Rivers Access Campaign back online

[jmmoxon]

http://www.riversaccess.org/pages/pv.asp?p=rac10

Mike

[quicky]

Wonder if they know the footer links don't work in firefox

[Keith Day]

Is this a major step forward or just lipstick on a pig? If the latter, what content should be on the RAC site?

[dougdew99]

This simply a re-hash of the old site. Certainly much better from a cosmetic point of view.


A "campaign" is a set of actions planned to achieve a desired result. This website contains no plan of action and cannot be called a "campaign".

There is no plan to;

- Actively encourage people to lobby their MPs and create a database of MPs with their position on the issue
- Encourage people to paddle on disputed rivers, with advice on how to do it, and how to use the media to get publicity
- Publish details of incidents reported to them
- Enlist access advocates in every part of the country with advice as to the best way to push for access
- Run regional workshops to get feedback from members and encourage action
- Organise demonstrations along the lines of Kinder Scout
- Reach out to other parties like the swimmers for combined campaigning
- Create a map of rivers with their access status and history, or work with Keith to further publicise his map. Get people to take action for access on their local river
- Encourage clubs to create an access campaign in their local area
- Create a National River Access day with paddles on disputed rivers all over the country
- Provide a forum like this one
- Take a professional approach and hire an experienced professional campaigner with a real budget and backup.
- Utilise the Social Media.
- Create a plan to reach to Anglers and resolve difference
- Recognise the de facto reality that Canoeists can paddle where they like and no one can stop them

And that is just for starters


The Ramblers and 38 Degrees have "campaigns"; the BCU does not.

[Strad]

The demonstrates exactly one of things I have tried to point out to the access team, their work is always back to front i.e. they start with we don't appear to have access, but maybe we do.

How they should be doing it is just stating we do have access - here is the evidence, some argue that we don't this is why we think they are wrong, we have a campaign to ensure that everyone knows we have access.

[Adrian Cooper]

Crumbs! that's hard work. Each page contains repeats of information from other pages as if a different person drafted each but by cutting and pasting work by the others. The structure is awful.

As an aside, will someone teach them how to use commas, poor use makes it very difficult to read.

[andpops]

" Access in Other Countries
This information is based on an exercise carried out by the BCU in 1980/81 to find out from member federations of the International Canoe Federation (ICF) the position in their respective countries concerning access for canoeing. "

That's progress

[dougdew99]

They have been running their "campaign' for 30 + years? What has been achieved?

[jmmoxon]

Actually about 15 years...

1. What does it do and why?

The Rivers Access Campaign is managed by Canoe England and is supported by all the staff as they go about their daily work promoting the issue, as and when possible. This is the same for many volunteers who attend meetings on our behalf (Local Access Forums/National Park Meetings/Waterways Partnership meetings/Marine and coastal meetings/environmental groups etc etc) as well as promoting the issue locally and nationally. This can be from lobbying their MP/Local Authority/Local Enterprise Partnerships/River User Groups, to running events to promote canoeing such as a "Go Canoeing” session to show the benefit of the sport for all and how more could be done if there was clarity and certainty of access.
In essence, in England, we have a natural heritage which provides great opportunities for open-air recreation and education. Open-air recreation provides people with great benefits for their health and well-being, and contributes to the good of society in many other ways, and allows the Campaign to show what a brilliant sport canoeing is, and at the same time, constantly promoting the access issue.
Existing measures currently being considered by the government, such as Access Arrangements, do not satisfy demand nor deliver consistent, long-term access improvements or measures to protect wildlife and landscapes. A new, statutory, national approach is required for public access to inland waters in England or the restoration of historic rights. This will then deliver much of the wide-ranging benefits outlined by the governments in their various health, participation, and economic strategies.
A new, statutory, national approach such as a Bill could provide a realistic way forward, already proven through legislation elsewhere in the United Kingdom, by which statutory public rights of access to inland waters in England may be established, similar to those existing for access on foot in England or for access on inland waters in Scotland. It would provide for a more coherent, harmonised, access regime across most of the United Kingdom, thus diminishing what are at present, unnecessary and damaging disparities.
The Campaign is working with DEFRA, trying to promote the sport of canoeing (fundamentally from a recreational point of view, as most of the 2 million canoeists are recreational paddlers), its benefits to individuals, communities, education, and people of all ages and abilities, as well as the green nature of the sport. It is an uphill struggle, but they do recognise we need more access to and along waterways.
The campaign is a longer game. The current campaign activity goes back to the passage of what was to be the "Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000,” when the BCU lobbied unsuccessfully to have access to water included. Then as a consequence, the government recognised the situation and commissioned research from the University of Brighton - "Water Based Sport and Recreation: The Facts 2001”. The research findings fully confirmed the BCU claiming that public access to and along non-tidal waters was highly restricted. The historical research by the Rev’d Caffyn has made a further contribution to our position.
The campaign built on these findings and the subsequent studies commissioned by the Environment Agency to develop access arrangements that had limited success. The campaign continues to lobby Parliament; this has included a Ten Minute Rule Bill – "Access to Inland Waterways” that reached a second reading and drew further attention to our cause.
The campaign has also evolved beyond simply recognising an important recreational resource and taken the debate into health benefits, education, and community benefits across government, including their localism agenda. More recently, the Campaign has taken an increasingly active role in promoting the environmental well being of the waterways.

