Fee to use River Fowey labelled as “unfair tax” by paddleboarders
Paddleboarders and kayakers are up in arms about a new annual levy introduced by the Fowey Harbour Authority. Kayakers and paddleboarders will have to pay £20 per year per craft to use the River Fowey under a new registration scheme, which Fowey Harbour says aims to improve water safety and charge all those who use the river equally.
Paddleboarder Andrew Hall has set up a petition against the “unfair” charges and argues that the Fowey Harbour Authority is attempting to “levy what is effectively a tax on river users”.
Hall says that the scheme is “grossly unfair and is not only a seeming attempt to bolster revenues, but also reduce access to a key UK waterway to the general public that has enjoyed free use”.
The petition reads: ‘It [Fowey Harbour Authority] cites safety concerns and significant costs in dealing with lost/abandoned craft which is at this time unsubstantiated and unquantified.’
In a report by Cornwall Live, Paul Thomas, Fowey’s harbourmaster, denied the new scheme was a stealth tax on tourists and insisted that all water users from Fowey up to Lostwithiel have to pay a fee to the harbour authority including sailing boats and fishing vessels all of whom already comply.
“We are a non-profit making organisation and all water users have to pay a fee to the harbour authority. We have a duty of care to all water users. We have watched the dreadful incidents in Rock involving a paddleboarder last year so we decided to find a way to improve safety and make sure that people who use the harbour and the river have a way to access all the safety advice and information they need and stay safe,” Thomas told Cornwall Live.
Under the scheme, people will register each vessel they own for £20 per year and will be given a sticker to identify their boards or kayaks so they can be reunited if they become separated.
Firstly, I wish to point out that kayaks and canoes are also included in this “River Tax”, not just paddleboarders. They don’t clarify whether wetsuits, drysuits or rubber tyres are included, all of which are in use on the river. Also it doesn’t matter whether you launch once or a hundred times so tourists will be hit the hardest, that’s if they actually pay.
Fowey Harbour Commissioners have decided to impose this charge to “improve safety and re-unite lost craft with their owners” by selling a sticker to attach to you craft. No safety lessons, no equipment check. No, this is about money. Falmouth Harbour have increased their harbour dues and admit it is to balance the books, check their website. At least they are honest about it.
I have lived near this beautiful river for 70+ years and know it’s tides, currents and weather conditions well. I don’t think a sticker will make me safer. Also, if I get separated from my address marked craft I doubt if I will be in any condition to care if FHC have found it for me.
Now there is the question of enforcement. Apparently the Harbourmaster has the right to “board the vessel” to enforce payments of harbour dues. I want to see how he can “board” a one man kayak or paddleboard safely and without endangering life and limb. He has also said he will involve the police if necessary. Really? They don’t have the ability to police burglaries. I doubt if they will hire a boat for a “high speed chase” after a paddleboarder. What will the harbour tax collectors do if a paddler refuses to comply and/or give them his/her name and address? Tow them in? Sink them? Why should a visitor pay for just one 1/2 hour outing on the river? Why should I have to pay £20 for each craft I own? I own four but cannot paddle more than one at a time so that’s £80 for maybe a few outings a year.
The FHC claim numerous incidents where they have had to save manually propelled river users. Where are the incident reports, please? Neither I nor anyone I know in my area have seen any, although the harbourmaster has had to have a word with engine boat drivers frequently.
There is also the fact that numerous people launch motor boats and sailing dinghys from Caffa Mill, Lostwithiel, Lerryn, Penmarlam and other private slipways. I seriously doubt that many of them pay the launching fees that are already in place. Readymoney beach is the only designated swimming area in the harbour, but I have never heard of swimmers in Polruan, Caffa Mill or the creeks being prosecuted. Not an easy target, perhaps.
So, it looks like this is a tax which only scared locals and a very small number of tourists will pay. Very unfair, in my opinion. At least being a local I can go to the Fal for free, or the Camel which is free but more unpredictable, or anywhere on the hundreds of miles of coast which is far more risky than the quiet and well used
Fowey river. It’s the safest place to paddle in Cornwall, in my opinion as a Cornishman.
I am really looking forward to seeing a Fowey Harbourmasters enforcer chasing down a racing canoe down the Lerryn creek, will they have machine guns or lasers?