal unregulated rivers? and that ?this right has never been extinguished?. The reaction by those opposed to public access to rivers has been to attack the messenger and not the message. No one has disputed these two statements. No case has come to the courts where the matter could be resolved.

New Sec of State for DEFRA
Caroline Spelman has been replaced as DEFRA Secretary by North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson as Prime Minister David Cameron finalises his first major Ministerial reshuffle.

Access what are we asking for???
In England and Wales, unlike elsewhere in the world, the public cannot assume there is an automatic right to have access to most rivers. The law is unclear and complex with navigation acts remaining on statute and these along with historic rights being disputed by opponents to public access.

Parliament says YES to C&RT
Parliament has given the final go-ahead for British Waterways to become the Canal & River Trust

Canoe England have issued a new position statement concerning Access Arrangements June 2012,
Access Arrangements for the shared use of non-tidal waters by manually powered craft 1 Access to Water Canoe England fundamentally believes in the principle for access to and along unregulated (1) non-tidal waters and does not subscribe to the present assumption by some for these waters to be deemed private. Recently published research contests this assumption (2).

Access ... Rights of Way
Please be advised that from the 14 May 2012 Defra launched a public consultation on a proposed package of changes to the processes for recording, diverting and extinguishing public rights of way.

Natural England has also opened its Paths4Communities
Natural England has also opened its Paths4Communities (P4C) funding scheme. The aim of P4C is to encourage and support local communities to work with land owners to make improvements to the network of public rights of way and so deliver benefits to rural areas and walkers, cyclists and horse riders.

How Green Are you?
The canoe is a traditional craft used throughout the world for exploring wilderness areas and quietly observing wildlife and flora. It causes no erosion, noise or pollution, and leaves no trace of its passing. Canoeing at appropriate water levels is an environmentally benign activity and causes no damage to wildlife.

Consultation
Consultation Start: 27 March 2012 Consultation End: 18 June 2012 For the UK, the directive is part of a package of policies, united by our vision for "clean, healthy, safe, productive, and biologically diverse oceans and seas".

The Love Your River Campaign
The Love Your River campaign launched on 28 March 2012 and is backed by Defra,