Published on: 09 June 2022
Aqueduct Marina, based in Nantwich, Cheshire, has become the first inland marina to be awarded The Yacht Harbour Association (TYHA) Clean Marina award.
At the recent Crick Boat Show, TYHA general manager, Jon White, presented Robert Parton, managing director at Aqueduct Marina its Clean Marina award and flag, which will be flown with pride at the marina.
“Aqueduct Marina is very deserving of this award,” commented Jon. “It has put a tremendous amount of time, effort and hard work, alongside some financial investment into gaining this award. When we first visited, we provided a report with an action plan and the team went away, committed to the plan and has delivered outstanding results.”
“We are naturally delighted to achieve the new Clean Marina standard here at Aqueduct Marina. The inspection was rigorous, and as a result we amended a few activities and embedded some company policies, which made the exercise a useful project. We are without doubt a better and more environmentally aware marina as a result,” commented Robert.
The Clean Marina award was launched in 2021, to help marinas get the basics right such as blackwater capture and treatment, correctly managing segregated and hazardous waste, spill prevention and treatment, washdown capture and filtration, drain interception, using sustainable products and preventing plastic pollution, and of course, influencing tenants, contractors and boaters to be more sustainable too.
Aqueduct Marina now joins the existing five coastal marinas which hold the award, with a number of other marinas currently going through the process and looking to achieve the high standard required to obtain the Clean Marina award.
“Obtaining a Clean Marina award is not simply a box ticking exercise,” commented Jon. “After the initial assessment, the marina is given an action plan, which may require some investment on their part, communications to berth holders or the introduction of new ways of working. It then has to provide evidence that it has committed to and fulfilled the plan and achieve an 80 percent score in each of the different components that make up the award.”
The Clean Marina programme began in Australasia though TYHA’s partner organisation the MIA, and has now been launched in the UK, Europe and the Middle East.
To find out more about TYHA and the Clean Marina award visit https://www.tyha.co.uk/
