 The entrance to Foxhill Fishery | An Aldridge fishery's bid to create new lakes and other facilities to meet growing demand has been sunk by planners. Foxhill Fishery, off Pinfold Lane, wanted to create three new fishing lakes, along with erecting a new building which will house a new café, five-holiday lets, shower and toilet facilities. |
Representatives said they also wanted to extend the existing children's fishing lake, adding the development could have created up to eight new jobs. But Walsall Council planning officers refused to grant permission citing a number of reasons including the potential harm it could cause to the Green Belt and Great Barr Conservation Area it sits in.
Other reasons included a lack of information on an acceptable drainage strategy, impact on species and potential impact on traffic. Agent Iain Denton said: "In recent times the number of fishing pegs have had to be reduced because of inadequate car parking space.
"At present there are 36 pegs on three lakes and only 20 car parking spaces. Demand does however remain high. Our clients propose to create three new fishing lake and to extend a small existing children’s fishing lake. They further propose to erect a building on-site, ancillary to the lakes, and housing a café, bait shop, showers, toilets and five-holiday lets. Their aim for the future is to cater for families, people with disabilities, children and new starters,
"Our clients have found that 50 per cent of anglers are big fish carp anglers and the other 50 per cent, like to pleasure fish. The existing pools are not big enough to accommodate everyone's needs at the same time and are not big enough to hold matches in the main season.
"The proposed lake design would allow our clients to hold matches, and to section off an area for children. With 40/50 per cent of anglers now choosing to big carp fish, our clients propose 16/18 pegs on couple of specimen pools.
"Anglers like plenty of space when fishing for bigger fish, and big carp anglers bring a lot of tackle with them. The proposals allow for 16 car parking spaces closer to the pools and 2 pegs where vehicular access can be gained for disabled anglers.
"Before matches most anglers will meet at café and draw pegs before driving to the match pool. 25/30 car spaces have therefore been proposed close to café. It is anticipated that the proposals will create 6-8 new jobs, and no alteration to the existing vehicular access is proposed."
Other reasons included a lack of information on an acceptable drainage strategy, impact on species and potential impact on traffic. Agent Iain Denton said: "In recent times the number of fishing pegs have had to be reduced because of inadequate car parking space.
"At present there are 36 pegs on three lakes and only 20 car parking spaces. Demand does however remain high. Our clients propose to create three new fishing lake and to extend a small existing children’s fishing lake. They further propose to erect a building on-site, ancillary to the lakes, and housing a café, bait shop, showers, toilets and five-holiday lets. Their aim for the future is to cater for families, people with disabilities, children and new starters,
"Our clients have found that 50 per cent of anglers are big fish carp anglers and the other 50 per cent, like to pleasure fish. The existing pools are not big enough to accommodate everyone's needs at the same time and are not big enough to hold matches in the main season.
"The proposed lake design would allow our clients to hold matches, and to section off an area for children. With 40/50 per cent of anglers now choosing to big carp fish, our clients propose 16/18 pegs on couple of specimen pools.
"Anglers like plenty of space when fishing for bigger fish, and big carp anglers bring a lot of tackle with them. The proposals allow for 16 car parking spaces closer to the pools and 2 pegs where vehicular access can be gained for disabled anglers.
"Before matches most anglers will meet at café and draw pegs before driving to the match pool. 25/30 car spaces have therefore been proposed close to café. It is anticipated that the proposals will create 6-8 new jobs, and no alteration to the existing vehicular access is proposed."
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