RENEWED plans have been floated for dredging Christchurch Harbour and dumping the spoil on Stanpit March and Mudeford Sandbank.

An earlier bid to get Christchurch council's consent as landowner foundered over fears the dredging could open the harbour and river to larger vessels and muddy the waters for spawning salmon and other wildlife.

But these fears have been dismissed by the borough's former coast protection officer Frank Tyhurst who has drawn up the dredging scheme on behalf of the Christchurch Harbour Association and Bournemouth & West Hants Water Company.

He said the operation to dredge some 1,000 cubic metres of material from the sandbar in the middle of the harbour and a similar amount from around the water company moorings at Tuckton Bridge had been planned in consultation with English Nature and the Environment Agency.

The work was needed to remove natural silting up of the navigable channel through the harbour and depositing the spoil - mainly sand - on the eroded Grimbury Marsh at Stanpit Marsh and the Mudeford Sandbank was considered more environmen-tally friendly than dumping at sea or in landfill sites.

Planning applications for the dredging have been made to both Bournemouth and Christchurch councils and if approved the work is scheduled to take place over the winter before the annual salmon migration begins.

Boatyard boss Charles Rossiter, chairman of the Christchurch Harbour Association consortium, said: "It is a pity that this small amount of essential maintenance work has become political. All we are trying to do is make sure the harbour is safe to navigate for the present users.

"We are certainly not seeking to encourage bigger boats here, you would need to dredge the offshore bar for that. We have prepared a very detailed environmental impact assessment which suggests that there is no detriment to the nature conservation value of the harbour."

First published: Oct 12