Unmanaged and unkempt Ashbourne fishponds to be rented out by …

Unmanaged and unkempt fishing ponds in a Derbyshire town will be rented out by a council to a sports committee and an angling group. The fishponds which give Ashbourne[1]’s Fishpond Meadows its name are set to be rented out by Derbyshire Dales District Council[2] for £1,000 a year.

It will see the Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide Football Committee hold the lease for the ponds for up to 15 years – with two years rent-free – and sublease the pond to the Dove Valley Angling Club. The 3.4-acre ponds themselves are currently unmanaged with the district council tending to the border around the water feature itself.

This was approved at a district council meeting last night (Thursday, November 2), with the plan to also see fishing regulated once again and improve access to fishing for people with disabilities. The lease would start from spring next year and access would not be restricted to the paths around the ponds, which would remain public open space.

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It would not become a “private fishing club with the public excluded from the area around it” and the formal regulation of the site would see health and safety risks managed, officials said. A report from the district council details: “The site is currently unmanaged, and fishing is unregulated.

“The proposal will allow Dove Valley Angling Club to manage fishing on the site in accordance with the national rod fishing byelaws for England – the rules and regulations explaining who can fish, where, when and what fish you can take. The byelaws protect and improve freshwater fish and their habitats.”

A biodiversity improvement plan would be drawn up as part of the agreement to take over the pond, the report says. It says the site was originally transferred to the council from Nestle in 1972 with angling licensed until 2019, when this was terminated.

The report says: “Since this time the site has been unregulated for any fishing activity and the pegs and small boardwalk have deteriorated with access restricted to maintain safety. All built features need capital expenditure to make them safe for continued use for fishing.”

It details that the site was promoted by Bagshaws in September and the agent has recommended that the expression of interest received from the Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide Football Committee with a sublease to Dove Valley Angling Club represents “the most favourable proposal” “due to their established local involvement and the expertise of an established fishing club”. A council report says the lease would be for 10-to-15 years with rent set at £1,000 a year, with two years rent-free, and a review of rent charges every five years.

The groups would commit to promoting community involvement, biodiversity and conservation. The Shrovetide committee would have the right to underlease or licence the Dove Valley Angling Club and would pay the council’s legal and surveying costs.

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References

  1. ^ Ashbourne (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
  2. ^ Derbyshire Dales District Council (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
  3. ^ Poll: Is the government doing enough to help with the cost of living? (xd.wayin.com)
  4. ^ the main Derbyshire Live newsletter here. (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)

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