I haven't found anything about this, so sorry if it's been asked
before.

We live near a river, and one of our neighbours has built a wooden
bridge across the river from his garden that backs onto it, across to
the other side.

Would he have needed planning permission to do this? The river is not
deep but is navigable by small craft and has been used by canoeists in
the past (although I admit I've not seen any for a few months) and I
wonder if this would obstruct the canoeists (it goes straight across,
not far above water level, so there would be no room for a canoe or
boat to get under it.)

The reason I ask is because we're not all that happy about him doing
it as we think it looks ugly (it's a bit of a cowboy job to look at,
made of various old bits of wood), and it spoils our view of the
river. I don't want to be a b******d, but I wondered what the legal
position is, before I say anything to him. If it's OK to do this, I
guess there's nothing we can do and we'll just have to get used to it.
It's a shame, because the river view was what attracted us to live
here in the first place (the house is nothing special but we liked the
location/view).

Any idea how to find out, who to contact etc.? I'm not sure what the
legalities are, but I believe there are certain responsibilities
associated with living next to a river, keeping it free from
obstruction, etc.

Any advice on this would be appreciated.

Cheers

Flummoxed