Pat Regan: High tide at Southport - so what about Fred’s tidal lagoon?

I was talking a few photos of the high tide at Southport today when a gentleman inadvertently approached and asked me to take snaps of him by the pier.

Always happy to oblige, I took some on his mobile phone and the ones in this article on my camera. He went on to mention that the media had recently covered a story about a proposed tidal lagoon. It turned out that the man was Southport’s Cllr Fred Weavers who had, I believe, previously come up with the idea of a tidal lagoon at Southport.

I noted too that the Champion mentioned the issue recently when reporter Ollie Cowan stated….

‘In one exchange, Cllr Fred Weavers was forced to move on from his idea of bringing a tidal lagoon to the town when environmentally conscious locals chastised him for making the suggestion, which they deemed to be a waste of time.’

http://www.champnews.com/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=GN4_ART_401078

Many questions of course arise from such a proposal. Will Southport be a suitable area for a tidal lagoon? Will it have any negative impact on the species of birdlife that frequent the local estuaries? What will it cost and who will pay?

What do others think?

Paul Harrison is an ex-coast guard officer and the Director at Seavoice training.

https://www.seavoice-training.co.uk/

Paul gave this expert insight…

“The sand off Southport’s Marshside area is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). How would such a lagoon affect the local wild life and the inshore fisheries? Over the last 50 years that I know of the Ribble estuary has been silting up, consequently a tidal lagoon would cause further silting of the local area. Moreover, who is going to pay for such a large protect?”

Paul asked. “Would it not be better building a toll bridge across from Banks /Hesketh bank area across to Warton?”

So, is Fred’s tidal lagoon idea a good one or not?

You decide.

Addendum

I am rather surprised at the Southport Visiter as it is customary to give fair credit to the photographer (me on this occasion) regardless of what device the shot is taken on.