Following months of pressure from the Angling Trust, Draycote Fly Fishers Association and Jeremy Wright MP, Severn Trent Water has finally advertised for a tenant to run the Draycote reservoir fishery next year.
However, at a recent meeting with the club, the company refused to back down on its recently-imposed ban on access to anglers’ vehicles, claiming that parked cars might pose a risk to the Company’s tankers making deliveries at the treatment works. Only a handful of tankers use the perimeter road each week, and there is a 15 mph speed limit on site. Anglers have been using this road for several decades without a single incident.
The reservoir was closed to all angling by Severn Trent in 2010 because of a construction project which did not go ahead, denying thousands of anglers the chance to fish this very important venue for competition and recreational angling.
The Angling Trust continues to support Draycote Fly Fishers Association and all the anglers who fished this reservoir before it was closed last year and to press Severn Trent to ask anglers for their advice before making its decisions. The company is required by law to consult recreational users and their representative bodies before making changes to provision of recreational facilities.
Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of the Angling Trust said: “time and time again Severn Trent has taken decisions at its reservoirs which do not stand up to reasonable analysis, but have a massive impact on the enjoyment of tens of thousands of anglers. We can only conclude that individuals working for the company are anti-angling and bringing these attitudes into their decision-making. Their treatment of anglers, a vital part of the local community and economy, beggars belief.”
