20th May 2023, NEWLY MERGED CLUB

Following the recent Extraordinary General Meetings, the newly merged club, the Southdown & Hydneye Community Angling Club (SHCAC) officially came into being on the 1^st April 2023 with the Southdown Angling Association (SAA) ceasing to exist on the 31st April, with all assets and responsibilities then being transferred to the newly merged club.

All the fishing waters previously held by the SAA will now be under the control of the SHCAC, although membership of the Rother Fisheries Association will not be renewed..

As a result this SAA website will no longer be maintained apart from notices or news items with relevance to the SHCAC and will therefore be closed down in the near future.

Membership of the SHCAC is now only available online via Clubmate on the SHCAC website, or if this proves difficult, in person through the Polegate Angling Centre in Eastbourne.

The SHCAC website can be accessed at:  https://hydneyecac.co.uk and all queries or enquiries should now be addressed there

30th March 2023, NEW MERGED CLUB

Following the recent Extraordinary General Meetings, the newly merged club, the Southdown & Hydneye Community Angling Club (SHCAC) officially came into being on the 1^st April 2023.

Annual membership of the new club will be on a rolling basis, administered via Clubmate, with membership for one year starting on the day one signs up and pays the annual subscription. Membership booklets will no longer be issued as members will receive a photo I.D. membership card.

As a condition of joining the new club, all members will need to supply a passport type photo online (not an actual photo but a photo taken on your phone or computer, using  the Clubmate App), so that our bailiffs can easily identify you.   We will also need an Email address and Mobile telephone number, as we will only communicate by email and / or text. Communication by post is far too costly and we do not have the resources to do it; also, it is too slow and labour intensive.

Southdown members, including those with discounted winter memberships,  having joined Southdown on a seasonal basis, will automatically become a member of the new club on the 1^st April and will need to renew their membership of the new club on or before 1^st May as all Southdown memberships from the current year will end on the 30^th April 2023. There are no plans for a discounted winter membership as membership of the SHCAS  will now be on a rolling basis and members get a full year’s membership from the date they join.

Hydneye members who will have joined  last year on a rolling basis, will automatically become a member of the new club on the 1^st April and will have to renew their membership to the SHCAC when their Hydneye membership expires. Many are up  for renewal immediately or over the next few weeks, although some will have weeks or even months still left on their Hydneye membership. They will be able to see the expiry date on their membership I.D. Card or by logging into their Clubmate account.

All SHCAC members will be encouraged to use Clubmate which affords much better interaction between the club and its membership. It also allows the club to be much better organised and easier to manage with the limited resources we have at our disposal. Clubmate will be a huge help in hopefully making the club  fully viable over the coming years. Hydneye has been using the system very successfully over the past year and the membership has mostly welcomed it. Some individuals have needed assistance and after that, most were very happy using it. We plan to hold workshops over the coming few weeks, to assist people in using Clubmate and setting it up,

Most Southdown members will have received an Email setting out the procedure to enrol in the new club and will already have a Clubmate account using their Email address for receipt of that Email as their user login and will just need to complete the account setup by clicking on the following link:

https://hydneyecommunityanglingclub.clubmate.co.uk/register

Also, here is another link to “Buying a Membership”

Buying A Membership Guide | Clubmate Help Centre

And another link for “Renewals”

Online member renewal process | Clubmate Help Centre

There is a lot of work still to be done in the coming weeks in terms of making information available to members. We plan to make all rules and regulations available to download from a new website which is currently being put together. This will include proper maps with as much detail as possible about the waters  and venues.

Most importantly, Clubmate is now up and running and ready to receive membership applications and renewals. If you have any problems, please contact the club via email at: contactshcac@gmail.com or visit Polegate Angling Centre.

SOUTHDOWN ANGLING ASSOCIATION

Welcome to one of Sussex's top coarse angling clubs, which was founded in 1997 following the merger of two other local clubs, namely the Compleat Angler Fishing Club of Eastbourne and the Hailsham Angling Association.

The Association are members of both the Angling Trust and Fish Legal who work on all anglers behalf to safeguard our waters and the fish therein which we attempt to capture.

We have something to offer every fisherperson, be it a meandering stretch of the River Cuckmere, or maybe the Wallers or Pevensey Havens on the Pevensey Levels will take your fancy. Should you prefer a secluded lake or pond, set in the depths of the East Sussex countryside we can offer you Curls Farm and Marle Green. The Southdown AA are also members of the Rother Fishery Association giving our members access to several miles of fishing on the eastern River Rother and the Royal Military Canal

With specimen fish of all species, a pro-active and enthusiastic match section, or maybe just a peaceful afternoon or evening float fishing on one of our many waters, the Southdown Angling Association caters for all who enjoy the pleasures fishing has to offer.

With trained angling coaches amongst our ranks, we offer a safe environment for younger and older fishermen or women to improve their angling skills. Our aim is to promote angling throughout Sussex and the UK as a whole.

Please do not hesitate to contact your committee for further infomation via the contact page, or alternatively telephone the Polegate Angling Centre (01323 647187) who will be more than happy to assist.

