My thoughts on this. For our anger to be felt we should make sure that
no paddlers paddle the Dee this winter. (Maybe even to the extent of
boycotting the Nomad site).

The majority of the population of Llangollen is on our side and the
chamber of commerce is involved. But a total boycott would emphasize the
benefit we bring to the town

What we would really like, I think, is to have access to the river
throughout the closed fishing season. What Llangollen would like is this
as well. The Tours are fine but I more than anyone else am aware that
they bring big problems for the town - parking traffic congestion are
the obvious ones. But we also cause the pubs and restaurants and shops
problems. 1000 paddlers arriving for a weekend means they needing extra
staff but only for only two or three weekends a winter. This is hard -
you have your extra bar staff that you use for the summer tourist season
but you can't always call on them in the off season they may well be on
holiday or on the dole. Llangollen is a small town and signing on the
next week if you have done a shift behind a bar might be embarrassing
shall we say. If the numbers were fewer and roughly the same every
weekend then staffing could be organised better. But paddlers are not
the only visitors in town at the weekends and when the monthly Bridge
tournament coincides with a tour weekend it does stretch the resources
of the town to the limit.

Llangollen does depend on the paddlers - they are the Xmas bonus for
many businesses. Burnetts the Chip shot selects his holiday dates by
when the paddling weekends are not happening! At the height of the
Mike Jones Rally, the pubs were taking more money than they did during
the Eistedfod but the paddlers have to realise that they also cause
annoyance and problems and though the pubs and restaurants benefit there
are many other residents who don't and are inconvenienced and annoyed by
the invasion of wet legs as we are locally known


--
Dave Manby
Details of the Coruh river and my book "Many Rivers To Run" at
http://www.dmanby.demon.co.uk