In order to provide free access to water bodies, fencing of beaches and shores is prohibited, and all fences must end 1.5 metres from the water basin. The only bodies authorised to check whether access to waters is provided are national and regional water management authorities. In the opinion of the NIK, their work is unsatisfactory: officials do not check whether the ban on fencing is complied with, do not react to illegal use of State properties, and ignore complaints sent by citizens (e.g. out of 17 complaints, only one was examined on time by the Regional Water Management Authority in Warsaw, while four were not examined at all).
NIK auditors have checked the shorelines of 18 lakes and found out 125 cases of illegal fences (among others on the Wulpińskie, Luterskie, Niegocin and Śniardwy Lakes). Beaches and shores are cut with wire or wooden fences and walls, with private land fences making it impossible to walk along shores and hindering access to bathing beaches. This breaches the citizens’ right to free access to public waters.
It is also common for private land owners to encroach on adjacent public properties. The shorelines of all 18 lakes examined by NIK auditors differ in reality from those marked on maps developed by water management authorities. Due to many years of negligence, the authorities were not aware of the existence of attractive lands. In the area of 85,000 square meteres which was formally considered waters, private holiday cottages, car parks, boathouses and piers have been built illegally, occupying over 60,000 square metres.
Since 2007, water management authorities have conducted only ten inspections to check free access to lakes, all of which have revealed some irregularities. According to the NIK, the majority of those inspections were ineffective, and officials did not notify competent bodies of their results.
The NIK has called for immediate steps to be taken in order to eliminate the irregularities found. As a result of its audit, the NIK has also sent eight notifications to the prosecutor’s office and seven notifications to the police.
