BOATOWNERS have welcomed the news that the first major dredging operation for nearly 20 years in Watchet’s outer harbour is due to begin next Tuesday (October 27.)

Cardiff Marine Group’s state-of-the-art water-injection dredger, CMS Innovation, will arrive from a Hinkley Point C project at Combwich to take up a £40,000 contract with harbour owners Somerset West and Taunton Council to clear as much of the outer harbour as possible over the next 18 tides.

“We will move as much mud as we can, but we will be focusing on the channel from the harbour entrance into the marina and refuge area, cut across to the public slipway and anything else we can do within the budget we have got,” a council spokesman said.

“We are hoping to remove a considerable volume of mud. Just how much depends on the weather and other circumstances. The mud has built up considerably in recent years and it is important to keep the navigation channel safe for shipping.”

The council’s dredging programme will not include the eastern half of the harbour, which is the responsibility of Watchet Marina.

The spokesman added: “If left un-dredged the mud will continue to rise. We will do as much as possible this year and we have got a budget for further dredging next year.

“This is the start of the council’s formal maintenance programme for the outer harbour. We did £15,000 of dredging in the harbour entrance three years ago, and this project is part of a plan which hopefully will eventually clear the area of most of the mud.”

CMS Innovation can disperse 150 cubic metres of mud an hour and work to a depth of eight metres.

A Watchet Boat Owners spokesman said: “We are delighted that the district council has taken the initiative to start serious dredging.

“The channel from the entrance to the marina has become increasingly hazardous for anything but shallow draft boats and there have been cases of vessels going aground when theoretically there was plenty of water. It has been the subject of warning notices to mariners.

“The public slipway in the harbour has also become seriously silted up and hazardous for the launching and recovery of small boats and the depth of mud alongside the west quay remains a serious danger to life should anyone be unfortunate enough to fall in.

“We must hope that this dredging initiative is only the start of serious plans to restore the harbour to its former glory as a leading boating and tourist attraction,” the WBOA spokesman said.