Glasson Dock: Broken sea gate raised months after it got stuck

Infrastructure at the dock and marina has seen "years of underfunding and neglect", councillors heard

A broken hydraulic sea gate at the mouth of a tidal river has been raised months after it got stuck during engineering work.

The gate around Glasson Dock near Lancaster, which still needs repairs, was stuck in a lowered position meaning tides flowed in and out, uncontrolled.

Infrastructure at the dock and marina has seen "years of underfunding and neglect", city councillors heard.

They heard responsibility for the area is a "tangled mess".

Different areas are controlled by different organisations, and the Environment Agency (EA) has been working with them to tackle some of the practical issues, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reports.

In September, the situation escalated to include emergency sandbags being delivered by the EA to protect local homes and businesses from flood risks.

Then autumn high tides broke through another piece of faulty infrastructure, a canal lock, into the freshwater Glasson Marina.

Dead fish and algae were subsequently found there. However, the exact causes are not known and could be other factors, the EA said.

Glasson Dock, Glasson Marina and the Lancaster Canal are all connected but are owned and managed by different organisations.

Glasson Dock is a commercial sea port joining the River Lune estuary and Irish Sea.

Sandbags were delivered to homes and businesses

This summer, specialist engineers made various attempts to raise the broken sea gate, which was reportedly hindered by silt. It was eventually raised on Wednesday.

Labour councillor Phillip Black, the city council leader, included Glasson Dock in his latest written report to councillors at a full Lancaster City Council meeting that followed.

His report stated: "Glasson Dock has been experiencing difficulties with their sea gate since June, leading to a degradation of sea defences in the area. The Environment Agency has coordinated a multi-stakeholder response to this situation over the course of the summer.

"Whilst repairs to the sea gate are incomplete, it is now possible to manually winch the gate closed for particularly high tides. Officers continue to monitor the situation and contribute to planning and interventions as necessary."

During questions, Green Party councillor Sally Maddocks said: "I'm a ward councillor for Ellel and Glasson Dock is in the ward. I'm glad to announce the sea gate is back up in position.

"It is not mended but it means homes are protected. It has been a really hard process. It's taken months of work with the Environment Agency."

She added: "There is a failure of the Glasson Dock infrastructure through years of underfunding and neglect by various authorities.

"Residents are worried about their homes and ecology. Businesses feel under threat because tourism is down."

In reply, Mr Black said Lancaster Port Commission, the Canal & Rivers Trust and the EA were the key organisations involved and it was a "very difficult and tangled mess about who is responsible".

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