Bridgwater Angling Association

bridgwater aa in somerset have increased their season ticket prices by 25% for any anglers wishing to use more than one rod.2 rod licence is now ?40 (up from ?30),3 rod is ?55 4 rod is now ?70.
disabled anglers and pensioners wishing to use more than one rod have been hammered with a 78%(yes 78!)price hike in their licences.2 rod is up to ?27.50 (from 15)
3 rod is up to ?40 (up from ?22.50)
greedy b******s in my opinion,and discriminating against disabled people,which is illegal and i am making enquiries.

Sounds a bit harsh. Doubt you could bring a discrimination case though, as disabled are still paying less than able bodied people.

What about day tickets Pete?

Steve.

i dont see how it is discrimination??

Still sounds cheap to me any how so where the problem. ?40 adult and ?27.50 concession for a seasons fishing sounds more than reasonable to me.

One problem is that clubs are often hit by price hikes from landowners who own the waters they rent/lease. They have no option other than to pass the increases on to members. Happened to one of my clubs recently.

A quick look on your website and i see you have over a dozen waters you can fish. Thats not a bad price. One of my local clubs only as 5 waters and the licence is ?60.

Yes a bit of a hike in prices. The agm will be coming up raise the question there as to why the big increase in fees.

The rise wasn't announced until the AGM Brian!

?40 is cheap,i`m not disputing that,but a 25% rise is a bit excessive,especially if,as i do,anglers only buy the licence to fish rivers and drains,which have little or no money spent on maintenance etc.
?27,50 isn`t expensive,providing that you have more than the ?57pw incapacity benefit to try and live on,as some people have to.i can afford it,many can`t.
i was objecting to the fact that disabled anglers and pensioners licences have increased by 78% as opposed to the 25% for able bodied anglers.they may get cheaper licences,but disabled and old river anglers can only fish a small percentage of these fisheries near to access points,unlike the able bodied anglers who are able to get to more remote,less fished and often better areas.
far better if they had two types of licences,one for rivers\drains,which are subject to a close season.and a more expensive all waters ticket,which entitles the angler to fish all year round on stillwaters(which usually have most money spent on maintenance\stocking etc) and canals.

plus,it was decided and forced through by the committee,with no democratic voting allowed by the mebership!
and the treasurer who came up with the increases,is a non angling woman,who confesses to know little about fishing and has no interest in it.
bridgwater aa is also a limited company,thus is bound by the discrimination laws that companies have to abide by.
cheddar angling club charge ?40 for a senior ticket,and thats for one water only,but it is a superb fishery and well worth the money (?20 for a disabled\pensioner ticket)unlike the rivers and drains of somerset which have overgrown banks and are full of thick weed until the EA eventually cut the banks and water weed towards the end of july.

The comittee are elected by the members to make such a decision on the members behalf.

I agree that 78% is a large rise I guess it went up by around ?10 for both able and disabled anglers but thats not alot realy (4 pints of maggots).

"bridgwater aa is also a limited company"

Says it all. If it's a limited company there are directors, perhaps the committee, and they are the only ones who need to make the decision. They don't have to consult anyone, it is not a "society of members"!

Doesn't seem too exessive to me neither, especially if they're about to do some work or add some stocks etc. Are they?

i forgot to say that they have over ?100 k in the bank.Yes they are doing some work,ie,they are constructing a causeway across a bay on a 25 acre lake that they own,to create a one acre match\pleasure lake.They are being paid several thousand pounds by the company that is dismantling hinkley "A" power station,for the tipping rights,they will be dumping 500 lorry loads of topsoil from the site to construct the bank(the wisdom of using soil from such a site has been questioned by many members,but has been ignored)so the cost of stocking etc,is costing them sod all.
the glaston manor angling club spent upwards of ?40,000 constructing two nice stillwaters with disabled platforms and easy access,yet they didn`t hammer the members with a 25 to 78 percent rise,(their permits cost ?15 and ?30 for disabled and able bodied anglers)
I`ll say it again,I`d be happy with a 25% rise for disabled ticket,but a 78% rise is excessive in my opinion,especially when able bodied anglers (who are able to fish ALL of the waters and aren`t physically restricted to where they can fish) have only had a 25% rise.
The disability discrimination act states that disabled members of any club,association or society of over 25 members,must be treated in the same way as able bodied members,having a price rise of 78% compared to a 25% rise for able bodied members isn`t treating everyone equally,EVEN IF IT IS STILL CHEAP.
Plus the fact that the improvements are geared towards anglers who only use one rod.
The club says that anglers using more than one rod take up more room than anglers using just one rod,despite the fact that there is a rule in the permit,that states that however many rods you use,you must not fish more than one swim,or cast into other swims.In my opinion,members who only use one rod,are a minority in this club,the majority of the club are specimen anglers who use two or more rods, as the fish that they are targetting,are obviously not as common as the roach,skimmer bream etc,that one rod users target.

I think us anglers have been very lucky up to now with what we pay each year to fish.
But with the price of not only buying waters but leasing them too is rising fast. For a club to move forward they have to raise funds to buy new waters, and you don't get much for ?100,000 these days.
Waters are being lost to angling altogether, some being taken over by developers. Private individuals are buying up lakes and charging the angler ?300+ a year, just for one lake.
I know these price hikes are large but they could be much, much larger. We should be supporting our local clubs before we are all priced out of the sport.

Agree with Pete in principal about the price rise, but doubt anything can be done under the DDA.

Fishing has a lot to offer disabled people, be good to see clubs do more to market it.

Pete, so you aint happy then?

Scumbags!

Stick it on their council tax, see who's laughing then?

craig,i`ll be supporting 3 or 4 other angling clubs in somerset,who have raised their permits by around 10 per cent.i`m fully aware that rents etc have increased,but i still think that a 78% rise is excessive.plus i`m annoyed that they have targetted speccy anglers who use two or more rods.
I agree that fishing permits in somerset are cheap,compared to some other areas in britain.but if every club put up its` disabled ticket by 78%,i doubt that i could afford to buy all the tickets that i need to fish the waters that i wish,in the past i`ve bought up to 5 tickets,this year it will be three.

I do not know enough about the club in question or regarding the disabled benefit system. Yes 78% is a large jump but maybe you will find there won't be such increases in this area again. Maybe it wa a caseof bringing concessionary tickets into line. Maybe as an outsider all the prices you quoted for a years fishing isn't bad value, compared to joining a golf club or going to a football match, and then compare it to paying a day ticket each time you go, or joining a syndicate.
Does any of your clubs offer an exchange system where you can hand your clubcard in and exchange it with another local clubs ticket entitling you to fish their waters?

none of the clubs offer an exchange ticket system,unless you are a committee member of one of the clubs.
the glaston manor club used to issue free permits for registered disabled anglers,but started charging an affordable fee at the request of disabled anglers,who wanted to pay their way,rather than get something for nothing.
whether a disabled licence costs ?1 or ?200,to raise it by 78% is morally wrong,even if it is legal.

thats business for ya