In a recent TV programme, a shallow draft canal cleaning barge was demonstrated to great effect. The equipment consisted of a floating platform with one man operating a long-armed hydraulic grab bucket and a frontal skimming cage from his onboard cabin.
The barge slowly moved along the surface of the canal lifting debris from the bottom and loading it into a container. At the same time, the skimmer cage gathered the floating rubbish together ready for the grab bucket to remove later.
Such a mechanical unit is badly needed on our fetid Marine Lake to hopefully provide a year-round cleaning programme without lowering the water level. Such regular dredging and skimming controlled well away from the wildlife would provide a better organised system of keeping this vast volume of water up to an acceptable annual standard. It should also improve the sailing and provide a cleaner habitat for the wildlife.
This ongoing cleaning would create much less disturbance to the lake and its users than the current insensitive approach which results in a dangerous quagmire due to the unnecessary lowering of the water level. This poor maintenance has long been the lake’s problem under the current administration as residents have long experienced together with poor street cleaning, disgraceful public toilets and even a draconian parking system. All these activities deter tourism and irritate residents.

Is it any wonder that our 32 year old council is still judged by the Audit Commission as a miserable 2 star performer? The Southport Party will continue to try and drive up the standards of this dinosauric bureaucracy by highlighting many of their continuing shortcomings and clangers – even though it is almost a full-time job for our intrepid COUNCILWATCH investigators.

Here are 3 brochures from Waterwitch, a firm just 20 miles away in Liverpool, which illustrate how easy it would be for Sefton to get craft and equipment ideally suited for the purpose of cleaning the Marine Lake and also the Crosby Marina, which is shortly to get a £6million makeover.
This sort of equipment is essential and the purchase of it must surely take a high priority within the Council's budget or the Marine Lake will shortly be simply a stagnant pool of sludge, useless for wildlife and totally unusable for any sort of water craft.

Water Witch Multi-Purpose Workboats
6M 'Buddy' Aluminium Catamaran
Waterwitch Attachments