ENCOURAGING progress has been made on site at Staffin Harbour this month, as the construction of a new hardstanding area gathers pace.
Three lorries are delivering rock every day from Lealt quarry to the harbour where a 20-tonne excavator is spreading the material, with more than 7,000 tonnes hauled so far.
Staffin Community Trust (SCT) is extending the existing hardstanding to 3,000sq.m which will provide space for boats to be lifted ashore for on-shore storage and maintenance and the construction of seven new storage sheds / business units. It will also provide the base for a harbour manager’s office, toilets, parking and fuel, which will be delivered in a later phase.
The harbour road is not closed to the public but access to the site is restricted and the turning area at the slipway is kept clear at all times, with a strict traffic management plan in place.
The £135,000 project, supported by the Marine Fund Scotland, is being delivered by SCT’s appointed contractor G.F Job Ltd and sub-contractor Eyre Plant Hire. The hardstanding area will be sheltered by protective layers of rock armour.
Staffin Harbour Manager Lachie Gillies, is happy to answer any questions from local residents about the community-led works and is based within a site office.
“We are grateful to the community and visitors for their patience while all this heavy traffic is on the harbour road,” he said. “We also have the new electricity supply substation powered up and hope to have our supply live by the middle of April.”
SCT is keenly aware it is working in a sensitive location with a Nature Conservation Order protecting the shoreline, including the dinosaur footprints, to the west of the site.
Earlish-based Nick Hodgetts, the Environmental Clerk of Works, has visited twice and carried out the ecology induction and delivered toolbox talks on birds and fossils. “There is of course the potential to uncover important fossils in the sedimentary layers, so that is one of the things I'll keep my eye on,” he said. “There's not much potential for breeding birds on-site, but it's likely that oystercatchers and maybe other species will try to nest in the stony beach south of the site. They should be unaffected by work though.”
Access to Lealt is by the permission of Scottish Ministers’ SGRPID office in Portree and this has ensured the project costs and impact on the environment were greatly reduced with Sconser Quarry the only other viable source of rock.
The lorries which are removing the extracted rock from Lealt is freeing up space on the quarry floor. Further rock blasting is planned by GF Job so that SCT can generate material and importantly the larger armour rock required for the new harbour breakwater. The £300,000 project at Lealt is supported by the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund. SCT has also had crucial grant support from the Community Regeneration Fund.
JOB OPPORTUNITY...
Organic Sea Harvest (OSH) is currently advertising a new job. The company, which operates out of Staffin Harbour, is seeking a Health & Safety Co-ordinator. The position has a salary of between £25,000 and £32,000 per annum. For more details contact OSH's Robaidh Halliday on robaidh@organicseaharvest.co.uk or call into see him for a chat at the farms' office next to the Church of Scotland.
More information on the OSH website: https://organicseaharvest.co.u...
ABANDONED BOAT...
The owner of an old boat which was left close to the slipway for several years is offering it to anybody who may be interested in restoring her.
Talacere 3 was moved from the old boat shelters earlier this year, prior to the site works. SCT reunited most of the boats left with local owners but did not know who had the yellow and white boat so placed a note seeking information.
Cheshire-based Jo Jones rang the SCT office after a friend spotted the boat and note. "It is our boat, myself and my husband's but we are now in our 80s so cannot go out on her," she said. "It was a much loved boat and we did go out on her a lot in Staffin, and we had a lot of pleasure out of it. We wouldn't be looking for anything for it, and would hope that somebody else could take it and maybe get as much pleasure as we did. We have a 4.5 Yamaha outboard as well if anybody is interested in buying that."
Contact Jo on 07967 778 748 for more details.
