Fee to use River Fowey labelled as “unfair tax” by paddleboarders

Paddleboarders and kayakers are up in arms about a new annual levy introduced by the Fowey Harbour Authority. Kayakers and paddleboarders will have to pay £20 per year per craft to use the River Fowey under a new registration scheme, which Fowey Harbour says aims to improve water safety and charge all those who use the river equally.

Paddleboarder Andrew Hall has set up a petition against the “unfair” charges and argues that the Fowey Harbour Authority is attempting to “levy what is effectively a tax on river users”.

Hall says that the scheme is “grossly unfair and is not only a seeming attempt to bolster revenues, but also reduce access to a key UK waterway to the general public that has enjoyed free use”.

The petition reads: ‘It [Fowey Harbour Authority] cites safety concerns and significant costs in dealing with lost/abandoned craft which is at this time unsubstantiated and unquantified.’

In a report by Cornwall Live, Paul Thomas, Fowey’s harbourmaster, denied the new scheme was a stealth tax on tourists and insisted that all water users from Fowey up to Lostwithiel have to pay a fee to the harbour authority including sailing boats and fishing vessels all of whom already comply.

“We are a non-profit making organisation and all water users have to pay a fee to the harbour authority. We have a duty of care to all water users. We have watched the dreadful incidents in Rock involving a paddleboarder last year so we decided to find a way to improve safety and make sure that people who use the harbour and the river have a way to access all the safety advice and information they need and stay safe,” Thomas told Cornwall Live.

Under the scheme, people will register each vessel they own for £20 per year and will be given a sticker to identify their boards or kayaks so they can be reunited if they become separated.