Dredging of west Mayo harbour will be 'most welcome'
The officer-in-charge of Westport Coast Guard unit says the dredging of Westport Harbour will remove restrictions on launching boats at low water
The dredging of a west Mayo harbour to allow access to bigger boats will be 'most welcome' accorded to a senior official in the Westport Coast Guard unit.
Noel Brett, the Officer-in-Charge of the Westport Coast Guard unit made the comment at the monthly meeting of the Westport/Belmullet Municipal District following a question from Westport councillor Peter Flynn.
The meeting of the municipal district was held in the new state of the art Westport Coast Guard station at The Quay in Westport overlooking Westport Harbour.
Following a presentation by Mr Brett on the work of the local Coast Guard unit, Cllr Flynn asked him his opinion on dredging Westport Harbour and if there was anything the council can do to move this forward.
“It is impacting on so many different aspects but in particular on the emergency services that they provide out of that area. I could just ask Noel, is there something that is planned, or that we can assist with to try and move that forward,” asked Cllr Flynn.
Mr Brett acknowledged that the Carrowbeg river is slowly silting up and pointed out that the Coast Guard station is located on infill from dredging carried out by the Westport Harbour Authority 'many decades ago'.
He added that the Coast Guard would welcome work on the harbour as at the moment they are limited on what they can do.
“From our point of view, any action that could be taken to dredge the harbour and the channel would be most welcome. Obviously, you need consents for that and you are the harbour authority. But anything that could be done to address the harbour will allow bigger sailing boats in, will allow more tourism in, and will make the harbor usable 24/7.
“There are restrictions at the moment and at certain times we can't launch because of the low water. So we would support any action that you, as the harbour authority, want to take to try to get permission to dredge,” he said.
Mr Brett also pointed out that the methods of dredging have changed over the years and no ways of dredging should be explored so it does not damage the environment.
“I think people need to think about the way dredging has changed. It can be vacuumed, it can be ploughed. There's so many different ways of doing it, rather than the old ways that are less environmentally damaging.
“But it is a complex site. It is in a SAC, and it's not just a case of digging it up and putting it somewhere. But we'd love to see it moved forward and done,” he said.
Cathaoirleach of the municipal district, Cllr Brendan Mulroy said that maybe they can discuss the dredging of the harbour with the Coast Guard and others who have experience in a workshop to move the matter forward.
“You have the experience and the detail of what we need along with the executive and I think it will be very much a worthwhile project moving forward,” he said.