Latest News

(Scroll down to read 'What's new at this site', 'Latest Findings' and 'Gossip'...)
 
5th March 2008 - An open letter to our supporters:

We think things are nearer to happening on the Quarry front - but it's difficult to tell?  Last year we heard that a planning application would go in by Christmas, so prepared our public exhibition in November to give the public a chance to see our side of things. The same month we read in the Cornishman that MDL were hoping to reach a deal with a housing developer 'in the Spring'. In last week's Cornishman we now read that MDL's 'search for an investment partner could soon be over,' and that they 'hope to announce a partnership deal in April.'  This we find puzzling as it is the first we have heard of MDL needing an investment partner - we were told by Mr Iliffe himself at an early stage of proceedings that 'money was no object.' And if you look at their website you will see that they are well behind their projected schedule.  Here they give 2008-9 as completion date, this is of course impossible in view of a year to get planning approval and four+ years of development!

Anyway, we are working on the assumption that a planning application will go in soon, and are preparing accordingly. One reason we think this likely is that we have just heard that a new road is being built at the back of the quarry, apparently to solve some of the traffic problems associated with the development, and that this is a 'condition of planning.'  Needless to say we were somewhat gobsmacked by this.  Who is paying for this road, I wonder, and why is it being built now when planning applications have not even been submitted yet?  We shall be investigating this further.

On Monday 3rd Mar, Adam and Caroline were invited to Mousehole School to answer the children's questions about the proposed development, which they are doing as their Geography project. They have already had a visit from MDL to hear the other side. We found them very knowledgeable about the whole subject although they didn't seem to know about the eelgrass beds and the devastating effect the development woud have on the marine environment.  They have taken a questionnaire home to their parents and we shall be interested to hear the results of this.

On Tuesday 4th Mar, we gave a presentation to Penzance Chamber of Commerce at their invitation, though some members made it very plain we were not welcome.  We put forward our case and were then surprised and dismayed to find it being 'demolished' by the chairman (wearing his other hat as a member of the PZ regeneration committee), who put forward a lot of specious arguments which, in his view, answered our case; though they were clearly not based on fact, and in virtually every case were mere supposition.  Arguments such as: 'the quarry will create 300-500 jobs, which 'will create employment for Newlyn fishermen and compensate for the loss of jobs through depleted fish stocks.' We think it much more likely that the Marina development would provide mostly poorly paid, seasonal work most of which would likely to go to migrant workers anyway! (see the recent articles in the Western Morning News and the Daily Express - links below). Another weak argument put forward was that people using the marina would arrive on their yachts, look around Penzance and Newlyn, see opportunities for regeneration and proceed to create new businesses in the area etc...! This was given as a definite, whereas it seem just as likely that yacht owners will stock up with food at Tesco's or M&S, sail to Penzance with a party of friends, eat and sleep on board and then cross over to the Scillies without venturing into Newlyn or Penzance at all! After we left the Chamber of Commerce were proceeding to a vote on whether or not to support the development 'in principle' - that is, all nine of them who were present, hardly very representative of 100 members?

We heard this week that the short-snouted seahorse and the spiny seahorse are to be protected species from April 6th, as is their habitat.  The eelgrass beds off Roskilly are perfect seahorse habitat and the chairman of the British Seahorse Foundation tells me that he is '500 per cent certain that there are seahorses living there.'  (see the University of Plymouth's press release on Eel Grass). All we need to do is to find one.  If you are a diver and have seen a seahorse off Roskilly, or fancy going to look for one, please let us know.  This could solve all our problems (well, quite a lot of them; there's still a good chance they'd go ahead with a proposal for the housing even if they couldn't build a marina.).

We are gratified to learn that the committee in charge of the annual Sea, Salt & Sail festival in Mousehole have rejected MDL's offer of financial support as it was (deservedly) feared that the event would be boycotted by many performers and attendees in protest. The official verdict of the SS&S committee was that the funding 'would be too contentious and would divide the community' - Hear, hear! say us, and well done Mousehole... we can now look forward to another successful festival.

And finally - there will be a meeting of Stop the Marina! on Wednesday March 12th.  If you are interested in attending please get in touch.

