Protest Against Fishing Ban

My local council has made fishing illegal at my local pond and are going to remove the fish from the pond.
As fishing this pond keeps many kids occupied and off the streets, I am naturally opposed to this move.
The pond is part of a nature reserve, and removing the fish defeats the object of protecting the species indigenous to the reserve.

The pond in question is BRINKBURN POND - DARLINGTON.

Anyone know how to form a credible protest to this kind of thing?
How do you do it, and because they will soon remove the fish, how can it be done quickly?

Will an email petition work? if so, anyone who is opposed to this move can express their opposition to my local council by sending an email to
Philip.Roxby@darlington.gov.uk

for more info on this topic, see the thread entitled "Rescue My Pond!!!!" in the General section of the forum

Jason, Ask your local councillor how the council came to this decision, and on what grounds are they to close the water
as a fishery
Failing any response, go and see Jack at the Army Surplus Store, North Road, and he will probably break a few legs,
not really a sensible approach though in hind sight.

[Peter Jacobs]

Jason,

here i an interesting snippet from the Darlington Council's press officer:

Quote:
NATURE RESERVE BLOSSOMS
Town centre land that was once overgrown and a hangout for off-road motorcyclists and underage drinkers has been transformed into a wildlife habitat. Brinkburn Nature Reserve is now home to Great Crested Newts, Moorhens and Dragonflys while dog walkers and cyclists have replaced the gangs of youths. Thanks to the imaginative ideas of the Council's Countryside Team and the Nature Reserve's volunteer steering group, local residents can now enjoy the tranquillity of the Brinkburn ponds and a mile of dedicated woodland footpath walks. "We set out to create an area of natural wildlife habitats that local people could have easy access to, enjoy and to protect the area from off-road motorcyclists," said Rob George, the Council's Countryside and Rights of Way Officer. He added, "It is the one project we have worked on over the last five years that has provided more benefit to local residents than any other and we know from the comments we receive from our volunteer rangers that local people are pleased with the work we've done and they value what they now have." £100,000 from the Council and the Countryside Commission has paid for the footpath to be surfaced, a half mile of cycle path to be built to form the link between the West Auckland Road cycle path and the soon to be developed North Road cycle route. The pond area has been redeveloped with a viewing point installed, British Conservation Trust Volunteers have set up bird nesting boxes throughout the reserve and gates and barriers have been built to allow access to walkers, cyclists and wheelchair users and to keep motorcyclists out.


Last Modified: 28 September 2002
End Quote.

It would appear that Anglers are not considered as either "local Residents" or "local people" - strange that when you consider that *your* local taxes have been used to fund this project, which in 2002 was estimated at 100,000?

Same happened down here in S Wales years ago, (cant remember how many) council took over a former quarry to make it into country park.
First thing they done was to ban angling, the best part of the lake for angling they made into a nature reserve (sound familiar) the fish were not removed though. Monster tench bream and rudd, now you cant walk around it without dodging the dog and horse **** its everywere makes you want to puke.

I've had a result. the Northern Echo has taken up the story and will be printing it on saturday along with a picture of me and my mate fishing it(oh no! I hate my picture being taken)
I just hope the story reflects what us anglers want to say, cos you know how reporters twist things! You can bet the council will put a bailiff on there now aswell, so I'm a bit nervous about the backlash from it too.
Keep the comments coming in though, as I would appreciate a lot of angler's views, so I can print them out and give them to the reporter. You never know, your comment might be printed in the story too.
If you dont want your name printed though make sure you say so.

If you don't want your comments twisted give them a written statement of four or five sentences.

Great Crested Newts, there you have it. The people with webbed feet are demanding that no more fisheries are created if there are any populations of the spotted things within, I think 500mtrs of where they excist. They are putting the demise of the species down to fish. So there you have it, the council probably have a couple of green wellied, overall wearing ,vegy Ms’s sitting on it. ( they are always a Ms, never a Miss, or Mrs)
As the Northern Echo is now involved try to get Geoff Herbert on side, I'm not sure if he still writes the angling column for the paper, but he is still active with other publications.

Hi Jason...You have email....Yes totally agree with you..l still cant understand why anglers and nature reserves cant mix..?..l also live in Darlington...was only pointed to this thread by a fellow member...
I always thought that the EA license money goes to protect fisheries and help the EA promote there work...
Wildlife is a No1 priority to me...l always take litter line etc away from the River Tees.....
So anglers do preserve the habitats and take care of the enviroment...
For me Anglers and nature reserves do mix....so Darlo council whats the problem ??
I incidentally work at the council, doing the horticultural side of things on a temporary basis.....
But if l can find anything out l will....

Cheers..

MOOKIE...

nice one!!
I would appreciate any info you can get mate.
They were supposed to publish the story in saturdays paper, but it wasnt in. Havent seen todays echo, so I dont know if it is in today.
I always take litter away from the river - even if it aint mine.
Just last week I took 2 carrier bags full of someone elses **** to the litter bin. All from the one peg. mini cereal boxes etc.
Why cant people make the effort to put litter in the provided bins, instead of spoiling the river by leaving litter everywhere. even if they dont throw it in the river & leave it on the bankside instead - it will still end up in the river when it floods.
I'm sick of litter in the river. 2 weeks ago I thought I had caught 2 big fish, but one turned out to be a carrier bag, and the other was a pair of shorts.