Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Wild swimmers facing £1k fines in call to lift ban
PEOPLE campaigning to be allowed to swim in Bristol’s Floating Harbour have been warned they will be prosecuted and could be fined £1,000 if they continue to stage illegal ‘protest swims’.
That was the message from the deputy harbour master, who told around 25 people wild swimming in the Cumberland Basin yesterday morning that it was dangerous and not allowed.
It was the second ‘swim protest’ this week, after campaigners led by local businessman Johnny Palmer stepped into the water to bring attention to their campaign.
They say the water quality, which had been poor for years, is now good enough for Bristol City Council to consider the idea of allowing wild swimming in the Basin, or at other specific locations in the Floating Harbour, under controlled conditions.
The campaigners point to places such as Copenhagen, where inner city bodies of water, canals and rivers have special swimming areas.
But the council yesterday reinforced its policy of not allowing swimming of any kind – even by experienced wild swimmers under controlled conditions.
The council said that the Floating Harbour is a working docks, the water quality isn’t good enough, and swimming there under any circumstances is not safe. Council chiefs are also worried that the campaign might encourage other people less experienced to get in the water – and there have been a number of deaths over recent years in the harbour.
There are signs around the docks, including at the Cumberland Basin, that make it clear that no swimming is allowed and anyone in the water could be fined £1,000.
On bank holiday Monday a group of around a dozen wild swimmers got into the water of the Cumberland Basin, went for a swim and were then ejected from the water by the Harbour authorities.
Yesterday morning, numbers had swollen to between 25 and 30, and this time everyone had exited the water before the Deputy Harbour Master arrived on foot, accompanied by a Harbour Master patrol boat.
The Deputy Harbour Master told the swimmers that what they were doing was dangerous, unsafe and illegal – and they would be prosecuted.
“To everyone here, I’d just like to point out – this is illegal what you’re doing,” he announced.
“Whether it changes in the future... but I ask you to stop, politely, and prosecutions will be made from now on,” he said.
The deputy harbour master returned to specifically warn the last two remaining swimmers who were still getting changed again, to tell them they would be prosecuted if they swam again.
“I’ll give you a warning that if I see you here again, it will result in a civil prosecution by the council,” he told them.
Mr Palmer said he had emailed the Harbour Master’s office asking for a meeting to discuss the ban on swimming in the Floating Harbour.
Yoga teacher and outdoor swimming coach Amelia Paul, from Swimoga, was one of those who took part in the illegal swim.
“I’m a very keen wild swimmer. At the moment I swim in Clevedon, I swim in the River Avon on the other side of Bristol – I have to get in my car, I have to drive, and I live less than half a mile from Bristol harbour,” she said.
“I’ve visited places like Copenhagen, and I really feel it is a great time to get conversations going, as a lot of people here do, about how safely we can all use the harbour, at specific times, and obviously when the water quality is good, as well, so that we can get in the water and use the water for swimming.”
“I would love to help people who have never wild swum before, who live in the city, to be able to come and get in an open body of water which is on their doorstep, rather than ask them to have to drive places, or get on the bus and go to places outside of the city centre,” she added.
But Bristol City Council and the Harbour Master maintain swimming there is dangerous and no one should be doing it.