5th March 2008 - Two hard-hitting headline articles which confirm our suspicions about the overblown 'jobs creation' myth and the impact of more second homes:  MIGRANTS GET 85% OF NEW JOBS IN BRITAIN Daily Express 4th Mar.and SECOND HOMES FACE TAX HIKE Western Morning News 3rd Mar. The second article gives solid evidence of the devastating impact of 2nd homes on rural communities. We would remind the Chairman of PZ's Chamber of Commerce that these are based on FACTS and not specious parroted supposition!

You can download the 'Rural Communities' report referred to in the above article here

New links added: Seahorse Trust and The British Seahorse Survey on the links page

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10th December 2007 - more from Old Mike in his column this week.

30th November 2007 - See our retort to Old Mike's column in this week's Cornishman.

26th November - Download the excellent PowerPoint presentation by Penzance Harbour User's informing why Penzance is the far better alternative site for a marina. see Downloads Page . Link added for the Silver Dolphin Dive Centre Links page (under Environment) - why not pay them a visit?

Public Exhibition Update 26th November. The Cornishman's article in response to our press release and comments has been added.

12th November 2007 - click here to read an interim report on last Saturday's Public Exhibition - more soon....

4th November 2007 - Some of our members have suggested turning the quarry into a diving centre. We have added this to our list of Alternatives (scroll down to read) with our comments and observations on this scheme added.

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29th October 2007 - We would like to draw our reader’s attention to the latest update to MDL’s website: see the other pages also but specifically, this phrase: Residential development will facilitate the upfront infrastructure costs for the marina development such as a breakwater, cut through to the sea and a bridge.’

Up until now this tactic had only been conjecture although we have long-suspected that the housing project would be ‘independent’ of the marina facility. This is due to it being a much-more risky venture financially in view of the enormity of the tasks involved in forming the connecting sea channel and the environmental impacts thereof? The application for the Harbour Empowerment Order would take about four years to process and the outcome would be by-no-means assured.

MDL’s Edward Iliffe has categorically stated to us that “money is no object” when asked if they had sufficient funds to pursue the Port Penlee scheme. And this is indeed true considering the Rt.Hon Mr Iliffe’s family fortune stretches into the hundreds of £millions. Therefore, it is disingenuous for MDL to claim that the housing sales are needed for the ‘upfront infrastructure costs’ – this is yet another red herring we are expected to swallow!

We can therefore surmise that the forthcoming planning application, threatened as being ‘weeks away’ according to this recent report in The Cornishman, will be solely for the housing project.

This leaves an interesting conundrum: With the housing market now even more on a knife-edge, we can only presume that the Port Penlee housing would only be sold to the mentally deficient and especially so, when the proposed marina scheme is shown to be an elephant of the whitest kind. “Psst – rich person, wanna buy a house in a hole?”

We will be looking very closely at the covenants attached to any proposed Port Penlee housing. What’s the betting that there is an exclusion clause in case a marina can’t ever be created?

However, what we are seeing is the emergence of  the dreaded 'planning by stealth' tactic - small incremental bite-sized projects instead of one big one. Do not be fooled by the carrot of 'affordable housing'. And if you're a rich twit, don't be fooled with a promise of a nice marina to look at out of your window - it's a quarry!

The eagle-eyed among you might also spot the howler which is going straight into our Classic Quotes section: 'The road links to Penzance are good...' Unbelievable!

 *** We have today learned from an impeccable source, highly placed within Penwith District Council, that MDL will be applying for permission "to construct a new road around the back of Tredavoe to service the development". This absurd proposal would not solve any of the inherent traffic problems, it will create even more!

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26th October 2007 -

*** Stop The Marina! Public Exhibition ***

Stop the Marina! and Friends of the Bay will be holding a public exhibition at St. Peter's Church Hall, Newlyn on Saturday November 10th from 10 am to 4 pm. This is your chance to meet group members, find out a bit more about why we want to stop the marina and what it might mean for you. Drop in for a cup of tea and a chat, and find out what you can do to help.

To find St. Peter's Church, turn right at Newlyn bridge (coming from Penzance along the sea front) and the church is next on the right after the meadery.  Parking is limited - there is a small (paying) car park opposite the Fishermen's Mission in Newlyn.  There are regular buses from Penzance Greenmarket and Alexandra Road (Mousehole and Land's End services).

Hope to see you there!

