Anglers to cast a line with byelaws petition

It will be delivered to Bexhill Town Hall by some of the anglers led by Neil Smith, a Bexhill resident and keen sea angler.

Working with Sussex Sea Angling Network, he has spearheaded the protest since March after the council revealed two new proposed byelaws.

Fish Legal, part of the Angling Trust, told the council it believes its proposals would be manifestly unreasonable and, if implemented, they would be unlawful.

The Angling Trust is the national body representing recreational sea anglers in England of whom there are about 1 million, according to government figures.

The first proposed byelaw seeks to ban angling from a stretch of Bexhill beach in front of the De La Warr Pavilion. The second wants to forbid fishing “in such a manner as to cause danger, obstruction or annoyance to any person using the seashore” all along the council’s entire coastline from the Kent boundary to Pett Level and from Hastings to Pevensey Bay.

Mr. Smith said the second proposal would be an even greater threat to sea angling throughout Rother. “Who decides what is a danger, an obstruction or an annoyance?”

The petition objects to both bans. Comments from signatories reflect anglers’ fears that once introduced, wider restrictions would follow.

Mr Smith said: “We regard these draft byelaws as draconian, especially when Rother council has not in the past raised any concerns with anglers.

“We have offered to meet councillors and their officials to discuss and defuse the situation but they have refused.”

Cllr Martin Kenward, for Rother District Council, said: “The council is very happy to accept the petition from the Sussex Sea Angling Network.

“The very purpose of the consultation exercise was to encourage the public and organisations that use the beach and promenade to tell us what they think of the draft proposals. Anglers have certainly done that and we welcome their comments and will consider them very carefully before making a final recommendation.

“It is worth reminding people that no decisions have been made yet and the responses to the consultation will be an important consideration as councillors deliberate the changes to byelaws in the district.”

• The Sussex Sea Angling Network (SSAN) makes regulatory bodies, including local councils, the government’s new Marine Management Organisation and the Sussex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority, aware of sea anglers‘ concerns about the regulation of their sport in the county. The network may be contacted at www.ssan.webeden.co.uk