The PaddlerUK magazine March 2015 issue 1 | Page 44
ThePaddlerUK 44
Following a review, in October 2013
the Welsh Government wrote:
“The report of the National Assembly for Wales’
Sustainability Committee on their Inquiry into Access to
Inland Waters in Wales (2010) advocated that in the
short term effort should focus on establishing voluntary
agreements, but should the Assembly secure legislative
competence in this area that introducing legislation to
address areas where conflict persists would also be
desirable.Three years on there continues to be conflict
between different user groups and voluntary access
agreements do not appear to be working Wales wide.
The Minister now believes that it is necessary to explore
ways of seeking to bring clarity and certainty for all on
where they can go and what activities they can do,
whilst ensuring proper safeguards for both nature
conservation and the interests of owners.The
Committee’s findings are informing this current review.”
By Welsh Government’s own account, the strategy of
agreements funded by SPLASH has not delivered.The
Green Paper promised for December 2013 has been
considerably delayed.The continuation of SPLASH is
unlikely, but there is no indication of Welsh
Government’s future intentions regarding public access
to inland water.
It is difficult to draw any conclusion other than, as with
CRoW, public access to the waters of Wales has been
sacrificed to ease future legislation for access to land.
There is a real danger that access to water will
disappear completely from the Welsh Government
agenda. Opponents of access to water seek to weaken
the case for public rights by dividing the water and landbased aspects of countryside and/or representing the
issue as polarised local conflict. Once again we see
‘access agreements’ developing between limited users,
which are then used to bring pressure on the wider
public to conform.
Waters of Wales believe that legislation is urgently
needed that will address the needs of all for responsible
access whether land or water-based. We will continue to
campaign for land reform legislation to benefit all, but we
consider that while the needs of land-based recreational
users are well represented, there is no one body which
seeks to represent the needs of the wider water-using
public, allowing these to be sidelined or ignored. We
decided to set up an independent community campaign
because we see a need for representation of the public
who wish to enjoy recreation on the waters of Wales.
Delight at the Welsh Government’s new-found
determination to represent the public interest was,
however, short-lived and only two months later, after a
‘reshuffle’ a new statement was issued:
“On water, there is a need to see an increase in the
number of voluntary access agreements providing for a
range of recreational activities. We will therefore publish
a Green Paper on improving public access to land and
seeking better facilitation of voluntary access to water.
We do not plan to pursue primary legislation in this
assembly term.”
Waters of Wales – WoW is a community campaign
with the core aim of representing the water-using public
of Wales with a view to achieving legislation similar to
the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, to enshrine
public rights, with responsibilities, of access to the
countryside, including water, of Wales.The WoW
community includes a range of water-users including, but
not exclusively, swimmers, walkers, birdwatchers,
photographers and boaters. Community members may
be individuals or members of groups clubs and
organisations.
The next Welsh General Election is in 2016 and WoW
is already campaigning to get legislation to enshrine
public rights with responsibilities to the Welsh
countryside, including water, back on the government
agenda.
www.watersofwales.org.uk
Follow the campaign on www.facebook.com/WatersofWales or @WatersofWales
Contact [email protected] to volunteer your services.