March 23, 2005

Dozens of structures are falling apart

N.S. lobby group holding forums to discuss crumbling wharfs

SHAG HARBOUR, N.S.

Dozens of community wharfs around Nova Scotia are falling to pieces because of neglect, say local users.

Starting Monday, the lobby group Coastal Communities Network began holding a series of forums to discuss the problem of wharfs crumbling into the sea.

The aging wharf dilemma hit home two weeks ago in western Shelburne County.

Winds gusting to 100 kilometres per hour during a two-day storm knocked out much of the seawall and tore away deck planks at the Prospect Point wharf at Shag Harbour.

Neglect is the main reason the wharf sustained so much damage, said Vesta Adams, manager of the Shag Harbour Port authority.

“Prospect Point did not just fall apart overnight. The back wall has been bad for four to five years,’’ she said.

The future of the wharf is questionable after the storm.

The small craft harbours branch of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Transport Canada is assessing the damage.

The wharf is now closed and some boats have moved over to a larger one in Shag Harbour, the community’s other wharf.

As many as 40 boats use the Shag Harbour wharf, where about $3 million worth of work is needed.

The Coastal Communities Network forums were to stop Monday at the Gaelic College in St. Ann, March 30 at the Annapolis Basin Conference Centre in Cornwallis and March 31 in the Halifax area at a place to be announced later.

The Canadian Press

Print | Email | Comment