Key Priorities

The Environment Agency's Enjoying Water strategy outlines a number of strategic priorities in order to meet current gaps and a number of strategic opportunities – initiatives that that would improve water-based recreation facilities, including:

• Address lack of access to water – many water resources could be opened up to a wider range of activities through simple steps such as improved public transport links, better parking, new slipways and negotiated access agreements.
• Address the lack of facilities for some watersports
• Integrate water-based recreation into ‘green infrastructure’ planning in urban and suburban areas
• Provide better information to improve understanding and use

Water-based recreation activities are activities that use natural and artificial outdoor water resources, both coastal and inland.  They do not include activities carried out by water as a feature of the landscape, such as walking, cycling, sea cliff climbing or bird watching. They also do not include activities usually carried out in swimming pools, such as competitive swimming and water polo. Water-based recreation has a number of positive effects.  It can help improve people’s general health and wellbeing, protect the environment and boost the local economy.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Sport England, Arts Council, the Department of Communities and Local Government all recognise the physical and mental health benefits of sport.  There are numerous targets set for engagement and guidance on integrating recreation into all strategic planning guidance.  The UK’s Framework for Sustainable Development makes it clear that all provision of recreation should be sustainable and should not take place at the expense of the environment.

The Marine Bill seeks to introduce a new framework for the seas, based on marine spatial planning, that balances conservation, energy and resource needs. Part 9 of the Bill contains provisions for improving access to the English coast.

Many Local Authorities in the South West have adopted National Indicators relating to healthier living and development of recreational opportunities.

Climate change is likely to have profound effects on the region’s coastal and inland water resources.  Steps need to be taken now to protect these environments, particularly from inappropriate recreation and other developments.

The Environment Agency's water recreation strategy, Enjoying Water, was launched in early 2009.  This is the culmination of a national pilot project to assess future water-related sport and recreational needs in the South West.

Key findings include:

• Demand for water related recreation is growing
• Tourism visits are expected to grow by 80% in the next 20 years
• There is strong demand for ‘doorstep’ opportunities
• There is a need for better information – availability & range of formats
• The region is well supplied with water resources
• On average 21 activities take place on coasts and 25 activities take place on estuaries
• The South West has strategic waters and water resources of international, national and regional importance
  

 Environment Agency (2009)

Overall trends suggest that the number of people taking part in some water based recreational activities has remained the same.  However, there has been a recent increase in the numbers taking part in other activities, which is likely to continue in the future. This is in contrast to countryside recreation more generally, where participation rates have fallen slightly in recent years. Demand for water-based recreation from those living in the South West region is likely to grow in the future, particularly as the regional population grows. People are likely to want to undertake a broader range of higher quality activities than they do at present.

Demand for ‘doorstep’ opportunities will be greatest where there are concentrations of population. However, there is also a need to consider how to engage the young and increasingly hard-to-reach members of society, to ensure that they experience the benefits of water-based recreation. More generally, there is a need to review how people throughout the region find information about water-based activities, so that they can make more informed choices about their consumption of leisure opportunities. This information, and the opportunities that it conveys, needs to be developed in the context of the UK’s sustainability principles, to ensure that the provision of recreation facilities is consistent with environmental protection.

The Enjoying Water accessibility mapping exercise found that: Most parts of the region have good accessibility to inland water for game fishing (public pay or private pay open to all). The exceptions to this (largely for topographic reasons) are the Somerset Levels, central Dorset and a corridor from Gloucester to Swindon.

• Most parts of the region have reasonable access to inland water for coarse fishing (public pay or private pay open to all). The exceptions are north and south east Devon, and west Dorset, where most rivers are shallow, fast-flowing game rivers. It should be noted that 20% of those in deprived areas face a 30-60 minute car journey if they want to go game fishing, compared to just 7% of the rest of the population. However, a bigger constraint may be the cost of accessing some game waters.
• Accessibility to inland waters used for sailing or windsurfing is limited in most of the region, being largely confined to the major reservoirs and water bodies of Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. Nearly half the population does not live within 30 minutes of an inland sailing/windsurfing facility. Coastal and estuary facilities will compensate in some areas but not in the central peninsula, nor in the north of the region. There are inland sailing opportunities to the east of Dorset, and people close to the Wales border can access sailing sites in Wales.
• Accessibility to inland water currently used for powered sport is poor and is not mapped as so few inland water spaces are currently used. The coast and estuaries can compensate for this in some locations. The map indicates that for those living near the south coast, accessibility is generally good.  Elsewhere this is not the case.
• There are many enclosed waters in the region over 15 hectares in size that could, due to their size, accommodate powered craft alongside other activities, subject to environmental and other considerations. The map shows that partly due to the distribution of enclosed waters accessibility to waters of this size is poor in the east of the region. This is partly compensated for by enclosed waters in the New Forest.

• A better place to play - our strategy for water-related sport and recreation (Environment Agency)

• South West Green Infrastructure Web Portal

• Natural England Green Infrastructure