Luing causeway alterations give rise to tide of protest
Landowners who stirred up troubled waters after building up an ancient causeway linking Luing with Torsa have pledged to remove it if Marine Scotland rules it unacceptable.
The structure, now 1.4m high, has whipped up a storm of protest from boating and kayaking communities near home and UK-wide, who have described it as a barrier blocking a well-charted safe and sheltered navigable route.
Argyll Sea Kayak Trail features the popular passage along its 150kms, offering some of the best sea kayaking in Europe.
A notice has gone up on a post on the causeway urging people to ‘proceed with caution’ but one boat owner living on Luing told The Oban Times: ‘If you were being swept through by the current, or driving through under power, you wouldn’t have a chance to read it and/or you would hit the bottom before you could stop.’
Complaints have been fired off to agencies including Marine Scotland and the access officer at Argyll and Bute Council.
The foreshore is privately owned so Crown Estate Scotland said it did not need to be informed.
Archie Cadzow, whose family are Luing landowners and who rent neighbouring Torsa for sheep and cattle, said ‘with hindsight’ he had maybe been ‘a bit naive’ in building up the ford without going first to Marine Scotland and the council.
He wanted to be clear Torsa’s owners and the island’s holiday cottage had nothing to do with it.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said Marine Scotland was aware of the issue and investigations were at an early stage.
‘If Marine Scotland deem it unacceptable then we’ll remove it,’ said Mr Cadzow, adding the hundreds-of-years-old existing ford had been raised by ‘only 90cms’ using materials from nearby banking.
‘There is still water over it about 75 per cent of the time; before the work it was maybe 90 per cent. It looks more substantial than it is.
‘It might be mildly inconvenient for boat users now, but the work was necessary for animal and employee wellbeing,’ he said.
He added that before the ford was ‘repaired’ a quad bike could only cross once a fortnight to Torsa and employees had to race around ‘at break-neck speed’ to get jobs done which was ‘quite frankly dangerous’.
‘It’s possibly a bit high, but it is in anticipation of further erosion,’ added Mr Cadzow, estimating it had been more than 30 years since any repairs were last carried out on the crossing. He said at the highest tide there was still about one metre clearance for boats or kayaks to pass.
More substantial warning signs will be going up in the area, he said, a spot well known as a place to go when conditions are too challenging on the west coast.
‘I believed we were allowed to repair existing infrastrucure without planning permission. With hindsight it was maybe a bit naive of me. There has been a lot of angst and misinformation.
‘We want people to know the reasons why we carried out the work and that it was not done maliciously,’ added Mr Cadzow.
The raised causeway has also been reported to access officials at Argyll and Bute Council who asked for it to be officially logged online so it could be looked into.
The council advised one complainer in an email that Marine Scotland should be contacted if any part of the causeway is below the high water mark. It is understood a licence was probably needed.
Another concern is the change in flow of water through the passage could now bring about thicker growth of seaweed that could eventually clog up the route making it impassable for kayaks and boats and moorings could silt up.
Wildlife and eco-systems could also be affected and tide times could also possibly change because of it, protesters say.
One kayaker, who has used the channel for more than 30 years, is worried paddlers who are not so active on social media or come from abroad might be ‘unaware of the barrier’ that he described as a ‘significant hazard’. He also worried people could be forced into crossing the north end of Torsa to Seil instead - an area that can have 1.2-metre breaking waves.
‘Fortunately, as we head towards winter, the groups most at risk will be fewer allowing remedial work to be carried out in a timely manner in consultation with the appropriate authority,’ he said.