The River Dart
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17/11/07 SHUTTLE BUS After some
imaginative and pro-active work by the recreation people at Dartmoor National
Park working with the BCU Access Team, there will now be a canoeists' shuttle
bus operating at weekends between Newbridge and Holne Bridge. The service is due
to start this weekend and will be open to all paddlers with boats between 10 am
and 4pm, running every 30 mins. There will be no charge for use of the bus, the
cost of which is being very largely met from the Dart Access Fund, but users
will be invited to make a voluntary contribution of £1 via a box in the bus.
25/08/07 River Dart Access, 2007-2008 The River Dart has kept the BCU Access team extremely busy over the summer on several fronts:
We have:
Last week Fiona Edmonds and I had a very friendly meeting with officers of the Dart Fisheries Association after previously failing to agree on several points which were central to the access agreement. On this occasion we felt that there had been a sympathetic hearing of our points and that we had achieved most of what we sought, so we have agreed in principal to the terms of the access agreement which they have offered for a 12 month trial period.
So how does this affect paddlers?
Firstly, there will be no access to the River Dart Country Park for this season. Mark Simpson was pleasant, helpful and positive, but he has now established a very lucrative wedding business on his grounds during the winter and understandably does not want people in various states of undressing welcoming guests!! He has very kindly allowed us to use the egress point on river right immediately after Holne Bridge though, for this season. The very limited parking at this point means that many paddlers would be better advised to carry on to Buckfastleigh, but this is not compulsory. (now possible up to the 14th March) In addition, Mark has kindly offered to allow us to use a section of his land close to Waterworks Bridge to create a car park for canoeists, and we are already working with Darmoor National Park to look at the planning and costing issues with this. If it does go ahead it is unlikely to be ready during the coming season.
Secondly, we are now able to issue access permits to 60 people per day for Dartmeet (instead of 40), and the season for Dartmeet will now start on November 1st instead of December 1st. The access point for this stretch is changed and will now be much easier, with paddlers accessing the river immediately beside the Dartmeet car park, i.e. above the road bridge. The DFA members are very concerned about the safety of paddlers and it is crucial that paddlers take more responsibility for their safety and cause less wasted call outs for the Devon Air Ambulance, Dartmoor Rescue Group, the local fire brigade, etc. This means taking more care and thought over who is on the water, especially at high flows, and being prepared and equipped to conduct rescues without outside assistance. In addition all paddlers are required to indemnify the DFA and its members against any legal and/or financial liability which may arise as a result of their use of the river.
Thirdly, on the Loop (Newbridge to Holne Bridge) and below, it is no longer necessary to pre-book access. There are no dated permits to be issued and no daily numbers limit, though we suspect that numbers will become self regulating. We are currently considering a means of identifying those paddlers who are BCU members, as this will indicate that such people have the insurance cover required by the DFA. The non availability of the River Dart Country Park will impose parking pressures on Holne Bridge which we hope to reduce by sponsoring a shuttle bus with DNP. The funding of this transport has not yet been finalised but we are looking at a scheme whereby the Dart Access Fund would make a substantial contribution so that BCU members would be able to use the bus free. (See above)
We hope that paddlers will agree that we have gained some considerable benefits and improvements to the agreement. Sadly though, we did not get everything we had hoped for. Despite a very positive meeting in January which was attended and reported on by Simon Westgarth, amongst others, we have not been able to extend the agreement to cover any of the East and West Dart Rivers. We conveyed considerable disappointment at this as both the Environment Agency and Dartmoor National Park had expressed their support for paddling on agreed sections of these rivers. Paddlers do need to know though that the Cherrybrook tributary is considered to be one of the most important spawning places for the entire Dart system, so anyone paddling there could find themselves facing criminal proceedings for damaging spawning grounds. Similarly, some sections of the West Dart upstream of Huccaby Bridge are considered to be of very high ecological importance, such that dog walkers, horse riders and others are banned from the area. Under these circumstances it would seem appropriate for paddlers to respect the National Park’s wishes and stay away from this area.
I recognise that some paddlers will not support the access agreement and will continue to post stories of their ‘non-agreement’ exploits on the river on paddling forums. For the many thousands who have continued to use the river under the terms of the agreement I hope the changes described above will make their paddling days on the Dart more enjoyable and flexible.
Adam Box Regional Access Officer, Devon and Cornwall
07/08 Season RiverDart Adventures
(River Dart Country Park)
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