Angling society fulfils responsibilities
Oakham Angling Society would like to respond to the outrageous claims of devastation at the canal.
Both recently published letters have no substance and are untrue in what they allege.
Less than 12 months ago the towpath was unsafe to walk down and impassable in some places. The trees were overgrown and some dangerous to passers by.
The water was unfishable and the society itself was on its knees.
When we sat down to discuss the future, we knew what we ideally wanted to achieve, but with few resources and fewer members, did not know where to start.
Our immediate concern was a fishing club, the state of the water and quality of fishing.
We are financially unable to lease both sections of the canal either side of the bridge, so decided to concentrate our limited response to the Oakham side.
The lease is very onerous on the society and we are responsible for the following:
To maintain the water and remove the weeds; to stock the water with fish to an acceptable level; to maintain fences along the bank and trim trees and bushes for 1.5 metres along the towpath; the society is responsible for the towpath between the bridge and lower dam on the Oakham side, and all of it on the Ashwell side, if leased; to provide adequate third party liability insurance for public use of the towpath as it is a public right of way.
The council are responsible for the surface of the towpath but not the structure, trees or bushes.
The recent letters of complaint allege devastation, disturbance and lack of respect to the environment as a whole.
To meet our terms of lease we have to, with no choice, trim trees, bushes etc. That in itself impacts on the environment. We all know that. What is important is how we go about it.
Even nature needs a helping hand from time to time. With this in mind we commissioned a specialist contractor to carry out a species survey to ensure what we had to do would not disturb any protected species.
The results showed a very varied and balanced flora, fauna and animal environment. We contacted English Nature to let them know our intentions and what a super environment we had at the canal. The species study has given us a tool to measure any major impact to the environment at the canal and we will carry out studies if needed in the future.
The only trees removed were dead, dangerous or fallen trees. Most have been damaged by ivy that clings to every tree and bush. We did not find one bird's nest in any of the trees. We have not slashed and burnt every tree in sight, but have adopted a cautious approach.
The undergrowth consists mainly of ivy and this has not been touched as it gives the best habitat for grass snakes and adders, something you will find in abundance.
In spring a family of Canadian geese were happy to live here and moved on to the Ashwell side with no fuss.
As I mentioned, our main interest is fishing. Cormorants had eaten all they could without intervention for a number of years. We did not want to shoot these protected birds without a DEFRA licence and the ropes are the only effective way to prevent them landing. As there is two more sections of water for other types of birds to land on, this is not a problem.
The recent damage caused to the dam and towpath has stopped because responsible dog owners have not encouraged dogs into the water.
This was only a problem at one limited point and we would like to thank all of the dog owners for their response.
We had to explore the legal side in case the damage continued.
The council also wrote to one dog owner to explain this legal standing as they felt they had the right to do this. The waste bins we erected are being used and there is very little mess on the towpath. Again we are grateful for this use.
The society is the only group of people who are trying to keep this small piece of water alive. If in doubt look at the Ashwell side. Last week I received results from analysis of the water quality to say it can no longer sustain fish.
The larger ones have died and can be seen floating on the weed covered surface. There are bottles, cans and rubbish all over it. It sickens us to see it in this state. Who is complaining about that?
The society was established in 1875 and will continue to preserve, maintain and protect the canal for future generations to the best of its ability.
Oakham Angling Society
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Weather for Oakham
Monday 28 May 2012
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Temperature: 11 C to 25 C
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