"CHEEKPOINT? Five years from now, if you can still find us, you might change the road signs to Mudpoint." The words of one resident in the scenic fishing village on the confluence of the rivers Suir and Barrow, where economic life is under threat from the new Waterford port development.
The threat is serious siltation, caused by construction works to facilitate the relocation of the port downriver. Improved navigation up the Waterford estuary was identified as a priority when the new port site was approved by the government and the EU in 1989.
Three years ago a series of groynes (constructions to prevent erosion) was built out into the Barrow from Checkpoint village, to ensure a depth of six metres for busy shipping traffic at low water spring tide.
There was a warning of the consequences at the time. The Dutch hydraulic consultants engaged, by Waterford Harbour Commissioners to draw up plans for a deeper channel said the groynes would increase the flow and so scour out the passage. There would be "quieter flow" near the groynes - causing sedimentation and a "significant" build up of silty sand, particularly at Checkpoint harbour entrance.
This report formed part of the environmental impact statement for the £25 million port, which opened in September 1993. In applying for the licence to build the groynes, the Waterford Harbour Commissioners gave the Department of the Marine a written undertaking to maintain depths at Checkpoint harbour entrance. The licence was granted, the earthworks built and silt began to build up almost immediately.
Three years later, the village of just under 300, with its well known seafood hostelry, McAlpin's, finds itself virtually mudlocked at low tide. In 1994 the Waterford Harbour Commissioners had tried unsuccessfully to dredge the Checkpoint silt bank.
A new approach channel was dredged in March 1995, but filled in rapidly. Two months later the commissioners had the Dutch consultants again to look at ways of ensuring access for over two dozen boats, mainly engaged in shellfishing.
"Everyone knew it was going to happen, but no one thought it would be so quick," said Mr Denis Doherty, a salmon licence holder and member of the SouthEast Shellfish Association, as he looked out on a swamp.
"Up to 30 boats work on salmon up here during the summer, and it became impossible to land. There was a proposal to lengthen the pier, but that would mean that boats would be running straight out into a busy shipping lane. The sort of dredging attempted by the harbour board would have to be carried out at least four times a year to be of any use."
The local fleet felt under pressure. Was this a secret plot to try and clear them off the Barrow? There was talk of a blockade. Information from the harbour commissioners appeared to be sporadic and there were appeals to the Department of the Marine.
Attempts were made to remedy the situation through establishment of a Belview Co ordinating Group, involving the Checkpoint residents, the harbour commissioners, Kilkenny County Council and the IDA.
The remedy - though there are several options - appears to have split the village, in spite of efforts by Checkpoint Residents Association to maintain a united front.
At a public meeting last summer, a firm of consulting engineers, Malone O'Regan, proposed two options dredging an approach channel and installing navigational lights, or constructing a basin for a safe harbour, along with reclamation of some nine acres of land. The firm emphasised that there was no funding for any work at Cheekpoint but said a decision on an agreed solution was "urgently required". The Minister of State, Mr Eamon Gilmore, also indicated that funding would be a problem in a letter sent to a resident last November.
Mr John Clancy, general manager of Waterford Harbour Commissioners, says EU grant aid will be sought when consensus is reached. A recent meeting came up with a draft proposal to extend the pier and reclaim land downstream.
The Waterford Harbour general manager concedes that the siltation was forecast but says no one, believed that dredging would be, so costly. "To maintain access at Checkpoint, it would have to be carried out at least twice a year," he says. "Yes, there is a problem, but it is very premature to be drawing attention to it now." Even if the mud began to gather three years ago.
