A FOUR-YEAR wait to find out who runs the Wye should be over soon, with Whitehall expected to favour the Environment Agency (EA) over any alternative. That would leave supporters of county control looking to The Lords or even Europe to keep their case afloat, writes BILL TANNER.

And there will be no cash coming from Herefordshire Council if they do. At a secret Cabinet session last week, the council's legal team again advised against involvement.

It doesn't wash with one councillor. Colin Rumsey, an ardent advocate of free access along the river within existing by-laws, accuses the authority of betraying a 'lifeblood birthright'.

"This is a council willing to pump money into a white elephant like Leominster's Bridge Street Sports Centre and even increase members expenses. But it won't spend to defend citizen's rights enshrined in four acts of Parliament."

There's been a lot of water under the bridge since the 1997 public inquiry to determine a navigation authority for the Wye. Some sort of decision is said to be due this month - at least that's the impression Leominster MP Bill Wiggin got from the questions he put in The Commons.

Leaks out of Whitehall indicate a finding in the EA's favour.

The issue is extremely complex, a legal labyrinth testing all that enter.

At its simplest the EA is seeking statutory powers from central Government to manage the Wye and its tributaries. But a revived local corporation, the Company of Proprietors of the Rivers Wye and Lugg Navigation and Horse-Towing Path which first assumed similar powers in the 1800s, contests this claim against its own.

Precedent

Vigorous debate between various parties with an interest added to the mix, which sometimes spilled over into the courts.

Simon Dereham, chairman of the River Wye Preservation Trust, says he is 'one hundred per cent in favour' of EA control.

"We can't apply past precedent to a 21st century situation. With the EA responsible for every other aspect of the Wye, it is the only logical choice."

The Lords, the High Court, or Europe could be where opponents next channel their challenge.