Trying to push for clarification through the courts would be too expensive for the BCU, so the only hope is to persuade the government to change the legislation, which in Wales was attempted through the Welsh Assembly without success.

Mike

[jmmoxon]

A "campaign" is a set of actions planned to achieve a desired result. This website contains no plan of action and cannot be called a "campaign".

The plan is to get the government to consider primary legislation on river access by use of:

Lobbying your MP http://www.riversaccess.org/pages/pv.asp?p=rac31

What you can do to raise awareness http://www.riversaccess.org/pages/pv.asp?p=rac32

As usual for the BCU it's not that well presented, but a lot of effort has gone into it.

Mike

[Mark R]

The plan is to get the government to consider primary legislation on river access by use of:

Lobbying your MP http://www.riversaccess.org/pages/pv.asp?p=rac31

What you can do to raise awareness http://www.riversaccess.org/pages/pv.asp?p=rac32

As usual for the BCU it's not that well presented, but a lot of effort has gone into it.

That stuff has all been there since the 'campaign' started, word for word I think.

Is Tamsin Phipps still in charge of this?

[dougdew99]

Jim
The page on raising awareness is new to me and it is an improvement on the old site. The issue for me is that this is all essentially passive. A campaign needs to be pro-active. We know from our experience on SOTP that making suggestions like this yields very low results. We set up a facility on SOTP where writing to your MP could be a five minute task... (incidentally a facility that should be on the Access Campaign site)... about 40 people out of thousands actually used it. The same applies to suggesting people "raise awareness". Suggestions like these, if not backed by pro-active support, seem to have little effect, in my experience. I can think many ways of promoting this pro-actively...

BCU should have the professional campaigning expertise to know this. They have far greater resources than a bunch of volunteers on SOTP. Above all, they have (or should have) a email mailing list of members, contacts with clubs, their own network of access officers, and above all their position as governing body of the sport. They need to get out and organize. They need to recruit, mobilise and support a bunch of volunteers like the Ramblers do...above all they need a BUDGET!

Let us hope that the new website is the first step in this direction. Above all they need to show strong leadership... I reckon this is not a hard nut to crack... there are so many factors in our favour... once the Olympics is over... let us hope they get stuck into it... 2013 should be the Year of River Access for All.

[Wildswimmer Pete]

There is no plan to;

- Reach out to other parties like the swimmers for combined campaigning

There is - the RAC has close links with the River and Lake Swimming Association (RALSA).

Wildswimmer Pete

[dougdew99]

Have these close links led to any action?

[Adrian Cooper]

Or maybe even a declaration that they have close links to give the 'campaign' more clout?

[Strad]

Or maybe even a declaration that they have close links to give the 'campaign' more clout?

The old site had RALSA support mentioned on the front page, it appears to have gone on the new site???

[Wildswimmer Pete]

Or maybe even a declaration that they have close links to give the 'campaign' more clout?

The old site had RALSA support mentioned on the front page, it appears to have gone on the new site???

It's on the "links" page:

http://www.riversaccess.org/pages/pv.asp?p=rac13

under "Sporting Bodies".

RALSA's founder Yacov Lev retired after 10 years and the chairman is now Jean Perraton ably assisted by RALSA's co-founder Rob Fryer. Unfortunately although I was party to some of the arrangements I was told in confidence. I think I'm safe in confirming that RALSA is in regular touch with Doug Caffyn and Tamsin Phipps. RALSA remains the official representative organisation for recreational open water (wild) swimming, and in the UK, winter swimming.

As far as my taking any current interest in swimming is concerned, basically I don't. Bear in mind that I'm still recovering from a serious illness, although I still collect and report any data I can.

Edit: RALSA's RAC page is here:

http://river-swimming.co.uk/rac.htm

Wildswimmer Pete

[Keith Day]

Just listing organisations on the links page doesn't indicate in anyway that they are supporters - Defra is on there!

[Jim_MWX]

Some of you'll remember a video I did towards the back end of last year.

If you remember it had RAC logos in there as at the time they were looking at using it as part of the new website.

However an email to the BCU now seems to have fallen on deaf ears, I feel a re-edit to remove said logo's is in order...

[Wildswimmer Pete]

Just listing organisations on the links page doesn't indicate in anyway that they are supporters - Defra is on there!

RALSA had its own entry, but it's now listed under "Sporting Bodies" - possibly down to whoever coded the new website.. There's no change in the relationship between RALSA and RAC.

Wildswimmer Pete