Concern that Kinnego Marina is being left to rot
#Sailing #Lough Neagh #Armagh #Antrim #Marine #Marina #yacht
#Sailing #Lough Neagh #Armagh #Antrim #Marine #Marina #yacht
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00:00So, tell me about Lough Neagh Sailing Club. It's a very old club isn't it?
00:06Yeah, it was established in 1877 around at Morrows Point and then moved round towards
00:12the Kinnego Bay area within the 50s and 60s. We had our own clubhouse from the 70s all
00:20the way through to about 1992 and we gave that up to the council back then so they could
00:26build the Discovery Centre. I have been in contact with the council now for approximately
00:35five years chasing them for updates on the marina and various other bits and pieces that
00:41the club require to actually operate and unfortunately all of those items that have been put on the
00:48agenda with the council, we've had lots of discussions, lots of talks, we've promised
00:53lots of bits and pieces but we haven't actually received anything from them.
00:57What sort of damage are you seeing on the marina here?
01:01Within the marina itself there's a number of collapsed finger jetties where boats would
01:06be tied up to. Some have cones to stop people walking onto them, some don't. There's certainly
01:14a health and safety issue there. The boards on the actual walkways of the jetties are
01:19in poor condition. A lot have been replaced but again there's much more work needing
01:25done. The cleats that actually hold the boats whenever they're tied up, in the last couple
01:31of storms they have been ripping out of the jetties just due to the rot in the boards
01:36that they're actually associated with. Most of them are held on with just light screws
01:41going into decking boards which isn't very secure for the weight of the boats and so
01:45on. So there's lots and lots of issues with the jetties. Basically they are starting to
01:51rot and become end of life.
01:54You're hoping that the council will invest in replacing those jetties with something
01:59else?
02:00It would be great if they could do that. We have been promised for the last number of
02:05years a bigger master plan for what the plans for the whole of the marina would be. Unfortunately
02:13we have asked several times to see that but we have never actually seen that. We've also
02:18been chasing even the water depth and the weed control and so on during the summer where
02:23boats can't actually physically get out of their berths. So there is a bigger issue not
02:28just with the actual condition of the jetties but the overall operation of the marina as
02:32well. Again we've been challenging the council on that for three to four years and we haven't
02:38really received much of a response.
02:42Is it the lack of investment or lack of maintenance or both?
02:46For me it would be both. The marina itself would need quite a lot of investment. It would
02:51need dredge for starters which would help with the weed control issue and obviously
02:55the jetties. You can see from the pictures and so on that you'll be taking that it's
03:00just poor condition and there's been very little maintenance over the years. Certainly
03:05in the last two years but that has been due to basically people falling through the boards
03:12and the walkways or else unable to get out of the water whenever they've fallen in through
03:16to the ladders and so on not being secured properly and the rotten boards.
03:23So I understand that a child was injured?
03:27Yes on one of the jetties a fourteen year old lad jumped off one of the boats and went
03:34straight through the board that he landed onto. That was reported to the council and
03:39again the response was oh we replace things once they're broken.
03:44I understand that there's going to be a new big investment on the Loch Neagh rescue side
03:52of the marina. What would you hope the council would do in reaction to that?
03:58That's a very good question. My understanding is that there's plans for all sorts of things
04:03for new commercial units perhaps even a restaurant and cafe and so on. It would be a great opportunity
04:09for the council to sort of jump and piggyback onto that to get more investment to encourage
04:15the whole tourism, the whole development of the marina and the site and facilities. However
04:21we can't get any plans or any feedback from the council of what they would actually plan
04:27to do with it. It does look more like they're actually trying to run the marina down. There's
04:32a lot more investment in caravans and the lamping pods and other bits and pieces around
04:36the marina but the marina itself and the actual on water activities don't seem to be a priority.
04:42There seem to be an awful lot of berths here that are empty and yet you know I'm told that
04:49it's almost impossible and there's a waiting list to get a berth at the Kinnego Marina.
