Marina Plans May Pollute River
British Waterways Marinas Ltd (BWML) were put on the back foot at a packed and lively meeting at Glasson Dock village Hall earlier this week. At the start of the meeting Lancaster City Council’s chief planning officer, Andrew Dobson, announced that he had asked for a full Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) to be carried out. This was because the limited aquatic survey carried out by BWML had found toxic chemicals in the mud at the bottom of the basin, but did not look at any potential impacts on the River Lune SSSI. This means that any plans for expanding the marina will have to be subject to a full planning application. BWML said they intended to appeal the ruling.
The meeting continued with BWML outlining their proposals and local residents expressing their anger at the company’s activities and dismay at the scale of the plans and lack of any proper consultation.
Green County Councillor for Glasson Chris Coates said after the meeting “ Doubling the number of boats using the marina is bound to have an impact, a proper assessment must carried out.”
Any appeal against the need for a full EIA will take at least 3 months and if an EIA is required it will have to be carried out over a 12 mth period. At the end of the meeting BWML failed to give assurance that they wouldn’t carry on with their plans in the meantime and face potential enforcement proceedings from the City Council.
Local residents opposed to the scale of the marina expansion plans have set up an online petition against the scheme.