A CONTROVERSIAL plan to build more angling platforms along the river Wye in Hereford has been slammed by the government’s wildlife watchdog as a threat to the river habitat.

Hereford and District Angling Club is seeking planning permission to construct 28 more wooden “pegs” on either side of the protected river upstream of the city’s main Greyfriars bridge.

But Natural England now says in a six-page submission that “further alteration to the banks of the river could prevent the restoration of both bankside and in-channel habitat”.

Fishing platforms can mean the loss of bankside vegetation and “scouring” or washing away of soil, while their construction and future management “would include tree removal”, it says.

The stretch of river is a haven for fish in winter, hence its popularity with anglers, but loss of vegetation and the shade it provides could harm the fish, it adds.

It also claims the anglers strimmed vegetation on the bank last year without Natural England’s permission – “for which the applicant received an enforcement letter”.

Though the river enjoys a high notional level of protection as both a special area of conservation and site of special scientific interest, Natural England last year downgraded its status to “unfavourable – declining”.

It now says that the anglers’ application has not been adequately assessed for any impact on these designations.

Recreational use along the city’s river already puts “high pressure” on it, and the new proposal “will significantly increase recreational pressure along a greater stretch” of it, Natural England says.

When the existing fishing platforms were approved in 2015, “it was agreed between parties including the applicant and Natural England, that no more platforms were required”, it adds.

But the plan is proving popular with anglers themselves, of whom around 60, all but one apparently male, have put in messages of support.

One, Richard Coggins, said the existing fishing platforms “have been a huge success” and indeed “are used extensively by the local kingfisher population as a perch”.

“Far from damaging the fish habitat, the platforms provide shading and consequently there will be more cover for fish, not less,” he claimed.

Herefordshire Council has said it aims to decide on the application, which for now remains open for comments, by June 14.