Safe River Access at the Riverside Project, Stratford Upon Avon

It is great that the Avon Navigation Trust is recognising the importance of paddle sport on the River Avon. The new signage provides guidance to kayakers, canoeists and SUPers on how to safely use the river.

Hopefully this is just the start, and together with Stratford-on-Avon District Council, Paddle Trust and Paddle UK, I hope we can get a scheme together to construct a safe kayak launch point at the Fisherman’s Car Park.

Hi all,

These photos show the current condition of the river bank retaining wall at the River Avon at Fisherman's Car Park, Stratford Upon Avon. This location is promoted as a Paddle Point giving access to the river listed on https://gopaddling.info/paddlepoints/

As you can see the wall, with its exposed sheet pile, is in poor structural condition which is not only unsightly, but has the potential to injure people and damage boats when accessing and egressing the river here.

The River Avon is a great recreational amenity for the local paddlesport and those from further afield. We need to get together as a paddlesport community (kayakers, canoeists, SUPers) and try and work with Stratford-on-Avon District Council to see what can be done to improve the situation.

Paddle UK and charities such as Canoe Foundation and River Legacy may also be able to provide us with support guidance and perhaps even a financial controubution to getting the river access facilities at Fisherman's car park significantly improved.

I hope the local paddlesport groups Stratford On Avon Kayaks, Paddletastic, Royal Leamington Spa Canoe Club, Mercia Canoe Club, SUP Stratford Social, AquaPaddle UK will support the project too.

The purpose of this page is generate support to encourage Stratford upon Avon District to provide safe river access facilities for paddle sport users at the Fisherman’s Car Park in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Fisherman’s Car Park is used by lots of kayakers and canoeists, as well as other types of water user to access the River Avon. It is indentified on the British Canoeing Go Paddling PaddleSpots website, and in a number of guidebooks, that attract paddlers from all over the country to Stratford. However you may also have noticed that the concrete and sheet pile wall that supports the river bank is in poor condition and is potentially dangerous to those that are getting on, or in ,the water - especially swimmers and young children.

At present many people now have resorted to accessing the water further along the footpath that has now resulted in uncontrolled erosion occuring to the riverbank. There are no plans to repair or improve the condition of the wall and address this situation.

I think it would be great to get SDC to commit to repairing the crumbling retaining wall and develop a simple permanent structure to facilitate safe river access. It would also be important that the access was designed to be sympathetic with the surrounding environment. This could be a multiuse facility that supports swimmers, kayaks, canoes and paddleboarders that all use the location.

The location, and its flat paths and proximity to the car park also make it perfect for disability access. There is already an excellent wheel chair fishing facility installed. It would be great to provide facilities that would help encourage people with disabilities to engage in paddleport.

There are several charities that may be approached to help support the funding any project such as the Canoe Foundation and River Legacy.

I hope through this page we can generate some community support for this initiative and some ideas on how we can take this forward.