Soča for All, Sign the Petition & Join the Demonstration on Oct 26th
Join the movement & sign the petition!
Initiated by local paddlers and the BRT crew, rally on October 26th to the Soça valley, to fight a new regulation that would increase the access fees to the Soça river by 566%!!!
Initiated by local paddlers and the BRT crew, rally on October 26th to the Soça valley, to fight a new regulation that would increase the access fees to the Soça river by 566%!!!
By Rok Rosman/ BRT*
Photo: BRT
This fall, instead of enjoying fire roasted chestnuts, the majors and municipal councilors of Upper Soča Valley gave us a sour apple to chew on when they presented their new suggestion to add to Soča River Boating Regulation Plan. The suggested changes clearly show they look at the river as the money-making machine that they own. The new plan is a way for municipalities to get rich off guiltless kayakers – the same ones that prevented the valley to be flooded by dams in the 60’s, made it a world-famous destination in the 80’s and are still active fighters for the wild Soča River that everyone benefits from.
To make it easier to understand – here are some suggested changes to the already existing River Boating Regulation Plan for Siča and Koritnica rivers from 1998:
– Daily pass for kayakers 10 € with price increase of 2,5 €/year in the next 4 years. Daily kayaking pass in 2024 will be 20 €.
– Weekly kayaking pass 50 € with price increase of 12,5 €/year in the next 4 years. Price in 2024 will be 100€.
– Seasonal (addressed to a name) pass 120 € with price increase of 5 €/year in the next 4 years. Price in 2024 will be 140 €.
– Business activity on the river (rafting) will be calcuated with flat rates. 1st rate – up to 10 boats: 4.000 €, 2nd rate – up to 20 boats: 7.500 €.
– Individual not following the directions of this regulation is penalized with a 400 € fee.
According to currently valid prices (daily pass 3 €, weekly pass 16 €, seasonal pas 30 €) this new suggestions involve 212,5 – 566% increase in price.
An open-minded person finds it hard to agree with above mentioned suggestions. The proposed plan is a brutal interference with (constitutional) right of an individual to use the nature as common good and a clear attempt of municipalities to fill their pockets at the cost of one group of users only (put-ins and take-outs are used by hikers and swimmers as well). Because of this, the local kayakers joined forces and prepared a PETITION Fair conditions for all Soča River users that has two purposes:
1. Strongly express disagreement with proposed regulation plan and require it’s cancelation.
2. Suggest a different, fairer and more transparent way of managing boating activities on Soča and Koritnica rivers.
The petition with all the information in SI, EN, DE and IT languages can be found here: SIGN THE PETITION HERE
To make things more fun and do more than just type and click behind a screen, we will make our opinion heard with a rally Soča for all! that will happen on Saturday, October 26th 2019.
PROGRAM:
12:00 meet-up of kayakers at Otona put-it
13:00 – 14:00 paddling the Otona – Napoleonov most section of Soča river
14:00 – 15:00 walk with kayaks on the shoulders from Napoleonov most take out to Municipaity of Kobarid
15:00 – 16:00 rally Soča for all! In front of Municipality of Kobarid
17:00 – 22:00 kayaking season final in Kamp Koren
Soča for all!
* BRT: Balkan River Tour
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