Rod license fees - stirring it up!

[Hopinc]

Hi Guys,

 

Am I the only one that thinks the price of a rod license is extortionate?

 

I saw the "good news" in the Angler's Mail about rod license prices being held for two years, but is this enough, should we demand a reduction. At the very least we ought to be able to see the EA financial accounts as to where our money is being spent, dont you think?

 

Whilst I am sure that the EA must do some good somewhere, from my personal experience I haven't seen any evidence of this. On the contrary I can think of at least one local anti-flood project and one where they restructured the river for canoeists that killed many a good fish.

 

No thought of electro-fishing first, and putting the fish back after the work has been completed - no straight in with the diggers, result hundreds of dead fish. I can't rationalise this type of thing with the idea of an agency that is supposed to look after our water resources.

 

I know that I am probably opening a large can of worms with this question, but I would be interested to hear what you think?

Edited January 30, 2011 by Hopinc

[denzil]

i think maybe we would get better service if it was increased to say £100 they could afford to do all the things we expect

[Worms]

i think maybe we would get better service if it was increased to say £100 they could afford to do all the things we expect

I think that the rod licence is cheap. Be careful what you complain about. The AT could get their hot'n' stickies on it and then we'd have to pay that bunch of muppets for the privilege of angling and suffer their restrictions

[Hopinc]

Hi Denzil,

 

I am not expecting anything for my license fee - and I am sure that's exactly what I'll get. What sticks in my throat is that an agency that is taking our money has killed fish needlessly.

 

If you think about this in another light - we pay £27 for the license, but if we get caught without it we could get fined £1,000. Have you ever heard of a vehicle excise dodger ever being fined that sort of money for driving around unlicensed and uninsured?

 

Food for thought perhaps!

 

I guess what I really want to see is accountability.

Edited January 30, 2011 by Hopinc

[Tigger]

Hi Guys,

 

Am I the only one that thinks the price of a rod license is extortionate?

 

 

No your not, there's at least two of us !

I think the rod license is just a scam or stealth tax, easy money for doin nowt or very little. Why on earth should anglers be singled out to pay for the upkeep of our waterways ? What about every other person in the country who use the waterways for birdwatching, walking the dog, walking in general, paddling, etc etc the list goes on ?

Of course there are some people/ anglers who think it's great to pay money to some fat cats creaming off all the cream but i'm deffo not one of them. I think these people get a feel good factor from it. Personally I'd much prefer to give the money to a charity.

[Hopinc]

Ah! - thanks for the support.

 

Do you mind if I tell you a little story about the EA:

 

I live in the mid Pennines and our valleys have always been subject to flooding from the local rivers. Every EA project that has ever been carried out to prevent this has just shifted the problem to somewhere else, never cured it.

 

They came up with a fantastic plan to build a subterranean tank complex under the park about 4 miles from where I live. This meant that park was unusable for children to play in for years, the project over-running considerably in both time and money. It cost millions of pounds.

 

They did not think to have automated sluice gates, no this was left to someone watching a camera focused on one of these large measuring sticks. He was supposed to have a key to open the gates.

 

Well you've probably guessed it. The first time this flood defence was needed they couldn't find anyone with a key. They had to fetch a guy from over 28 miles away to open the gates. How damn stupid is that? Of course by the time he arrived it was too late! The river flooded and the tanks system was never used. To this day it is unknown if the system will work or not.

 

Your license fee at work - a tiny key to a multi-million pound project that could not be found when it was needed. I despair.

Edited January 30, 2011 by Hopinc

[Worms]

Ah! - thanks for the support.

 

Do you mind if I tell you a little story about the EA:

 

I live in the mid Pennines and our valleys have always been subject to flooding from the local rivers. Every EA project that has ever been carried out to prevent this has just shifted the problem to somewhere else, never cured it.

 

They came up with a fantastic plan to build a subterranean tank complex under the park about 4 miles from where I live. This meant that park was unusable for children to play in for years, the project over-running considerably in both time and money. It cost millions of pounds.

 

They did not think to have automated sluice gates, no this was left to someone watching a camera focused on one of these large measuring sticks. He was supposed to have a key to open the gates.

 

Well you've probably guessed it. The first time this flood defence was needed they couldn't find anyone with a key. They had to fetch a guy from over 28 miles away to open the gates. How damn stupid is that? Of course by the time he arrived it was too late! The river flooded and the tanks system was never used. To this day it is unknown if the system will work or not.

 

Your license fee at work - a tiny key to a multi-million pound project that could not be found when it was needed. I despair.

Perhaps some of your licence fee went on this?

 

Analysis of Environment Agency stocking records has revealed how frequently fish

have been stocked to the upper Mersey catchment in the last two decades. These

records are likely to be incomplete but show that in excess of 0.5 million fish have

been stocked over this time period.

 

From:http://www.apemltd.co.uk/DocStore/FileLibr...Populations.pdf

[Tigger]

Ah! - thanks for the support.

 

Do you mind if I tell you a little story about the EA:

 

I live in the mid Pennines and our valleys have always been subject to flooding from the local rivers. Every EA project that has ever been carried out to prevent this has just shifted the problem to somewhere else, never cured it.

 

They came up with a fantastic plan to build a subterranean tank complex under the park about 4 miles from where I live. This meant that park was unusable for children to play in for years, the project over-running considerably in both time and money. It cost millions of pounds.

 

They did not think to have automated sluice gates, no this was left to someone watching a camera focused on one of these large measuring sticks. He was supposed to have a key to open the gates.

 

Well you've probably guessed it. The first time this flood defence was needed they couldn't find anyone with a key. They had to fetch a guy from over 28 miles away to open the gates. How damn stupid is that? Of course by the time he arrived it was too late! The river flooded and the tanks system was never used. To this day it is unknown if the system will work or not.

 

Your license fee at work - a tiny key to a multi-million pound project that could not be found when it was needed. I despair.

 

 

 

 

H, that doesn't surprise me in the slightest m8. I also fail to see why anglers money should be spent on flood defences. Surely that's a goverment issue that should be paid for out of all the other money they extract from the public.

[davedave]

I'd be happy to pay more if they made more of an effort with things like immigrants stealing all the fish!

[Worms]

I'd be happy to pay more if they made more of an effort with things like immigrants stealing all the fish!

They have, they've just made it illegal for anyone to eat fish!