Complaints about the way AWAC waters are run

[Ant0151]

Following on from john83's post on here about the AWAC waters and the way they are run has anyone complained about the way they conduct themselves and the service they provide, or lack of it ?.

Having walked around Royden park last week and seen for myself the MASSIVE fish loss due to Ice, and the disgracefull state that my local water is in at Gayton Playing fields I find myslef wondering what do we actually get for our money ?, the local council is ultimatly responsible for our waters and who they choose to run them but the service that AWAC provide is awfull.

No quaterly or yearly letter to members, no local paper information, and on my last sunday's fishing last year to the captains pit with my son I was asked to leave because the bailiff and his mates had organised a match, no signs, no local adverts, no web site, if I was on my own I would have stayed put and refused point blank to leave, I pay for my ticket which entitles me to fish the waters listed,in my opinion the lakes are run very poorly and by people who do not wish to disclose any information to it's compulsary members.

Aynway I know it's a rant but please let me know if you agree of dissagree because AWAC don't own the waters and from the current state of them they must stand a good chance of loosing them ? Fingers crossed anyway !

[DaveE]

If you read my posts under the 'AWAC waters' heading you'll notice that last year I made the very same points as you.
I'd love to see the AWAC accounts........are there any?
I'm told the Wirral Globe newspaper is taking an interest in the fishkill at Royden Park. If it publishes a story in this weeks edition it may be worth criticising AWAC via the newspaper (either by telephoning or via the Globe website). That way you may just shame Wirral Borough Council and AWAC into making a statement about the running of the waters and the accounts.

[Steve1]

Well said both of you.
Whether you are member of A.W.A.C. or not it still involves all of us who live on the Wirral as the waters are owned by the council, A.W.A.C. are only the managers.
I do think the accounts should be published somewhere, especially after the rumours that where going around a few years back.
Keep on complaining, try the "Good information on Birkenhead Park"

[B19j4y]

It is very frustrating that members are oblivious to what goes on within the A.W.A.C, I agree with exactly what Steve has said and should there be a story in the paper we should all jump on the bang wagon to get the anglers point of view across. Do they not hold meetings or conferences open to public interest?

[Steve1]

Why not go onto the Wirral Borough Council web site and ask the question

[Ant0151]

Hi Steve, I sent this email to the council yesterday, I will post the reply, IF I GET ONE

Having walked around Royden park last week and seen for myself the MASSIVE
fish loss due to Ice, and the disgracefull state that my local water is in
at Gayton Playing fields I find myslef asking, what do we actually get
for the £10 fee that we are charged to fish local ponds ?.

I have posted this same question in two local website forums and all users
have replied the same, we the local anglers who regularly fish these water
are disgusted with the state they are kept, the lack of any effort to prevent
the fish losses we have had due to the Ice and we have no idea what the
Association of Wirral Angling Clubs (AWAC) actually do with our £10 yearly
fee ?

We are also still in the dark about the, if any, re stocking program for
Arrowe park lake after it also suffered massive fish loss, No communication
from the group, no letters, no website, nothing in local papers, never in my
two short years of fishing these waters have I ever met an AWAC warden.

In this current economic climate where we all demand the most value for
our money we are being short changed by the service that AWAC are
providing and which you are ultimatly responsible for, most of our lakes
this year will not be worth fishing for various reasons.

Arrowe Park - Poisoned (a year ago)
Royden Park - Almost total fish loss due to neglegt in the freezing conditions
Gayton Park - Unfishable, Pegs have rotted away and an absolute disgrace
Captains Pit - Huge fish loss in the Ice, reported to AWAC nothing done
Brotherton Park - Closed, no one knows why ?

Please note, this letter of complaint and any reply from yourselves will be
posted onto the
Wirral-Fisheris and Merseyside Anglers forums for all Anglers to read.

[Steve1]

Wel done, very good
Let hope you get a reply, but I very much doughty it

[DaveE]

The Wirral Globe and Wirral News both published stories about the fishkill at Royden Park.
Coverage by both newspapers was poor however, no mention was made of fish kills at the Captains Pit, Woodslee Pond, Central Park etc. Also it would seem that the reporters simply invited a Council spokesman to comment rather than question or criticise them. The Globe made no mention of AWAC.
 
Roger Calvert, Wirral's principal officer for parks said, "It is really sad when this happens. It is an unfortunate combination of factors which it is not always possible to prevent. We will be clearing the lake over the next couple of days and are confident that fish stocks will recover as nature takes its course."

How comforting!
The 'clearing the lake' consisted of the rangers removing the bodies of fish which hadn't already sunk.

The elusive Malcolm Gillies, chairman of AWAC, said. "Lakes that were worst affected were the shallowest. Some of our waters have very low depth so once we get one or two inches of ice it is difficult for the fish to survive but the severity of the losses has left us shocked. The winter weather has been particularly harsh over the past two years. Unfortunately, this is nature. We need to work on getting the waters cleaned up."

So......not much to inspire us with hope from Mr Gillies. No mention of draining Royden and removing the silt. No mention of restocking. No mention of any other AWAC controlled waters.

