“Economic and ecological disaster" if Barmouth isn't repaired, Council hears

The Barmouth was constructed in the late 18th Century to maintain navigability on the River Bann, and to ensure that boats can egress into the sea and boats can come in from the sea and into the river.

“The Barmouth enables the egress of eight-and-a-half million cubic meters of water every day,” Harbour Commission Chairman, Robert Skelly, told members at May’s Leisure and Development Committee meeting. “It also protects the coastline, reduces the risk of flooding to Coleraine and surrounding areas, and provides environmental protection.”

Mr Skelly explained that the Barmouth was constructed using concrete caissons; nine metre long boxes which are placed in the river, backed with stone, and topped with concrete to create a “rock armour” around the area.

“What concerns us is the rock armour,” he said. “Over time the rock armour has degraded [and] there has been some remedial work, about six years ago, on the beach side of the Portstewart mole.

“But inspections over the last couple of years have shown that the rock armour on both sides has badly degraded.

“It has broken up into smaller pieces and it’s falling away from the axle concrete, so it’s not actually providing the protection that it needs to.

“The sand movement along the coast would completely change and the bird sanctuary and other ecosystems within the estuary would be severely threatened, so there are significant structural vulnerabilities due to the age.

“It’s getting to a point where your work has to be done and has to be done soon [because] a collapse of the moles would cause a potential threat to homes and businesses, particularly the railway line that runs alongside the river.

“A thousand years ago there wasn’t an exit to the river as we know it, it was a delta between Castlerock and Portstewart, with hundreds of tributaries running over over the sand, and that’s what it could regress to.

“If a delta did form the beaches in Portstewart and Castlerock would not be there as we know them today, and it would also be a major damage to Portstewart and Castlerock golf clubs.”

Mr Skelly said the the remedial works will begin in March 2026, with a stabilisation project to follow which will “ensure for years safe navigation, enhanced flood defences, and ecological and economic stability for the river.”

He noted that the estimated £1.6 million repair cost would not be funded by council but through DfI, the Harbour Commission, and the Shared Island initiative.

“But what we we would ask that you, as elected members, contact the MLAs that sit on the Infrastructure Committee, to raise awareness of this and help us get the DfI to take it and run with it,” he added.

“This is about raising awareness, because this could be a huge economic and ecological disaster if not dealt with fairly quickly.”