Port of Ardersier bosses defy anger over fencing at a peninsula at Delnies which closes off public access at a popular sandspit used for recreation and birdwatching
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Bosses at the Port of Ardersier have admitted that they should have informed the public about the fence they have erected along a peninsula at Delnies which closes off a popular sandspit used for recreation and birdwatching.
But the company’s marine director Steve Gobbi, who is also responsible for security of the site, insisted that the fence won’t be coming down and had to be put in place before an imminent port facility security assessment.
During a sometimes heated two-hour meeting attended by over 70 people, co-owner of the port Steve Regan gave a presentation on its aims, which will be used to build wind turbine platforms and decommission oil rigs.
Mr Gobbi said at its peak they hoped the yard could provide 1500 local jobs, reminiscent of when the site was used for platform construction. The speed at which the fence was erected and lack of consultation shocked and angered locals, who always had uninhibited access to the peninsula.
They argue that there should be no need to fence off the landspit east of the quay because the manufacturing takes place west of the harbour.
Stewart Eastaugh, a Highland Council access officer (Inverness, Lochaber and Nairn), responding by email to complaints, said the fence by the dunes may extend beyond the limit of jurisdiction associated with the harbour.
He said he thought it reasonable that the company ask people not to go on to that area. But, in his view, the public still had a right to go onto the foreshore between high and low tide which has also been fenced off.
Mr Eastaugh added that yellow signs attached to the fence prohibiting public access were premature because the UK department of transport had yet to agree what category of port this would be.
He added that the steel green fence at the B9092 junction also extended beyond the limit of the harbour order’s jurisdiction and requires planning permission. He understood the company were discussing options for its relocation.
Steve Regan said: “We have legislation we have to adhere to and we will work closely with the Department of Transport to get an agreement for the access plan for Ardersier.”
He acknowledged comments from local Highland Councillor Glynis Sinclair who said the access gate on the B9092 was a traffic hazard with heavy industrial lorries turning into the site.
The PoA representatives gave an assurance that would be relocated.
Mr Gobbi said: “We hold our hands up. We should have consulted before taking some of the actions. We accept completely your comments it was a less than ideal consultation process. But no matter how deep you dig our consenting processes are not defective at all.
“One of the issues is security and that is never more important than now in the current world political situation.
“The International Ship & Port Security protocols are reserved to the Department of Transport.”
He said: “I’ve seen the access officer’s e-mail and he has got it wrong. It’s a pity he wasn’t here tonight.
“The site will be closed. It’s not negotiable and it’s not in our hands. We are complying with UK law.”
Mr Gobbi was asked about the security capability of the fence that has been built and the need for it.
“It will be when it’s patrolled 24 hours a day,” he replied. “It’s to delineate where you can go and get access to by law. He added: “A determined terrorist could enter the water and attach limpet mines to vessels at the quay.”
Jen Maylin told the representatives the whole community had been looking forward to a new generation of employment for the area.
“But very quickly relations have turned sour. This meeting should have been held months ago.”
She said it was an area to which people had an emotional attachment to and there were many agencies who would have concerns about the impact on the environment both on land and at sea.
Cllr Sinclair said she took strong exception to the comments made about the council’s access officer.
“You are looking at a roomful of people who have no trust. There have been so many things that have been done that are totally unacceptable to this community and you are going to have to go back to square one and dot the i’s and cross the t’s.”
Mr Alastair Wood of the company’s planners Savilles said the company acknowledged last week’s meeting was “long overdue”. He gave an assurance that there would be regular meetings to engage with the community in the future.
James Ross of Culloden, who protested about the fence, said: “Ardersier Port made it clear that they intend never to grant access to the end of the pit, due to security. The Access Officer believes the restricted area is ridiculously large, so our only hope is for this to be reduced, reopening the beach to the public.”
