An angling consultative on your doorstep?

Despite the small ‘staff’ and large regional footprint, the information feed isn’t restricted to a minimal drip feed of monthly offerings. Instead, it goes out when it’s available which means Richard and the small team are collating and distributing two or three times a week.

River Ouse at Ten-Mile Bank

“In many cases, we’re supplying information to people who belong to small clubs that don’t have their own website or social media pages which means there’s no obvious means for them to pass on information. Some of the clubs may only have 30 or 40 members and two that I know of still sell membership books, so they don’t necessarily have full meetings or any type of network communication with their members.”

The consultative set up is further strengthened by the fact that the recipients of WAAC’s information service become de-facto contributors too. The overall result is a virtuous circle of facts, guidance and intelligence that serves the local angling community at all levels. When the group has its meetings in Cambridge, there may be information input from perhaps seven ‘attending’ members and an ever-changing number of what Richard terms ‘Infomembers.’ These are members of clubs who voluntarily provide their time to pool resource on an individual basis for all in the region to share. The participation of these ‘Infomembers’ is possible because the group’s progressive thinking allows for the use of communications tools such as Zoom so those who couldn’t attend in person are still able to contribute.

“These contributors are the backbone of their individual clubs but through WAAC, we’re all speaking as a unified group, whether in person or via the Zoom calls,” says Richard. “One club studied crayfish problems for what must have been 7 or 8 years. They had constant input from the authorities and in the early stages, I suggested to the chairman that they really ought to think about publishing the information because we could see the way it was going. In the end, they published an official paper that anyone could have sight of and the Environment Agency were extremely thankful for. It was full of priceless information and, as a consequence, the club has now legitimately reduced its Signal crayfish problem by around three quarters.”

The availability of such information in the public domain means it’s the sort of intelligence that’s readily available to help others and it’s this sort of site-specific information that is the perfect illustration of shared learnings that might have been innocently hidden away if the Consultative hadn’t been present.

And all this for £15-a-year.

The Granta chalk stream is a tributary of the River Cam

“We’re completely independent. We have no affiliation to any major organisation or group and we keep costs to an absolute minimum. I don’t see the point in making a mountain out of it because it doesn’t need it. We’ve had dealings with organisations who have business in the region; we’ve been involved in some of the larger rural schemes and with charitable bodies but the only reason I have the title of ‘Chairman’ is because people in these areas expect there to be one. In reality, WAAC’s administration is just me and seven others.

“We’ve put in a lot of effort into it since 2014 but so far, if anyone wants anything, the only contact they have, is my email address or my mobile number.”

And there, in one sentence, is the principle of a local angling consultative in all its personalised glory. You don’t speak to an anonymous answerphone system or send messages to an impersonal email address; you speak directly to the ‘Chairman’.

As the knowledge of WAAC’s existence continues to increase, that, in truth, may have to change a little but your questions or observations will always be instantly dealt with by someone willing to help. And if they don’t know the answer to your query, they’ll definitely know someone who does.

*Anglers or clubs in the West Anglia Angling Consultative’s region, or others around the country seeking more information on the Consultative process, can contact Richard at:

[email protected]

*_{Photos reproduced by kind permission of Richard Hiom}