River Foulness & Market Weighton Canal feasibility study moves ahead

The Market Weighton Canal north of Newport

I am very pleased to be involved in an exciting feasibility study to look into the better utilisation of the environment of the Market Weighton Canal and River Foulness watercourses, after which it is hoped the findings will be used for developing future proposals and bring in funding to develop, improve and increase the use of the canal and associated pathways.

The project follows on from the award winning Wallingfen Way scheme in the Howdenshire villages of Gilberdyke, Newport and North Cave, and dovetails very well with the Holme on Spalding Moor heritage project. The Market Weighton Canal is an under-appreciated watercourse running from Market Weighton south to the River Humber at Broomfleet that has remained largely dysfunctional apart from for land drainage and some limited fishing since it was closed to navigation in 1971.

An Act for the building of the Canal was passed in 1772. The original purpose was to drain the surrounding wetland of Wallingfen and provide a navigation channel and open up the area for farming. The work started in 1777 and was completed in 1780 - the surveyor for the project was James Pinkerton. During the construction of the Canal clay was found and so a thriving brick making industry began in the area. Grain, coal for the brickworks and bricks and tiles were transported along the Canal, market boats sailing regularly between the Canal Head, Market Weighton and Hull, calling at Broomfleet lock, until the late 1860’s.

I was born at Faxfleet and the Canal and the Broomfleet lock both provided a source of adventure during my childhood, and needless to say still does as I regularly travel the pathways and tracks alongside the Canal, and cross the lock on my mountain bike. The River Foulness runs from land north of Welham Bridge and joins the Canal north of Newport.

The project is being commissioned by Newport Parish Council, in consultation with a wider steering group including: East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Lower Ouse and Humber Water Management Partnership, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and the Environment Agency will implement the study. A team of qualified consultants have been appointed, and work on the project will commence in May 2012, with a final report being produced by August. Up to £8k of funding has been provided by the East Riding and North Yorkshire (ER&NY) Waterways Partnership.

The process of the study will be to identify and consult with the community, potential partners and organisations and include a range of site surveys, detailed liaison and community consultation activities to build consensus over the waterway’s future management and purpose. This will include establishing a set of agreed objectives and priorities to balance the multiple benefits and a series of actions to develop their natural, historic and recreational potential, whilst ensuring key drainage and flood management functions are maintained.

It will also be important to establish who needs to be involved and how they would participate in future actions. Undertaking this study will add value to both watercourses by helping to improve their utilisation but not conflict with the systems statutory flood management and land drainage functions, and to attract visitors to enjoy the waterways and their environs in a way that takes into account, develops and celebrates their significant environmental and heritage qualities.

It is important to recognise the potential benefits to the local rural economy, including that of pubs, shops and restaurants through increased tourism, and improved health through the likely increase in walking, cycling, and perhaps even kayaking. The study will also include the recording and preservation of appropriate archive information to explain the historic importance of the Market Weighton Canal’s listed structures, in explaining the reason for their existence, their role in the history of the canal, their importance both regionally and nationally or their relationship with the surrounding natural environment.

There is also a desire to strengthen the linkages between the canal and the communities of Newport, Broomfleet and Holme on Spalding Moor to increase appreciation and engagement with the waterway. The objectives of the study are to identify and engage with local people, groups and organisations through a programme of consultation activities, such as meetings, workshops and surveys for those interested to discuss and gathering views and opinions, and increase awareness and understanding of the cultural, heritage and environmental importance of the waterways.

The study is to also to identify opportunities for people to become involved in helping to shape the future plans for the watercourse area and to participate in future conservation, and uses of the waterways and environment through increased recreational use/visitation of the waterways and how they can be developed into a sustainable community asset that will encourage all users to spend longer and appreciate them more. It is important to identify how a sense of community ownership of the waterways by increasing their use by a wide range of local users and ensuring their long term sustainability can be achieved.

It is also proposed to look at effective linkages to the wider local environment and projects such as the North Cave Wetlands, Trans Pennine Way, Wolds Way, Wallingfen Way and the Holme on Spalding Moor heritage project.

Look out for more information on future local consultation events.

Newport Parish Council ploughs money from fishing rights back into community projects

Money raised by people fishing in the Market Weighton canal at Newport is now being ploughed back into the village by the Parish Council.

