No Freedom to Paddle

Rob Howard / 08.01.2007

An article by Stuart Fisher of ‘Kayakers International’ recently caught my attention particularly in light of the recent debate on kayak use in the World Championships, and the prospect for more widespread use of racer owned kayaks in UK races. The article highlights the access difficulties in England and Wales faced by canoeists, including competitors and race organisers.

Fisher did not pull any punches, describing England as having “the most repressive river access legislation in the world” and summarising the largely unsuccessful history of attempts to negotiate access. The article in ‘Boating Business’ followed a recent report by Brighton University, who were commissioned by The Environment Agency to work on voluntary access agreements.

This applied specifically to inland waterways in England and Wales; in Scotland the Land Reform Act has confirmed all Scottish rivers are public rights of way (although this does not take away the need for repsonsible use and to negotiate access for events). There is also a striking contrast to recent open access legislation for walkers giving the ‘freedom to roam’. No such freedom exists on the waterways.

In England and Wales only 2% of inland waterways have permitted use, and these are mostly canals, and even then access is difficult to some. The 4 rivers on which Brighton University worked on access agreements cover one tenth of one percent of rivers (a total of 72km), and all the agreements were rejected as inadequate by canoeists, due to time and access limitations and in one case the water being heavily polluted. (Fisher also quotes an estimated figure of a cost of £12,000 per km for the university to seek permissions.)