Row over dredging of world stone-skimming isle's harbour
- Published
The Hebridean island of Easdale is famed for holding the World Stone Skimming Championships
A row has broken out over the maintenance of a harbour at the home of the World Stone Skimming Championships.
Over the years, Easdale's harbour has been blocked by slate being washed in during storms.
Islanders accuse their local authority, Argyll and Bute Council, of planning to downgrade dredging work leaving the harbour at increased risk of closure.
The council said it hoped any future plans could be taken forward in partnership with the community.
Easdale is one of the Slate Islands in the Firth of Lorn where stone was quarried for roofing slate.
The once thriving industry, external, that slated homes in Glasgow and Ireland, began to decline after a storm flooded quarries in the 1880s. The slate was cut about 70 years ago.
Islanders are concerned about future plans on maintaining the island's lifeline harbour
Easdale, which has a population of about 60 people, is now best-known for holding the World Stone Skimming Championships. Small pieces of the island's slate are ideal for skimming over a distance across water.
The Hebridean island can only be reached by sea and the harbour is vulnerable to silting up.
Storms Ciara and Dennis blocked the entrance last year.
In 2006, the harbour was closed completely following gale force winds.
After six weeks of "frustration", islander Mike Mackenzie, who ran a building company at the time, bought an excavator to reopen the harbour.
He told BBC Naidheachdan islanders were worried about further blockages.
Mr Mackenzie said: "The whole community, I think, is braced for our harbour to be closed and potentially lost altogether.
"That is because Argyll and Bute Council have decided to downgrade their annual dredging and maintenance."
Once used to roof homes in Glasgow, Easdale's slate is now prized by stone skimming enthusiasts
Mr Mackenzie said an engineering solution had to be found to assure the community, and save the council money.
A spokeswoman for Argyll and Bute Council said: "We hope any future plans for the harbour can be taken forward in partnership with all its users - the council, community and commercial.
"It appears that the existing arrangements are resulting in a significant amount of preventative action having to take place to enable the lifeline ferry to continue to operate."