Posted on November 12, 2025

Boating on the Norfolk Broads has shaped local life for generations, yet the latest figures show the waterway is facing steady decline. Fewer private craft are being registered, hire fleets are reducing in size and maintenance costs are rising. The Broads Authority is again proposing toll increases to cover its expenditure, but that approach risks deepening the problem rather than solving it. Behind the numbers lies a wider challenge that touches not only the economy but also the health and wellbeing of the people who live here.

The Broads remain one of the county’s greatest natural assets, but their value now needs to be measured in more than navigation revenue. They could become part of a much broader response to community health. Linking the environment to wellbeing is not a new idea, but it has never been fully developed here.

Blue Health is the growing field of research and practice that explores how rivers, lakes and coastlines benefit both physical and mental health. Studies led by the University of Exeter and supported by the former Public Health England have shown that regular contact with water encourages activity, reduces stress and builds social connection. People who grow up near blue spaces often report better wellbeing throughout life. These findings are being put into practice across the country through social prescribing, where GPs and link workers refer people to nature-based activities instead of, or alongside, clinical treatment.

Norfolk and Waveney need this approach more than most. The area has deep health inequalities, with life expectancy differences of a decade between the most and least deprived neighbourhoods. Mental health services remain under heavy pressure, and the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust continues to face scrutiny over safety and access. At the same time, many residents live with long-term conditions or disability and are anxious about recent proposals to tighten Personal Independence Payment. All of this points to the need for practical, inclusive routes to better health that do not depend on overstretched hospitals or uncertain benefits.

The Broads already provide the setting. What is missing is a framework that connects the waterway with the local health system and community groups. A Blue Health partnership could do exactly that. The Broads Authority would not have to become a health provider but could act as convenor, opening access and coordinating activity with organisations that already work in prevention and wellbeing.

Several potential partners are close at hand. NHS Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board oversees the regional social prescribing network and is encouraging more outdoor and community-based activity. Active Norfolk, the county’s Sport England partnership, supports local exercise providers and manages the Every Move directory that link workers use for referrals. Norfolk Rivers Trust, which co-leads the Broadland Catchment Partnership, could bring its experience in citizen science and habitat restoration. The RNLI, already active on the Broads, can advise on water safety. Angling Trust programmes such as Get Fishing for Wellbeing and Swim England’s aquatic activity resources both have national endorsement from the NHS.

With the right coordination, these groups could create a programme of simple but powerful activities. Guided paddles for adults referred by GPs, angling sessions for people coping with anxiety or pain, safe open water introductions for those rebuilding confidence, and family days that teach both water safety and ecology. Participants could then be invited to join local monitoring and conservation work, linking personal health with care for the environment.

Such a programme would not be expensive. It would need modest startup funding, clear safety guidance and proper evaluation, but much of the infrastructure already exists. The Broads Authority could use its own ranger expertise to identify safe venues and provide logistical support. Small grants from the Broads Trust and place-based funds from Sport England or NHS prevention budgets could meet initial costs.

Independent oversight would be essential. Healthwatch Norfolk, the statutory body representing people who use health and social care services, could chair a steering group to track progress and publish public reports. Its independence would lend credibility and ensure that outcomes are measured fairly, covering wellbeing, inclusion and environmental impact as well as cost.

The wider benefits are clear. Local residents gain accessible opportunities to improve health and reduce isolation. The NHS gains practical, preventive options that ease demand on stretched services. The Broads Authority strengthens its social purpose and demonstrates public value to funders and government. The environment benefits from more eyes on the water, more data and more local pride.

This approach would not replace the need for good clinical care or fair social support, but it would offer something often missing in modern health policy: a sense of place. The Broads are not just a tourism asset. They are living landscapes that shape the wellbeing of those who live beside them. By connecting navigation, conservation and community health, the Authority and its partners could turn decline into renewal and make the waterways part of Norfolk’s solution rather than another symptom of its struggle.