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Canoeing agreement

The Welsh Canoe Association has been resisting the renewal of our Canoe Access Agreement dating back to 1984 which was made on behalf of the riparian owners by the UUFA for the benefit of canoeists. It has worked reasonably over the relatively small part of the river which they favoured, including stretches above Brecon and from Talybont to Crickhowell but excluding Glanusk for which separate permission has to be sought. The rest of the river seems to have been regarded as too flat and uninteresting. Recently the WCA has taken a much more aggressive stance and their main focus has been to establish a right to canoe on any coastal or inland water without the necessity of gaining permission. We understand that their ambition does not enjoy the support of all their members. They are lobbying Welsh Assembly Members with the aim of legislation that will provide unconditional access to all rivers throughout the year.

The fact is that we own or lease the assets over which canoeing takes place and we bought or leased them for the purpose, in most cases, of fishing. In addition, in the past few years we have invested in the improvement of our fishery by removing blockages, increasing the light reaching invertebrates and excluding farm stock thus cutting pollution and scouring, and increasing spawning and juvenile areas on our designated SAC river.

The WCA, on the other hand, have done nothing to improve the river on which they paddle nor have they offered to contribute in any way.

For the upper Wye WUF and the EAW met last March with the WCA (Pam Bell and Ashley Charlwood, the Local and National Access Development Officer). Charlwood went to great lengths to point out why free access should be theirs using the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 as a basis. WUF reminded them that the river is not owned by the WCA nor does it have rights of navigation. WUF takes the view, that if the WCA do not wish to accept an agreement then the upper Wye will arrange agreements with clubs and organisations who have traditionally used our water, and have asked for permission. The percentage of resident Welsh canoeists is, we suspect, relatively low since most of the organisations that use the river attract their custom from further afield and often for their own commercial purposes.

This would seem a sensible route for the UUFA to take with the approval of our Riparian Owners.