Watersports company to build headquarters next to the banks of River Derwent - despite ongoing legal battle

Plans for a watersports company to build its headquarters next to the banks of the River Derwent have been approved despite an ongoing legal battle with an angling club.
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The application, from Rapid Horizons Limited, would see a small storage facility with toilets and changing rooms built off Wenslees, close to Darley Bridge – upstream from Matlock.

Derbyshire Dales District Council planning meeting on March 8, councillors approved the plans despite strong opposition from a number of residents, anglers and angling clubs.

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They feared that “armadas” of inflatables and kayaks would continue to cause “real harm” and claimed the site was being “used and abused” by the firm.

The application, from Rapid Horizons Limited, would see a small storage facility with toilets and changing rooms built off Wenslees, close to Darley Bridge – upstream from Matlock.The application, from Rapid Horizons Limited, would see a small storage facility with toilets and changing rooms built off Wenslees, close to Darley Bridge – upstream from Matlock.
The application, from Rapid Horizons Limited, would see a small storage facility with toilets and changing rooms built off Wenslees, close to Darley Bridge – upstream from Matlock.

Councillors were informed that access rights to the River Derwent, from the spot the watersports company had been using for a decade, were a civil matter not for consideration by the authority.

John Best, who runs the company alongside wife Emily, said the company had used the site since 2012 and that access to the river had been used at this point for watersports for 40 years.

He said the company employs five local instructors and its main customers are tourists, charities and educational groups, with activities taking people from Darley Bridge down to Matlock Bath.

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This includes rafting, canoeing, kayaking and tubing – using inflatable rubber rings to float down the river.

Plans for a watersports company to build its headquarters next to the banks of the River Derwent have been approved despite an ongoing legal battle with an angling club.Plans for a watersports company to build its headquarters next to the banks of the River Derwent have been approved despite an ongoing legal battle with an angling club.
Plans for a watersports company to build its headquarters next to the banks of the River Derwent have been approved despite an ongoing legal battle with an angling club.

It had until now been leasing storage space two miles away and bringing equipment to and from the site each day, but the lease of its facility has been cancelled and the firm needs a new base.

Mr Best said the company operates between 10am and 4pm, mainly on weekends and also on weekdays during term times, for around nine months each year when conditions suit themselves best for watersports – not during periods of flooding.

He said: “The angling club holds fishing rights along the river and we have always been respectful of their presence while carrying out activities.

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“Our business needs a sustainable base to store paddle sport equipment and naturally the most sensible location for this is in the location of the majority of our operations

“We believe that it will benefit not only our customers but also local residents, tourists visiting the area and the local outdoor community

“It will allow us to reduce the journeys we make with our vehicles, easing congestion and emissions.”

He said the company regularly takes part in river cleanups and reports blockages and issues to the Environment Agency.

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Mr Best said providing parking on the site, for six vehicles, would mean there would not be any need for people to park on nearby streets or perform three-point turns which “inconvenience” residents.

He said the proposals would improve Matlock’s reputation as a “go-to tourist destination”.

Peter Astles, the founding member of charity Paddle Peak, which helps to remove “tonnes of tonnes of rubbish, litter, agricultural waste and sewage pollution every year using canoes and kayaks”.

Mr Astles, who also runs a watersports equipment business in Darley Dale, said one of his goals was to encourage local people to try paddlesports and improve access to watersport.

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He said the company had historic rights of access to the water in Darley Bridge.

Mr Astles said the company had recently featured on the Channel 5 programme Susan Calman’s Grand Day Out, “selling the Derbyshire Dales and the Derwent Valley to tourists”.

He said the plans were a “win-win” and would prevent the need for people to “pee in the bushes”.

Mr Astles said the plan would “create and preserve local employment and promote environmentally friendly activities”.

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He said: “There is not a better way to enjoy this valley and its cliff edges, the trees and the wildlife than from a boat on the water.”

Gary Edwards, a freelance kayak and canoe guide working for Rapid Horizons, said the firm had been providing professional outdoor adventure trips for 10 years

He said other providers and kayaking and canoe clubs up and down the country use the site on a regular basis and that the firm was “very sympathetic to the surrounding countryside”.

Jane Wallace, who has lived in the village since 2017, said flood risk assessments of the site were out of date and “woefully inadequate”.

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She said the site was said to have a one in 1,000 years flood risk which had been “blown out of the water in the past four years”.

Ms Wallace said her property was at times “only inches from inundation”, that the site often floods and that “climate change will only increase the frequency and severity of floods”.

Steve Clamp, opposing the plans, said the parking plans were “totally inadequate” and the site, next to a “steep, rapidly-eroding and undefended river bank,” was unsafe.

Martin Seddon, who lives close to the site, said: “The whole development will be highly visible, intrusion in the field.”

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Gareth Griffiths, a senior council planning officer, said the site where the company launches from is “unregistered land”.

He said a legal opinion had been submitted to the council, on behalf of local angling clubs, which claimed “there is no substantial evidence to give rise to a public right of navigation over these stretches of the upper derwent”.

This was being countered by the British canoeing body, he said.

After concerns from councillors about the site’s use during flooding, he said: “A reputable company would not put peoples’ lives at risk by taking them out onto a river that was potentially dangerous.”

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Cllr Garry Purdy, leader of the council, said: “Looking at the concerns and objections of angling clubs, it is no surprise that these two sporting activities are not going to come together.

“There are some quite salacious bloody comments in here, quite frankly, which are out of order.

“It is sad that they are entrenched and there is seemingly no chance in them coming together.

“I have a responsibility as leader of this authority to encourage business into the Dales, and this is a business. I think we should encourage businesses like this.

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“They are well-respected on TripAdvisor, they bring income into this area and I have no reason to suspect that it is not a well-run business, as is alleged in some of the comments.”

Cllr Neil Buttle said: “I am a bit baffled by this one. I can see why it would be great to have it and I can see that it is in a flooded field, outside the settlement boundary and the argument being made about allowing sporting buildings outside in green spaces. They have already said they will continue to work at that place (if the plans are not approved).”

Cllr Richard FitzHerbert agreed with council officers that the plans represented “suitable growth of tourism in a sustainable location”.

He said: “This application, in my opinion, improves accessibility to this particular sport.”

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Cllr FitzHerbert said the plans may increase the car park income in Matlock Bath, “also increases the offer of our activities in the Derbyshire Dales” and “increase the wonderful tourism offer that we have”.

He said: “Yes there are some problems and the local residents are concerned about that, but it is not in their interest to do this badly, it is not in their interest to have traffic parked up on Wenslees.

“They are very professional and very reputable and they respect the environment.”

Cllr Peter Slack said there was a balance to be reached with the application, saying: “We do have to bring tourism into the area and also encourage sport in the area but we have also got to respect other interests of fishermen and walkers and other road users.”

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He said he was “very concerned” about health and safety issues, including potential use of the site around nightfall during the winter – though the business would likely not operate during this period.

Cllr Slack said: “It is a very very dangerous place to be on the river in the dark and it should be a condition that in the wintertime, when the days are short, they should be off the river well before 3pm and into storage.”