THE Basins on the north side of Wellington are, for the most part a calm and serene beauty spot enjoyed by many who visit, be they local residents or people visiting from outside the area.

The Basins are free for all to enjoy, and the fishing is popular because there is no fee to fish there.

People enjoy walking their dogs and feeding the ducks and swans.

Neil’s Coffee Stop supplies hot and cold drinks several days a week, and Growing Minds use the Basins as a venue weekly for parent and toddler classes.

The two ponds are a natural haven for wildlife, including water birds that have made the ponds their permanent habitat.

Sadly, there has been a recent incident of a heron found dead in the water, wrapped in discarded fishing line.

This has outraged local residents and has renewed calls for the fishing at the Basins to be reviewed - not stopped, as some people seem to think.

Perhaps, now would be a good opportunity to clarify that rumours of the heron being shot are unfounded, and we do not know if the heron was dead before it became entangled in fishing line.

However, the point remains, fishing line should not have been discarded in the water in the first place.

Many people are blaming ‘the kids’.

However, children up to the age of 13 years can fish there without license or supervision, so if they are the problem, then this aspect needs to be addressed with immediate effect.

The fishing community highlight that there are other on-going issues with dog attacks on wildlife and littering, and, honestly, the fishing community are great ‘eyes and ears’ regarding detrimental and anti-social behaviour at the Basins.

But, if there is no reporting system then their witnessing such behaviour is ineffective.

Personally, I have been witness to more animals injured due to discarded fishing equipment than attacks from off-lead dogs.

We need everybody to step up and adhere to the simple rules that make the Basins a pleasurable and fair experience for all.

It has become apparent to me that this needs a multi-agency and community approach.

For example, Government legislation states: “Competent authorities must help to protect wild bird habitats on land and at sea, and avoid pollution to protect wild bird population.”

The Environment Agency has an incident hotline for reporting injuries and deaths of wild animals, especially in relation to the waterways.

If people report issues at the Basins as they occur, then we can build a better picture of where the issues lie and how to prevent them in the future.

The Environment Agency hotline incident number is 0800 80 70 60.

It may interest readers to know that anybody can request to see a person’s fishing license.

You can be declined, but I feel it is in the interest of the fishing community to partake in monitoring and eliminate bad fishing practices and encourage good ones.

There appear to be some who are happy to support young people in learning how to fish properly.

Perhaps the Wellington community can work toward an ‘Angling Academy’ for young people to learn how to fish properly and safely?

I also reach out to all dog walkers to please have control of your dogs around the Basins and for dog litter to be picked up and removed.

For people not to litter, there are plenty of bins.

If we all choose to pass the buck in regards to the issues arising at the Basins then nothing will change, and it is time it did.

Emily Southall