Lack of dredging stopping freight

A NEWARK councillor believes that lack of dredging is preventing use of transporting freight on the Trent.

Peter Foster, also a boater for 50 years, tells that the river should be dredged to make it possible for freight and also alleviate flooding, adding that he once saw three fuel tankers pass each other downstream when the river was being dredged regularly, showing how deep it was across its whole width.

But he told that the Trent had not been dredged since 2004, and should be dredged from Nottingham to at least Gainsborough.

Amount of silt

Peter maintains the type of boats that were once able to navigate parts of the river were no longer able to do so because of the amount of silt, and there was also a greater risk of flooding if the river could not hold as much water.

Director of the Newark-based Clean Rivers Trust, Harvey Wood, tells the problem was not as bad as other waterways, where boats had been grounded, but the same thing could easily happen on the Trent, and the river had been dredged since the first navigation act in 1688 to ensure it remained navigable.

However, Newark Crusader, Skipper, Les Reid, told that British Waterways had restrictions imposed on it in recent years which made it a more expensive job than in the past, with it being able to sell the material it dredged but now had to pay for it to be disposed of.

Less experienced

Mr Reid said there were more new boaters who were less experienced at navigating rivers and so more likely to be affected by sandbanks under the surface.

A spokesman for British Waterways responded:

"The River Trent in Newark rarely needs dredging, due to the amount of boat traffic it experiences.

"British Waterways regularly surveys the stretch and if it shows that the depth is below minimum standards (6ft) then a dredging programme is discussed."