04:55What's going on? Again we're not sure. Again we've challenged
05:00the council on this several times. We've had several new club members joining the club
05:05buying boats and being unable to get berths so it is an unusual one. We have submitted
05:13a Freedom of Information Act or information request to the council. We have been told
05:18that basically there's 155 berths being paid for within the marina but again as you look
05:24around you can see that there's definitely not that many boats in the marina. We've also
05:30been told there's 30 berths being held back due to not being able to be used. As I say
05:35there's a number of collapsed finger jetties around the place and there's probably the
05:41potential of some maintenance work being completed in the future. So there's 30 berths being
05:46held back. But yeah we can't understand peak time in the summer. If you come down here
05:53you will see at least 40 free berths and yet we're told there's none free whatsoever.
06:00You're a sailing club. How has this affected the sailing club? The sailing club have been
06:06trying their best to encourage people onto the water through sailing, kayaking, all sorts
06:11of activities and so on. We've had a number of open days over the last number of years
06:15especially from COVID. We have quite a successful learn to sail course which is run over three
06:22weekends. You're out on the boats in the morning and then you can participate in a
06:25race in the afternoon on the cruise with the normal boats. We've had quite a few new members,
06:33crew members which is great for the guys with boats but we've also had a number of new members
06:38coming in with boats and we can't get berths for those boats. So it's stifling the actual
06:47development of our club that we're not actually able to encourage people onto the water and
06:51get the boats that these guys are bringing to the marina but also to the club. So it
06:58would be driving additional revenue for the council as well but as I say we just can't
07:03get those berths available to us. I've been on a few boat clubs in the past and yours
07:10is more like the port-o-cabin. What's going on? Yeah well that starts back from back in
07:171992 and we give up Loch Ness, we give up our site for the Discovery Centre to be built and
07:23there was an agreement put in place that the council would accommodate Loch Ness Sailing
07:29Club. Now initially that was in port-o-cabins at the old site which has now been replaced with a
07:35new cafe and marine office and I think there was a bit of a issue back at the time. There
07:43was meant to be development done there for the club but just with council protocols and
07:49whatever else it wasn't suitable for the club. So we did obtain a site beside that and we put
07:54our own port-o-cabin onto that. So we leased that land, we paid for that port-o-cabin and so on
08:01all ourselves and we also then leased another site off the council and that is obviously quite
08:07expensive for us and in the last year the council are looking to actually increase the rent for that
08:13by 30%. And what facilities do you get for the leasing of it? Basically for the clubhouse we get
08:23a patch of land and again the same for what we have as the dinghy park where we would store
08:29dinghies for our youth activities and so on. So we have a number of club-owned boats, I think
08:35there's about seven or eight toppers, 68. We bug dinghies and we also have two laser bahias and
08:43we would use those during the summer for the kids and so on. But again it's two patches of land.
08:48And I understand that there's an issue with electricity or water? So for anybody who owns
08:56a boat in the actual marina you pay a berthing fee every year. However if you take your boat
09:02out of the water and you're using the council facility to store it, again you pay the same
09:06amount of money again to store your boat in the facility which they provide, the maintenance
09:12compound. However for the last three years the electric has been on and off and certainly in
09:19the last eight months it has been non-existent. I believe there was an issue between a contractor
09:24and the council where the actual electricity cable has been snapped. But again there's no
09:31new updates and no electric facility down within that compound. We also have an issue with water.
09:39The club used to supply hoses and so on and there are a number of water stands throughout that
09:44compound. But again those have all been poorly maintained or don't exist anymore. So what are
09:51your hopes for the future? What do you want the council to do? Realistically if they would bring
09:55the marina and all the services back to what it was 10 years ago that would be fantastic. But that
10:01will obviously require a lot of investment from the council. The condition of the jetties is
10:07really more health and safety concern now. Somebody will end up getting hurt or injured,
10:12falling into the water and hopefully not drowning. But you could see the potential for that just with
10:18the lack of maintenance. Even in Storm Darragh one of the lifelines or lifebuoys towards the
10:25play park was blown over and instead of replacing it it's just not there anymore.