How do i get permission for rivers ??

[sidaces]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all your help so far with my finds and information ect. I have a nice part of the river I would like to search in the Chester area. I was wondering what is the process and who do I ask or apply for permission from ? Any help with this would be much appreciated thanks all

[Phil2401]

Probably not much help but long stretches of the river Dee are owned by the Grosvenor Estate around Chester - they might be worth contacting.

[knotalot]

May not be right but i was always led to believe the river bed usually belongs to the owner of the land ajacent to it or to the centre if on the boundry,so i guess first stop would be land owner(s)

[jcmaloney]

May not be right but i was always led to believe the river bed usually belongs to the owner of the land ajacent to it or to the centre if on the boundry,so i guess first stop would be land owner(s)

This !

[Harri]

I think you will find, all river beds are owned by the enviromental agencies, landowners own up to the river banks, and all fishing rights etc;

The Enviroment agencies are very touchy about people disturbing river beds.

Maybe, someone here knows better, but I am pretty sure this is the way it is?

[Oxgirl36]

May not be right but i was always led to believe the river bed usually belongs to the owner of the land ajacent to it or to the centre if on the boundry,so i guess first stop would be land owner(s)

This !

Absolutely right. According to the current legislation on rivers they say, unless your deeds tell you otherwise, you own to the centre of the river.

As a river owner have an obligation not to pollute the river, not obstruct it and to not damage wildlife but doesn't mention metal detecting. Note for fishing rights the river owner may or may not have any!! Never knew that!

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... sibilities" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[sidaces]

Thanks everyone for the info it's a big help cheers

[oldartefact]

I think you will find, all river beds are owned by the enviromental agencies, landowners own up to the river banks, and all fishing rights etc;

The Enviroment agencies are very touchy about people disturbing river beds.

Maybe, someone here knows better, but I am pretty sure this is the way it is?

Where did you get the info about the EA Harri?? With the greatest respect the EA has only been around for a few years, though the river beds have been owned since the dawn of civilisation. Are you saying that when the EA came into being they requisitioned ownership of the river beds???

[Saffron]

I think you will find, all river beds are owned by the enviromental agencies, landowners own up to the river banks, and all fishing rights etc;

The Enviroment agencies are very touchy about people disturbing river beds.

Maybe, someone here knows better, but I am pretty sure this is the way it is?

Sorry, but unless things have changed very recently this is wrong (and I am fairly sure that they have not).

As others have said the adjacent landowners own to the middle of the river. These are the people you need to contact re detecting the river bed.

Normally, they also own such things as the fishing rights, this is know as the riparian rights.

Unless a section of river is where fish breed (eg spawning grounds for salmon and trout) the Enviroment Agency are not normally worried about limited disturbance to the river bed. What they are much more interested in is anything that might effect the flow of the river in any away (eg narrowing, deepening or obstructing).


Changing tack slightly I notice that the OP mentions says "a nice part of the river I would like to search in the Chester area.". Depending exactly where if on the Dee this could be tidal, if so it is regarded as "sea bed" and not "river bed" (prime examples of this are the Thames in London and the Severn in Gloucester ... which you would think are "river bed" but are in fact "sea beds"!). This totally changes the game and it comes under the crown estate and the following applies (taken directly from the Crown Estate metal detecting pages)

"Seabed Metal Detecting
At present The Crown Estate does not grant permits for the sea bed as the Treasure Act does not apply below the foreshore."

Evan

[oldartefact]

I guess another thing to consider are shellfish ... particularly freshwater mussels ... some of which are on the endangered species list.

[sidaces]

Thanks everyone for your time and expertise

[Phil2401]

A possible trade-off when seeking permission - if your local river has a problem with American red signal crayfish - offer to catch / trap them in return for permission to detect - catching the little critters is nearly as entertaining as detecting (and you can eat them too) ... nobody - local authorities, landowners etc. objects to anyone getting rid of these unwelcome pests.