Potentially devastating blow to Falmouth and Cornish economy

by Roger Hollingsworth, RCYC and PoFSA 22 Dec 2011 16:00 GMT

Reply to “Maritime Protection efforts Welcomed”, Weston Morning News 19th Dec ’11

Very, very few of us would wish to deliberately damage our environment. Indeed it is good to see the beautiful marine environment we all so much enjoy being recognised as important to Cornwall’s tourist trade. However there is a real risk in our enthusiasm to conserve our beautiful coastline we get carried away on the environmentalists’ bandwagon and lose sight of the fact conservation should be based upon good science and not passion.

There are major worries for Falmouth over the proposed Marine Conservation Reference Zone (MCZr) for St Mawes Bank, Falmouth. Such a MCZr could potentially:

Stop the much needed Falmouth Docks modernisation plan
Stop the port dredging; so necessary for deeper draft of larger modern ships
Stop the use of the Cross Roads buoy; so necessary to give safe haven to ships in distress. If there were no Cross Roads buoy, the port may be unable to continue in its historic role as a refuge port.
Close the Port of Truro
Stop the annual Falmouth Week regatta
Limit the Port’s ability to attract major international sailing events
Limit Club racing
Damage the Fal estuary for recreational purposes

The Finding Sanctuary process which recommended the St Mawes Bank MCZr had two fundamental weaknesses:

Neither proper nor adequate local stakeholder involvement.
Out of date or insufficient scientific data.

Social Economic Impact

Had there been correct and proper local stakeholder involvement, it would have been quickly recognised the potentially devastating impact the St Mawes Bank MCZr would have on jobs and tourism.

Science

Two of the factors influencing the St Mawes Bank MCZr were live maerl and the sea grass beds. Had the scientific data used been up to date, it would have quickly recognised the sea grass has largely migrated off the St Mawes Bank towards St Just and there are better beds elsewhere. St Mawes Bank and Carrick Roads are regulated by Falmouth Harbour Commissioners and Truro Port authorities and are in a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). The St Mawes Bank live maerl is quoted by Cornwall Wildlife Trust as being “pristine”. Clearly therefore the Port Authorities and the SAC management team are doing a good conservation job and further control is unjustified.

It’s untrue to say St Mawes Bank maerl is the last living surviving example as some MCZ supporters have claimed. There are good beds of live maerl under Golden Gear in the Helford and inside Gull Rock. They are unprotected because, unlike the Fal, neither has a regulating authority. It seems fairly obvious therefore that these two good examples of living maerl, being unprotected, are in greater peril than the St Mawes Bank bed which is well controlled and consequently in pristine condition.

The Fal estuary is unique in the world. The chemical properties of the Fal estuary waters are controlled by:

Sewage Point Discharges - It is polluted by some 20 treated sewage point discharges introducing abnormal levels of nutrients. Newham Truro sewage works has been reported as failing and discharging raw sewage at times reaching as far downstream as king Harry Ferry.
County Adit - The 38 mile long county adit first constructed in the 1700’s and extended in the 1800’s drains many of the county’s derelict and abandoned tin and copper mines. The water levels in the derelict mines vary between summer and winter and so do the ph values. Millions of gallons of this metal rich acidic water discharges every day from the county adit, into Restronguet creek which in turn drains into the Fal. Consequently the silt bed of Restronguet creek has over the centuries built up to be 10 metres deep in polluted mine waste. Such is the heavy metal contamination in this silt that oysters harvested at the mouth of Restronguet creek and just a short distance from the proposed St Mawes Bank MCZr have green flesh and would make one feel pretty poorly if eaten.
China Clay Waste - For centuries, the west side of what is now Imerys China Clay drains down from St Stephen, Goss Moor, & Tregony into the Fal. There are numerous point discharge consents today to control the discharges but there were none in past times. Hence the creeks feeding into the Fal have silted up and polluted with the china clay waste.

These three factors make the Fal unique and therefore unsuitable as a reference for control and comparison purposes. Indeed, over the centuries, parts of the Fal marine environment has adapted to these pollutants making it unique in itself.

Cornwall Wild Life Trust’s website campaign to pressurise ministers into blindly accepting without question all 127 proposed MCZ’z is not helpful to anyone including themselves. Such self-focused pressure is unhelpful because:

As I have highlighted, without proper science and due diligence, the areas at greatest risk can be missed and left unprotected.
By ignoring social economic needs, it risks imposing excessive, & unnecessary restrictive control endangering peoples’ livelihoods and the prosperity of Cornwall.
Ineffectual stakeholder consultation fails to generate the publics’ acceptance so necessary for conservation zones to be effective.
Alienates the publics’ attitude towards Cornwall Wildlife Trust.

The common matter I do agree with Cornwall Wildlife Trust is, we should all be writing to the Minister. We should be asking for:

Effective local Stakeholder involvement across a broad section of interests.
Good science with effective statistical sampling to correctly identify the marine areas at greatest risk.
Thorough social economic impact assessments to prevent conservation adversely impacting on Cornwall’s economy, jobs, recreation and tourism.

I honestly believe, if we follow these three simple steps and apply ourselves, we can have the conservation and MCZ’s which those passionate about the environment want whilst ensuring Cornwall’s economic future, and most important of all, permitting Falmouth’s waterfront sailors to continue enjoying the magical waters of Carrick Roads in the way they have for hundreds of years.

Wishing you all a Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

Roger Hollingsworth
Royal Cornwall Yacht Club
RYA South West representative for Falmouth

CC Richard Benyon MP Parliamentary, Under Secretary of State Defra Nobel House 17 Smith Square London SW1P 3JR