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.

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