Two groups with ownership rights over parts of the river Wye in Hereford have clashed over each other’s plans for the river - with both claiming the other’s will damage it.

Hereford & District Angling Association (HDAA) has applied to install a further 28 riverbank fishing platforms upstream of the main Greyfriars Bridge in the city.

But some of the riverbank is owned by Hereford Sea Cadets, which has submitted a strong objection to the plan.

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The cadet unit’s trustees say they “do not consent or give any permission for any structure or construction” on its land.

The trustees claim the existing 22 platforms “have been shown to introduce severe erosion and destabilisation of the riverbank and a large loss of wildlife habitat” – damage which would extend over a longer stretch of the river if the new platforms were approved, they say.

So far 15 letters supporting the anglers’ bid have also been published, along with two further objections.

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Meanwhile a plan to install a new boating ramp and cranes on the riverbank in front of the sea cadets’ hut, made by a consortium of which the cadets are a member, has drawn an equally forthright response from the anglers group.

Solicitors at Fish Legal (formerly the Anglers' Conservation Association) acting for it have submitted that the HDAA “owns the river bed and thereby the fishing rights along extensive parts of the river Wye, including the bed at the proposed development site”.

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The proposed ramp would therefore intrude on HDAA property, Fish Legal said, adding: “Unauthorised piling, driven into the river-bed, will be a trespass to land and would be rigorously pursued by our member.”

Neither planning application has been decided on, and indeed a case officer has yet to be assigned to the anglers’ bid.

Meanwhile around 30 objections have been submitted to the boating ramp plan, along with around 40 submissions of support. The target deadline to decide this planning case passed over a month ago.