The AWAC card probably still represents good value if you intend to fish the newly refurbished Birkenhead Park. But it would seem the other waters are to be abandoned to 'nature'.
     

[Steve1]

Hi Dave
Read the article myself, I`d like to think that someone on the Globe and Wirral News picked the story up off our forum but as you say they don't seem to ask the right questions.

"Roger Calvert, Wirral's principal officer for parks said, "It is really sad when this happens. It is an unfortunate combination of factors which it is not always possible to prevent."

Did AWAC try to do any-think to prevent the fish kill, I know a few fisheries that did with some success.

"We will be clearing the lake over the next couple of days and are confident that fish stocks will recover as nature takes its course."

Council tax paying for it while  AWAC should be putting their hand in their pocket,
and you can help nature along a bit.

[B19j4y]

am bitterly disappointed of the lack of time shown for the article like you guys have already pointed out it was poorly structured and appeared to be rushed to fill space rather than investigative

[paultyrer63]

this is a disgrace i agree with everything said i fished central park quite regularly last summer becouse it was convienient i only live up the road caught many fine carp lots of small common and the future of the lake seemed bright but awac have certainly contributed to this no longer being the case i am going to fish it tomorrow for the first time since september and am praying that by the grace of god some fish have survived it certainly wont be thanks to awac ill let all know how it goes paul

[Ant0151]

How did you fishing go ?

[paultyrer63]

 caught 6 half pound common on 3lb line a 14 hook and 3 maggots got the shock of my life when the float shot under i was nearly in hypnotic state had been stareing at the float for about 2 hours without so much as a knock caught nothing else no more bites but the common made up forit and restored my faith last sunday fished again not a sausage but today sun 27th feb couple of nice roach both about 8oz but i had worked hard for em 7.30 start after 3 hours trying maggot worm pellet bread cheese paste even peperami and back to double maggot wich produced the roach faith is slowly being restored though will keep at it and keep everyone posted tight lines paul t 63

[fish41]

Its very easy to gripe and moan. AWAC monthly meetings are first Wednesday in the Month at Laird Social club Rock Ferry. My club has only recently affiliated. I attended a work party on Royden Park last weekend only to find 4 of us turning up 3 of who had heart problems and sadly one bloke collapsed whilst helping lay stone down necessitatating the ambulance (helicopter also turned up) to whisk him off to hospital-needless to say not a lot got done.
I was also at Royden when the dead fish were up stuck in the ice and like the earlier question What could be done. There are talks to get some pumps and stuff but again it comes down to not only money but labour and time-- a scarce commodity for many of us. Age old problem with all clubs getting people to attend work parties especially if anglers in more than one club.
Accounts should be available under a Freedom of Information . I agree the communication from AWAC could be better especially in the days of email.
AWAC do have some tools and stuff available for the use of affiliated clubs.

[DaveE]

I think users of the park lakes have every reason to gripe and moan.
AWAC put themselves forward as managers of the park fisheries years (maybe 25 years?) ago and have had plenty of time to get themselves organised.
We all know clubs have declined as commercial fisheries have proliferated but if AWAC can no longer manage the waters they should relinquish control.
As for publicity, I've little sympathy for AWAC, if they can't publicise/promote themselves in this day and age they deserve to fold.

This isn't a dig at you fish41, I'm glad you have provided some information - what a pity the movers and shakers at AWAC can't do the same.

[fish41]

No worries DaveE. I have only been to a couple of meetings there myself. It would be interesting to know some financial figures to evaluate whats been done over the years. Judging by the little I have gleaned from the meeting I would tend to think the management (like myself) are getting a bit long in the tooth and lacking some of the drive and vision of perhaps some of our younger commercial fishery managers. I think the management committe have pretty much a free reign over decision making and expenditure with no voting from the members on issues. That can be a good thing if managed correctly but as you say that doesnt seem to have been the case over the years. That said at least there is some park lake fishing in the built up areas to get the youngsters interested.

[DaveE]

Perhaps you/your club could shake things up a bit!
I would suggest that nowadays most people who buy an AWAC card in order to fish the park waters are NOT a member of an AWAC club and therefore due to the complete lack of publicity know nothing about AWAC. This just isn't acceptable. AWAC need to look after their 'customers'.
 

[kingfisher]

hi there all i have heird from a reliyable sourse  that birkenhead park lakes are going to be a private members only from sept this year so they will not be on the cards for awac

[fish41]

I dont think your source is that reliable but i could be wrong. I think your sourse is getting mixed up with the contractors who look afterthe maintenance council parks,greens and gardens not the management of the Lakes. It goes out to tender in september and will then be a private company  (if it already isnt).

[fish41]

Just some info from a recent AWAC meet that may be useful for affiliated member clubs. AWAC have a number of tools available for use by member clubs on their own waters. These include aeration equipment and some (as yet untested) weed cutters suitable for thicker stem stuff like lilies, and rushes. The aeration equipment is basically a gas run pump with hoses and aeration tubes. There will obviously be some strict controls on the aeration stuff as its fairly expensive and AWAC chair was  suggesting a trial day to show club members how to operate it.