Posted on October 17, 2018
Warrenpoint Port has held a public consultation over controversial proposals to dispose of dredging material close to protected parts of Carlingford Lough.
A large cross-border crowd attended the event at the Town Hall on Monday evening.
Currently all dredged material is dumped 16 miles off the coast.
But the port wants to relocate some waste between Greencastle and Cranfield.
They say doing so would create significant savings.
Dredging proposals face opposition
Port asked to set out impact of dredge plan
Port gears up for post-Brexit vision
A variety of stakeholders, including individuals, environmental groups, water-based clubs and businesses presented a united front of opposition at the event.
Among them was Johnny Manley from Carlingford Marina.
“You are dealing with a community here,” he said.
Johnny Manley is opposed to the Port’s proposals
“We all make our money from and enjoy the same lough and Warrenpoint need to do more to become part of that community rather than being up against it with proposals like this.”
He added: “We’ve come here tonight to lodge our objection to the proposal by Warrenpoint Harbour Authority to dispose of dredging sludge within Carlingford Lough.
“I think it will have a detrimental impact to not only the ecology and aquaculture within Carlingford Lough but also from a business point of view as well.”
Warrenpoint Port’s chief executive Clare Guinness answered questions from those against the proposal.
“What we’ll do now is deal with all those questions. We’re going to post those on our internet site as well.
“We’ll then undertake the detailed surveys that are proposed and once the results of that are out we’ll post on the internet as well and have another informal pre-application consultation such as this to again let the public see the facts and for stakeholders to see what the impact is.
“Then after that process decide whether to take that forward and make an application.
“We are going to wait for the science and the facts and if it comes out that there would be a detrimental impact then clearly we wouldn’t be proceeding to put an application in to Department of Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).”
Source: BBC News
