Howsham Canoe Chute Under Threat - ACTION NEEDED
The Environment Agency want to put in two fish-passes and an eel pass into the Weir at Howsham.
There are a number of proposals under consultation at the moment. One of the proposals is to put baffles into the canoe chute as this is a cheaper option. This option would mean that the chute can no longer be used for canoeing.
If baffles are put in the chute we will also lose the popular Div 2/3 and short course Div 4 event.
The consultation process closes on 8th September.
The more people that object to this proposal the more chance we have of saving this important slalom training and competition facility. To add your response to the Environment Agency please follow the link below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultat ... nsultation
Below are the comments I have sent in that highlight some of the arguments from the slalom perspective and our favoured option:
Dear Ineke,
It was good to meet you at the Howsham Weir consultation yesterday evening.
You asked me to write down the points I made about the importance of the canoe chute for slalom canoeing and particularly the development of young Canoe Slalom Athletes.
I have been training, competing and coaching canoe slalom at Howsham Weir for 43 years. It was a friend of mine Ray Petit that designed the canoe chute. Ray is sadly no longer with us but he designed the chute on behalf of the Sports Council who funded the construction of the canoe chute.
Therefore the first and most import point I make is that the canoe chute was funded with public money for the purpose of enabling competitive and recreational canoeing at the site.
We have had a remarkable amount of success from Canoe Slalom Athletes that have trained in their development years at Howsham Weir.
Lynn Simpson from Kingston Kayak won the Senior World Championships. Howsham Weir was the nearest piece of white water for her to train on as a youngster.
More recently Barry Kell, Ryan Westley and Tom Quinn from Lower Wharfe Canoe Club were all selected to represent Great Britain as juniors with Ryan winning a Junior Team Gold World Championship medal. Ryan has gone on to take the Bronze Medal at last year’s Senior World Championships and Tom took the Bronze Medal at the World Under 23 Championships and was placed 6th at the Senior World Championships. Howsham Weir was their main training site from starting in the sport.
Currently we have a group of the best young Canoe Slalom Athletes training at Howsham Weir with their current Great Britain rankings listed below:
Cody Brown -Junior 11 -1st K1 -1st C1
Alex Benson -Junior 11 -2nd K1 -3rd C1
Luke Kavane -Junior 12 -2nd K1 -1st C1
Eve Ovington -Junior 13 -4th K1
Lucy Cundall -Junior 13 -5th K1
Liam Brown -Junior 14 -6th K1 -4th C1
Carys Grey-Thompson -Junior 14 -5th K1 -12th C1
Jack Burrow -Junior 14 -17th K1 -8th C1
The disproportionate amount of success of Canoe Slalom Athletes who trained at Howsham in their formative years is due to the unique flow of the water from the canoe chute.
The flow of the water out of the chute is strong and narrow with a very strong eddies either side of the flow. This makes both the cross of the flow and breaking into the flow very quick, forcing the paddler to change the edges of their boats with speed and precision.
The sports science evidence shows that for athletes to be able to fulfil their biological potential they must develop their neural system in the ‘window of opportunity’ before their major growth spurt. In Canoe Slalom this about developing a speed of reaction, balance and an affinity with white water.
Putting baffles in the chute will take away this unique flow and will deny our local current and future elite youngsters the chance to develop their all-important neural system.
However, as we discussed there is an opportunity to place a new north end fish pass that will actually enhance the development opportunities for our young Canoe Slalom Athletes.
If the new north end pass is built approximately 1.5 metres past from the canoe chute this would create a situation that would provide: eddy -flow - eddy - flow - eddy.
The most important thing for us is not to kill the eddies either side of the canoe chute or the speed of the water down the chute.
I am sure that it is must be possible to create adequate fish passage and retain the canoe chute with its unique qualities for the benefit recreational and competitive canoeists alike.
With best regards,
Phil Stephenson
Lower Wharfe Canoe Club