Glasson Dock, Port of Lancaster: Stuck sea gate puts port community and jobs at risk

Hundreds of jobs and the operation of a 200 year old port is at risk because a hydraulic sea gate cannot be lowered to let vessels in or out says the Lancaster Port Commission, the authority who runs the port. The solution, it says, is for the Environment Agency to take immediate responsibility for the cost of reinstating a working gate.

The 38-year-old gate acts as a flood defence when raised. When lowered it gives access to the inner dock and a marina used by pleasure craft, small working boats and business.

Elsabe White, Lancaster Port Commission Chief Executive, said:

“At the end of 2020 the Lancaster Port Commission informed the Environment Agency that the gate was beyond its life span and needed replacing. They understood we did not have the funds for continued maintenance or replacement. We also stressed that the port can fully operate without the gate. The Environment Agency confirmed funds for a replacement was in their budget.

“In September (2023) the Environment Agency took control of the gate. At that point it was capable of being fully lowered. However, when it was handed back to the port in February 2024, the gate could no longer be lowered and it is now stuck in an upright position. This is preventing vessels getting in or out of the inner dock and marina and seriously damaging all our businesses.

Plus, with every tide, significant amounts of silt are being deposited in the inner dock. Without the gate working, we can’t dredge or lower the sluices to get rid of this silt. Within months, we could lose the inner dock.

As our workboats are trapped on their moorings, inside the inner dock, contractors are fulfilling our statutory duties of pilotage, conservancy, and navigation. This large and additional cost to the port is not sustainable.

“For more than three years the LPC co-operated with the EA in good faith because we believed both parties were working towards the shared goal of an operational gate. Instead, we are left with a gate that is a fixed obstacle which doesn’t work, and this threatens the survival of the port.

“It is not just us who are deeply impacted. Port users, neighbours and community are very concerned, including owners of charter yachts trapped inside the marina. All considered, through no fault of our own, we are potentially facing an existential crisis. Despite our forewarnings, and years of toing and froing we are left in a much worse position than before and the village of Glasson Dock is faced with a fight for survival.

“Since speaking about this in public we have been heartened by support to resolve this situation. Dr Liz Tallentire, a boat owner at the marina has written to users and Aquavista to call for everyone to unite around a solution to ensure the survival of the port. She’s invited people to write to the Environment

Agency to let them know how important a working gate is. Ward councillor Sally Maddock’s is deeply concerned for her community too.

Managing director of Glasson Grain, David Chadwick said: “We are based here in Glasson Dock, a trust port, from where we distribute our animal feeds and fertilisers not just to the local community but across the country. We can’t operate our business at Glasson Dock if there was no port here, and there are many others who will be in the same position.”

The Lancaster Port Commission has been providing import and export facilities to local businesses for over two centuries. Their operations directly support over 200 jobs, and there are businesses operating from the port estate in Glasson Dock. Those include Lancaster Smokehouse, WS Mezeron, GP Shipping, Westend Agri, Glasson Grain Limited and Fox Group, who in turn provide many further local and regional jobs.