A new dawn for Britain's waterways
Over the last few years large areas of uncultivated land have been opened up to ramblers and nature lovers under the government's 'right to roam' legislation. The situation however, is different for our coasts, rivers and lakes, where public navigation rights often do not exist and uncertainty about who has the right to use them can lead to conflict, particularly between anglers and canoeists.
Over the last eight years a group of Brighton academics has carried out a series of research projects for government departments and agencies to assess the situation and find ways to improve access to waterways while still respecting landowners' rights.
The work, by Professor Andrew Church, Professor Neil Ravenscroft and colleagues, showed that there is a tangle of laws, deeds, statutes, customs and covenants that often limit who can gain use of a river or lake. While organisations such as the Environment Agency, British Waterways and the British Canoe Union have cooperated to secure good access to most canals and a few major rivers, the majority of the rivers and lakes in England and Wales remain out of bounds to the public. The researchers made a series of recommendations for improving access.
The government then asked the researchers to develop this approach by carrying out consultations and negotiation between land owners, councils, watersport enthusiasts and the public to get agreements on improved access. This has led to a number of voluntary arrangements that have opened up long stretches of some of our rivers for anglers, canoeists, swimmers and many other watersports. These arrangements include 30 miles of the River Waveney, on the Norfolk- Suffolk border and 25 miles of the River Mersey in Stockport and Manchester.
The researcher'’ experience enabled them to write a guide to negotiating these types of agreements, which was added to the Environment Agency's website. Others have used this as a basis for their own negotiations, which has led, for example, to new access being opened to the public on the upper sectors of the rivers Wye and Usk in Wales.
"It is very unusual for academics to be asked to implement the recommendations of their own reports," said Professor Ravenscroft, who is Professor of Land Economy in the School of Environment and Technology.
"We were very lucky to be involved in a process that has run right from finding out the basic facts about the situation to establishing guidelines and putting them into practice." He said that the university had become the main centre for this type of research in the country and the reports have become standard reference documents.
Find out more
Visit the School of Environment and Technology website.