For all the latest news and information, please also check out our Facebook page at:

www.facebook.com/Southdown-Angling-Association

1st March 2023

Merger between the Southdown A A

and the Hydneye Community Angling Club

With the merger agreed to form the Southdown and Hydneye Community Angling Club (SHCAC), effective from the 1st April 2023, a new website will eventually be set up to cover the new organisation, rendering this current Southdown AA site obsolete. In the meantime however, we will continue to update this site with any applicable information or news items, until the SHCAC site is up and running. 

12th February 2023

Proposed Merger between the Southdown A A

and the Hydneye Community Angling Club

At the second Extraordinary General Meeting held on the 31st Jan 2023, to vote on the proposed recommendation to merge the Southdown Angling Association and Hydneye Community Angling Club and attended by members of both clubs, the proposal was accepted unanimously without any amendments, by a separate vote of both club’s members present at the meeting.

The new merged Club Committee will now convene to make the necessary arrangements for the SAA and HCAC to transition into the new Southdown and Hydneye Community Angling Club from the 1st April 2023.

Further communications will follow over the coming weeks.

Watch this space.

20th January 2023

Proposed Merger between the Southdown A A

and the Hydneye Community Angling Club

Following the Extraordinary General Meeting on the 28th July 2022, attended by members of both the Southdown Angling Association and

the Hydneye Community Angling Club, when it was agreed that both organisations should jointly investigate the possibility of a merger to form a single club, a Merger Working Party was set up comprising members from both clubs in order to sort out all the details necessary in order

for the merger to go ahead.

To this end, the Merger Working Party has worked hard behind the

scenes to formulate the documents required to activate the merger,

with the result that a second Extraordinary General Meeting will be

held on the 31st January 2023 at the Fisherman’s Club in Eastbourne

for the members of both clubs to give their approval.

The relevant documents relating to this meeting can be viewed or downloaded by clicking on the titles below.

23rd October 2022

Winter Membership

Reduced winter subscription rates are now available giving

SAA membership from the 1st November 2022

right through to the 30th April 2023.

Please refer to the Membership Page for details and to join.

12th September 2022

Curls Farm Water Closure

Following the hot and dry weather in July and August with water levels falling, although we have had some most welcome rain, often in the form of thunderstorms, we have now seen quite a number of recent fish deaths at this water, mainly the carp being affected with the surviving fish are also showing signs of distress.

The Environment Agency has been informed and have investigated, suggesting that the fish have succumbed to a sudden crash in the dissolved oxygen levels, caused by a sudden fall in the air pressure associated with the thunderstorms, which can often be quite localised in nature.

We are not alone in this as there has been a number of similar incidents recently.

Unfortunately, there is little that can be done to alleviate the situation, the lake  being too shallow for effective aeration, we just hope that it doesn’t get any worse.

In view of the above, we have decided to temporarily close the water to members with immediate effect.

We will be monitoring the situation and re-open for fishing as soon as

it is safe to do so.

31st August 2022

Marle Green Water Re-opens

Following the recent closure of the  Marle Green fishery,

the water is now re-opened for fishing from tomorrow,

the 1st September 2022.

Members please refer to the Notices page for full details.

16th July 2022

EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING

An Extraordinary General Meeting will be held on the 28th July 2022

to consider the possibility of a merger between the SAA and the

Hydneye Community Angling Club to which members of both organisations are invited to attend.

Please visit the notices page to view the notice and background information for the meeting.

19th May 2022

2022/ 2023 MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL

We are having a few teething problems with Clubmate.

If you are a member renewing via Clubmate and you can’t

see / select existing member options, please send us

a message via Clubmate or at adminforsaa@btinternet.com

and we will help you.

5th May 2022

2022/ 2023 MEMBERSHIP

Membership for the year through to the 30th April 2023

is now available

Please visit the Membership Page for details

and to download an application form.

14th December 2021

CHANGE OF Gmail ADDRESS

The Association's Gmail address has changed.

Please visit the Contacts Page for details

6th April 2021

ROTHER FISHERY ASSOCIATION

The Southdown AA are now members of the RFA giving our members access to several miles of fishing on the eastern River Rother and the Royal Military Canal. See the waters pages for details.

17th March 2021

CINDERFORD POND

Members please note that Cinderford Pond is regrettably no longer

a Southdown AA water.

3rd June 2020

ILLEGAL FISHING

During the past few weeks there have been numerous cases of people fishing illegally on Southdown Angling Association stretches of the rivers, especially on the Wallers Haven, all the way from Middle Bridge to Boreham Street.

It’s great to report that we hear a group of people were arrested by the police last weekend because they were fishing during the close season, this being as a result of several members seeing tents / bivvies/ barbecues / and rods etc positioned in the first field at Middle Bridge and reporting the matter.

If you happen to witness illegal fishing on any of our waters in the future, for safety reasons, please do not take action personally, but,

REPORT THIS IMMEDIATELY TO THE ENVIRONMENT AGENCY ON THEIR 24 HOUR HOTLINE NUMBER OF 0800 807060.

Even if the Agency cannot respond quickly, they do contact the police and action is taken, evidence being that of last weekend.

We need to protect our waters and fish and put these illegal poachers under pressure, that way hopefully they will get the message.

Again the ENVIROMENT AGENCY HOTLINE NUMBER is 0800 807060,

which is also on the reverse of your rod licence.