Repairs to a vital access gate used by boats coming in and out of Lancaster Port have received a funding boost.
Glasson Dock Gate and Lancaster Port are among the 11 flood defence schemes in Lancaster and Wyre to benefit from a pot of £6.5m of government cash, the Environment Agency has announced.
The gate, which allows access to the port and marina at the Port of Lancaster at Glasson, has been in need of repair for some time.
It was lifted out in August 2024, allowing clear passage for vessels, after becoming 'stuck'.
Fiona Duke, Environment Agency Flood Risk Manager in Lancashire, said: “Reducing flood risk is the Environment Agency’s priority.
"The funding announced for Glasson Dock and Lancaster Port will be used to inspect the civil engineering associated with the dock gate and determine necessary repairs.
Glasson Dock is a tidal port with an enclosed dock and an hydraulically operated ‘flap’ gate (below).
In June 2024, Lancaster Port Commission (LPC), the Environment Agency (EA), Canal & River Trust (waterways charity) and Aquavista issued a joint statement about the issues with the Glasson Dock gate.
"Please be assured that our four organisations have been working hard to progress this as swiftly as possible, by identifying the funding to support the significant investment required to reinstate the navigation and carry out repairs to Glasson Dock gate whilst addressing the planning for these repairs.
"The dock gate needs to be removed for inspection and repair. Lancaster Port Commission are leading on these removal works, which is part funded by the Environment Agency. Once removed, navigation will be restored.
"The gate will be placed on the dock side to undergo further inspection, and this will ultimately inform the extent of repairs that are required.
"Further inspection and possible repairs are also required to the dock basin where the gate attaches."
In March 2024, a Lancaster Port website update said: "The gate is currently stuck. It’s 38 years old, and it’s owned by the port.
"But in 2001 the Environment Agency added an extension to the gate to make it a flood defence. The port is not responsible for flood defences for the area.
"When the Environment Agency handed it back to the port in 2024, the gate was not able to open and is stuck in the upright position, blocking the entrance to the port and the neighbouring marina. This is preventing vessels getting in or out of the inner dock and marina and seriously damaging all of our businesses.
"In order to operate as a port, we can get by without the gate, or we need it to be fully operational, by which we mean opening and closing for boats to get in and out of the marina. However, the Environment Agency need this gate as part of their flood defences for the area.
"At the end of 2020 the Lancaster Port Commission informed the Environment Agency that the gate was beyond its life span and needed replacing. In May 2021 the EA told us they have begun the capital projects to replace the gate."
Schemes in Lancaster & Wyre to be awarded flood defence funding include:
Burrow Beck Conveyance Improvements, river flooding £980,000
Glasson Dock Gate, sea flooding £235,000
Lancaster Mill Race surface water study £40,000
Lentworth Drive at Burrow Beck, river flooding £1,000
Janson Pool £2,489m
Lancaster Port works, tidal flooding £450,000
Cat Smith, MP for Lancaster and Wyre, said: “I’m delighted the Labour Government has announced £6.5m in funding for us, including £685,000 of funding to Glasson Dock and Lancaster Port.
"This additional funding will protect lives and livelihoods in Lancaster and Wyre.”
The Beetham Surface Water Flood Alleviation scheme has also been allocated £197,000 to improve drainage infrastructure and flood defences along Beetham Road and around the Pelta Medical Paper factory.
Storm Desmond in 2015, saw Beetham experience a breach of the River Bela and high surface water, which resulted in eight homes being flooded. The paper mill, which is downstream of the houses, was also affected.
Lizzi Collinge, MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale, said: “The area in Beetham was very badly affected by the flooding in 2015 and this funding will be used to improve defences and drainage so that the same does not happen again.
The investment is part of £2.65bn of funding for building, maintaining and repairing flood defences across the UK.
The full list of supported schemes can be found here.
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