I attended the Extraordinary General Meeting of the BCAA on Thursday, December 10 and below is my report from the event.
ANGLERS will be able to enjoy the great fishing on the Basingstoke Canal in years to come after more than 40 people attended an extraordinary general meeting of the Basingstoke Canal Angling Association last Thursday night, to answer the call for new committee members to save the club from dissolution.
Since the Angling Times ran the story in November, the club had been run by trustees who oversaw several committee positions being filled at the EGM, by volunteers who had come forward following the coverage.
Taking the helm as the new secretary will be Chris Ross, an ex-policeman who members have decided has the right credentials to take the club forward. He'll be joined by new chairman, John Wood, and the club's former head bailiff, Jeff Bunch, who will bring his knowledge and experience to the post of vice chairman. A candidate has also been found to fill the head bailiff vacancy, who will be voted in at a future meeting.
Outgoing chairman, Peter Emery, said: “The publicity has helped us to form a very strong new committee, with a core of experience that bodes well for the future.”
Another boost for the club has come in the form of Danny Williams, South East Regional Officer for the Angling Development Board, who was voted in as a committee member.
“Associations like the BCAA are paramount to the future of angling in this country so I'm really impressed by the way people have rallied round to save the club. I'm fully committed to the association and I'm now hoping that together we can look at some development strategies to use in line with the affiliated clubs,” he said.
Saturday 12 December 2009
Thursday 10 December 2009
Soar point
LEICESTERSHIRE County Council have just announced plans for a £3m rejuvenation project on the river Soar which will see canoeing facilities, boat races, ferries and the bizarre concept of floating markets on the waterway, all much to the annoyance of anglers who are currently enjoying a great run of form and match weights to over 60lbs.
I know the river well but surprisingly perhaps, not from an angling point-of-view. My brother has lived on a narrow boat on the river around Loughborough for the last four years and I've spent many a sun-soaked/rain-drenched afternoon chugging up and down its picturesque course. I've often taken some kit but haven't ever got any further than catching a few roach and perch on a short whip over the side. The fishing potential has been well documented in the past and even more so recently, I'm planning to go for a fishing rather than boating trip in the new year, to exploit its potential for barbel and chub before the season ends.
So I guess it's fair to say that I have a foot in both camps when it comes to the most recent news. I've always tried to buck the boater vs angler trend and firmly believe that both can pursue their chosen hobby or way of life harmoniously on the same waterway providing each shows a little consideration for the other. We're all there to use the same resource after all.
But in this instance, I think LCC may well have gone too far and have not given anglers due consideration. I have yet to see them or any facilities for them mentioned in any of the plans despite the fact that they must constitute one of the biggest current user groups of the river.
Canoeists already have the use of an Olympic standard centre not far away on the Trent in Nottingham into which the Soar eventually flows so does it really need two sets of facilities just for them at Glen Parva and Aylestone? The British Canoe Union are constantly pushing for more access to rivers at no cost and with the backing of politicians who regularly bandy early day motions around parliament on their behalf. They clearly don't care about steamrollering right over established stretches that have been paid for by anglers, clubs and associations for years.
It seems like an ambitious plan for what relatively speaking is a small river but if it does all come to fruition, I'm concerned that fishing could be badly affected or even lost on some parts of this great fishery. A lot of the proposed development is to take place in and around Leicester so more rural areas through which the river flows may be spared and hopefully remain unaffected.
Click here for the full story.
I know the river well but surprisingly perhaps, not from an angling point-of-view. My brother has lived on a narrow boat on the river around Loughborough for the last four years and I've spent many a sun-soaked/rain-drenched afternoon chugging up and down its picturesque course. I've often taken some kit but haven't ever got any further than catching a few roach and perch on a short whip over the side. The fishing potential has been well documented in the past and even more so recently, I'm planning to go for a fishing rather than boating trip in the new year, to exploit its potential for barbel and chub before the season ends.
So I guess it's fair to say that I have a foot in both camps when it comes to the most recent news. I've always tried to buck the boater vs angler trend and firmly believe that both can pursue their chosen hobby or way of life harmoniously on the same waterway providing each shows a little consideration for the other. We're all there to use the same resource after all.
But in this instance, I think LCC may well have gone too far and have not given anglers due consideration. I have yet to see them or any facilities for them mentioned in any of the plans despite the fact that they must constitute one of the biggest current user groups of the river.
Canoeists already have the use of an Olympic standard centre not far away on the Trent in Nottingham into which the Soar eventually flows so does it really need two sets of facilities just for them at Glen Parva and Aylestone? The British Canoe Union are constantly pushing for more access to rivers at no cost and with the backing of politicians who regularly bandy early day motions around parliament on their behalf. They clearly don't care about steamrollering right over established stretches that have been paid for by anglers, clubs and associations for years.
It seems like an ambitious plan for what relatively speaking is a small river but if it does all come to fruition, I'm concerned that fishing could be badly affected or even lost on some parts of this great fishery. A lot of the proposed development is to take place in and around Leicester so more rural areas through which the river flows may be spared and hopefully remain unaffected.
Click here for the full story.
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