Last September the Parish Council obtained the fishing rights on a section of the Market Weighton Canal as it passes through the village, from the main road bridge north to Seavy Carr Drain. To date some £930 has so far been raised to be spent in the village, this is in addition to the welcome additional trade brought to local shops, the butchers, Fish and Chip shop, and pubs by the visiting anglers.

In early 2009, at the request of residents and Newport Parish Council I managed to obtain clarification from the Environment Agency as to the ownership of the Market Weighton canal, who was responsible for the banks, who owned the fishing rights, and what happened to the money paid by people to fish.

It was confirmed to me that until a few years ago, Hull and District Anglers Association paid rent to the Environment Agency and its predecessors for the fishing rights. The Anglers Association requested fishing platforms to be built, but the Environment Agency however were unsure of who owned the canal banks, and from this time on, I am led to believe the Association refused to pay the lease to the Agency presumably because they assumed that if the Agency did not own the banks then they did not own the fishing rights, although this had not stopped the Anglers Association continuing to charge people for fishing.

Needless to say that after considerable effort, particularly by Newport Parish Council, the fishing rights have been taken back and returned to the community.

There have been 5 matches and almost 200 tickets sold since the rights were obtained by the Parish Council – this was despite some revenue being lost due to flood water and ice. The costs to administer the fishing rights including the lease to the Environment Agency runs at less than £150 per year, although it must be stressed that the Londis supermarket makes no charge for issuing the tickets - which is a terrific gesture on their part.

The fishing is not restricted to any side of the canal and there are no pegs provided, there have been some issues with parking (which is being looked at by the Parish Council), litter and toilet facilities which require addressing - but on the whole many positive comments have been made.

I fully support the Parish Council’s efforts to extend their fishing rights further along the stretch of the canal northwards towards the River Foulness, and their plans make more leisure and amenity use of the canal as it runs through the village.

This is a great example of a community raising additional funds for public use, as well as contributing to the sustainability of the local shops and pubs in Newport.

Who owns the Market Weighton Canal and what happens to the money paid by people to fish?

A while ago, at the request of residents and Newport Parish Council I attempted to establish the ownership of the Market Weighton canal, who was responsible for the banks, who owned the fishing rights, and what happened to the money paid by people to fish.

Ownership was transferred to the predecessors of The Environment Agency in 1951, and was, and continues to be limited to the bed of the canal, stretching from the disused Sodhouses Lock (near Wholsea Grange) in the north, to Weighton Lock as the canal joins the Humber in the south.

The Environment Agency does not own the banks of the canal apart from four small areas of land which were purchased by predecessor bodies, as follows:

1. Land around Weighton Lock

2. Land each side of the canal at Oxmadike Marr (to the north of the railway line)

3. Land at the junction of the canal and the River Foulness.

4. A small area of land in Newport, on the left bank of the canal just to the North of the B1230 (Main Road).

Until a few years ago, Hull and District Anglers Association paid rent to the Environment Agency and its predecessors. The Anglers Association requested fishing platforms to be built but the Environment Agency however were unsure of who owned the canal banks, and from this time on, the Association refused to pay rent to the Agency presumably because they assumed that if the Agency did not own the banks then they did not own the fishing rights, although this has not stopped the Anglers Association continuing to charge people for fishing. Even today I was able to buy a Temporary Membership Permit/ticket for £4 (see below) enabling me to fish for the day.



The Agency now take the view that, as owner of the bed of the canal, they are able to assert an exclusive right to the actual fishery, even if they cannot provide fishing platforms without the consent of the people who own the canal banks. They have assured me that they will look into the matter of regularising the situation with the Hull and District Anglers Association, and I hope the appropriate rents can be levied on them without delay, and these rents be backdated to reflect the fact the Hull and District Anglers Association has, and continue to charge for fishing.

It is worth noting that although the Agency’s ownership does not (for the most part) extend to the banks of the canal, their position as an authority which regulates ‘main rivers’ means that they have a considerable amount of control over what the owners of the banks and the adjoining land can actually do with their land, as they require the Agency’s permission/consent for most actions within the eight metre byelaw strip. But this is another story.......