Sir – Abingdon Hydro’s project to generate hydroelectricity from the weir now has an Environment Agency licence. At local events, most recently Fun in the Parks, we have been pleased to find strong support.

It will be environmentally benign, but the Angling Trust is highly critical. They say that we damage the ecology of the river, but we have not been shown any evidence to back that up. They complain about the effect on flow-loving species, but the river will continue to flow as before, and we will add a new fish pass.

They say we should be monitoring the fish, but we don't know what for, and bird watchers for example do their own monitoring. They complain about damage to spawning habitat, but we find little agreement about where the fish spawn. We are willing to talk to them, as we are doing with the canoe clubs, but all we get is a barrage of criticism.

There is a strong angling lobby inside the Environment Agency, and the Angling Trust want to make the EA regulations as difficult as possible.

That would make it hard for local projects like ours to afford the work needed for a licence. Then instead of the benefits coming back to our community, a large company would come in and do it for their own shareholders.

Richard Riggs, Director, Abingdon Hydro