ACTION to clear Watchet's mud-choked marina was ordered this week following complaints from fed- up boat owners. The growing concern voiced by local residents, civic leaders and the boating community over the level of silt in the multi-million pound facility was revealed by the Free Press in January. Now West Somerset District Council has confirmed it is taking action against the operating company, Watchet Harbour Marina Ltd, to resolve the problem. Council corporate director Adrian Dyer said legal opinion was that the company was in breach of its lease with the authority which required regular dredging to be carried out to keep all the water areas clear. Mr Dyer said numerous complaints had been received from boat owners and following a site inspection it had been decided to instigate the action and serve a notice to ensure the company complied with the terms of its lease. He said the council had just completed dredging of the outer harbour, an area for which it continues to maintain responsibility following the opening of the marina five years ago. Tim Taylor, who bought Watchet Harbour Marine Ltd from the previous marina managers Dean and Dyball two years ago, said yesterday (Thursday) he was unwilling to discuss the legal situation. But he insisted: "We have always said we will dredge the marina and that is what we intend to do and have already started to do." Mt Taylor said he had made a firm booking with the contractors who dredged the marina last year. Although dates still had to be "firmed up" he expected they would be able to carry out the work by the end of May at the latest. He said the marina's own barge and equipment, which he had hoped to get in operation some months ago to introduce a "little but often" method of tackling the build-up of mud, was still awaiting licensing from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. But his staff had been working every day for the last week using water pumps to agitate the mud, which was then carried out on the tide. "It is already looking better," said Mr Taylor. "We know it's not ideal and using the water pumps is a slow process." Mr Taylor said part of the current problem was due to an apparent increase in mud in the Bristol Channel, which had caught marina staff "on the hop". "There just seems to be a lot more of it. In the past, dredging has needed to be carried out only once every 18 months but we accept that we are probably going to have to do it every nine months or so in the future - possibly around October, November time and again in April or May." "We dredged it last May, the water was very clear afterwards and we had a grand season." But one boat owner, who asked not to be named, said he had never seen the mud as bad as it now was. "It's risen a foot in the last month and all the boats on the Watchet Boat Owners Association pontoons are high and dry when the tide is out so you can't even start your engine. "There should be at least almost two metres of water in the marina all the time but you have literally got an hour either side of the tide to get in or out at the moment." A deal granting the WBOA around 40 concessionary berths has just come to an end and all boat owners now face having to pay annual fees of around £200 a metre, taking the charge for the average boat to around £1,200.
