THE weir across the River Neet, Bude will not be raised until May 1 preventing an outdoor activity

centre in the town from holding kayaking or

canoeing on the river before that date.

Keith Marshall owner of Bude outdoor activity centre, Adventure Interna­tional approached Bude-Stratton Town Council last week asking for their help in the matter.

He said: "Is this council aware that the river is not going to be raised this year until May 1."

The weir is owned by the Environment Agency who replaced the old fixed weir in the mid 1990s with an automatically operated weir as part of a flood defence scheme for Bude.

Charlie David, Open Spaces Manager for North Cornwall District Council explained that the weir enabled water to be kept in the river for recreational purposes. However there are risks associated with it being raised and NCDC and the Environment Agency have a protocol in place for lowering the weir during high river flows.

Seventy five people are employed at Adventure International, a multi-activity centre that has been running since 1979. A range of land and water based activities are offered including surfing, abseiling, kayaking, canoeing, mountain boarding and climbing.

Mr Marshall said his season started on April 19 and therefore the children who visit the centre before May 1 will miss out on kayaking and canoeing on the river.

Adventure International staff are also trained on the water that they are going to use for the activities and will therefore not be able to receive their training on the river.

NCDC have decided that the river will be lowered again at the end of September, however the season at Adventure International does not end until October. Mr Marshall commented: "They're making it almost impossible to continue."

Mr Marshall said that canoeing and kayaking would have to take place on the Canal whilst the river was lowered. However, this will mean paying for an annual licence to use the canal, despite only wanting to use it for a matter of weeks.

He said: "We moved off the canal onto the river to relieve congestion but now that's becoming difficult."

Charlie David said the raising of the weir coincided with lifeguard cover on the beach. The RNLI lifeguards commence on the beach at the beginning of May and are there until the end of September. The lifeguards help keep a watch out for any potential problems arising from high river flows that might affect beach users.

Mr Marshall said he had been told that if he wanted the weir raised earlier he would need to pay for lifeguard cover during that time, which would cost approximately £12,000. Mr Marshall considered this expensive, especially as he has 42 trained

lifeguards working at the centre.

Mr Marshall had also offered to provide two members of his staff to watch the weir if it needed to be lowered and patrol the banks.

However, Mr David said NCDC would feel "uncomfortable" for "privately employed staff to be looking after the well being of the public using the beach."

At last Thursday's town council meeting, Mr Marshall said he was "amazed at the lack of understanding of NCDC" and asked: "If this council has got any chance at all to make a recommendation I'd like you to do that please."

Unfortunately, as the item was not on the council's agenda the Mayor, Cllr Peter La Broy said they were unable to debate the subject but could put it on the agenda for next month's meeting.

However, Cllr Peter Moores, Deputy Mayor, said he "concurred" with Mr Marshall's views and couldn't see why the district council were being "obstructive."