Fishing

From 5 November 2020, fishing has been suspended due to the national COVID-19 restrictions.

There is one council run fishing pond in the area at Hardwick Heath, Bury St Edmunds.

You will need a permit to fish Hardwick Heath pond. To apply for one, you will need your 12 month rod licence number, including the junior rod licence for children aged 13 to 16 years. The 12 month permit costs £15 for an adult and £7.50 for children under 16 years of age. Ensure that you read our angling regulations.

You can apply for a fishing permit online. During the current national COVID-19 restrictions permits will be issued with a start date of 3 December 2020 onwards due to fishing being suspended.

Newt pond, Castle Playing Fields, Haverhill - update

The Environment Agency and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) have confirmed the outbreak of Koi herpes virus in the newt pond. They have specified the actions that need to be taken if fishing is to be permitted. This includes the provision of a disinfectant dip tank that would need refreshing at regular intervals. These requirements have been costed and exceed the current income we receive from fishing permit holders on an annual basis. For this reason, we will not be issuing or renewing fishing permits for the newt pond but we are able to accept application for Hardwick Heath.

We recognise the popularity of fishing on the newt pond and would like to try and find a means of enabling that in the long term. Rather than raising the cost of a fishing permit to cover our expenditure or closing the facility, we want to find a way to keep it open. We have approached permit holders to see if they would like to form a fishing syndicate and then manage the fishing rights directly. This model has worked well in other areas and could be a practical way to address this problem. If you are interested in becoming a committee member or bailiff of a new syndicate to manage the newt pond in the future, please contact us:

Parks and Open Spaces
West Suffolk Council
West Suffolk House
Western Way
Bury St Edmunds
Suffolk
IP33 3YU
Email: parks@westsuffolk.gov.uk

There are also a number of private lakes where you can fish - visit Go Fish for more information.