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10th August 2007 -

Our apologies for the lack of info recently, here’s an update on what is going on at Penlee Quarry at present…

The current situation is as follows.  The quarry owners are presently in the process of blasting stone on the North side of the quarry – in total this will amount to about 450000 tonnes!  They obtained permission for this from the County Council in January this year - click for details. None of this stone has yet been removed from the quarry site (when this does occur it will be plainly obvious to anyone when the massive lorries start hauling along Cliff Road). They have not said precisely why they want to remove the stone or where it is to go, but they have stated that they hope to be able to sell the armourstone for the schemes at Newlyn Harbour, Sandy Cove, Penzance Harbour and offshore breakwaters, and St Mary’s Harbour Isles Of Scilly. MDL have also stated that the stone will be ‘graded and stored’ on the south side of the quarry while the various schemes are being debated. We might conjecture that the stone will be removed from the quarry and ‘stored’ at Sandy cove (partly owned by MDL) while the planning process grinds on?

However, it is fairly clear if you look at what has happened in the last few months that this removal of stone is very much a part of the preparation for the proposed development of houses and a hotel etc.  The deep ledges where the buildings are to be sited can now clearly be seen. 

MDL HAVE NOT YET APPLIED FOR PLANNING PERMISSION FOR THE MAIN DEVELOPMENT – e.g. the houses, the hotel, the marina itself nor any or the associated changes required such as re-routing mains services or traffic flow alterations. 

They say they will do this ‘before the end of the year.’ An article in the Cornishman newspaper 26/7/07 said ‘in the near future.’  All they have at the moment is ‘permission to resume quarrying.’ We can only guess at the level of the planning application/s forthcoming. Perhaps it will occur in dribs and drabs; perhaps we’ll get the whole lot at once?

Those of you who keep an eagle eye on the Cornishman may have noticed under this week’s notices in the Classifieds, p. 51, the following; ‘Proposed development at Penlee Quarry.’ This is in fact a retrospective application, changing some of the conditions of the  ‘permission to resume quarrying’ referred to above… MDL have been obliged to put in a revised application as they have exceeded the permission given them in the original application which was granted in December last year.  Amongst other things they have changed the internal route of the quarry access road, and the appearance of the slope alongside Cliff Road.  For more information see the Cornishman, or for the full application, go the the public library on Morrab Road, or to County Hall, Truro.

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ACTION - When the various planning applications for the main housing development and for the marina are lodged, we must be ready to oppose them. We don’t know when they will be lodged but they will appear in the local press. We will alert all our supporters when/ if this occurs. – Be ready!

There are many grounds for opposing this development, most of which are generally outlined here on our website.  We will be putting together a detailed list of ‘grounds for objection’ and of the names and addresses where objections should be sent – watch this space!

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10th May 2007 - Penzance Green Fair - a belated report from Caroline: I had a successful day at Penzance Green Fair (Easter Saturday) with lots of people taking an interest in our stall; 23 new people putting their names on our supporters’ list. I also had a friendly chat with Andrew George who asked to be kept up-to-date with developments.  Rumours are flying round that MDL now want to build ‘up and over the top’ - (presumably to solve the traffic problems - but see our FAQ's); that they want to build a road between the top of the quarry and Drift (this one was actually being put about by Newlyn vicar, Rev. Julian Drew; he has strong connections with the Newlyn Fish Industry Forum I believe?…) We also heard that MDL have ‘bulldozed badger setts within the larger quarry area’; if anyone knows anything about this please let us know?

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8th May 2007 - Following on from our revelations over the WS Stevenson rout: here's some recent press coverage:

BBC 13th April 2007
Firm admits quota scam:

Western Morning News 14th April 2007
FISHING COMPANY ADMITS QUOTA SCAM

The Cornishman 19th April 2007
PORT ROCKED AS MERCHANTS ADMIT FISHING QUOTA FRAUD

The Cornishman 28th April 2007
FISHING SCAM FIRM MAY LOSE FORUM PLACE

What the articles don’t mention is how the scam worked and, after a bit of digging and looking carefully at the background, we've been able to piece most of it together. However, it's almost certainly not the entire picture so, to avoid any possible error, litigation, or a brick through the window, you'll have to wait a little longer to hear all the nitty gritty. Meanwhile, here's a couple of extracts from a recent article by George Monbiot in the Guardian which allude to a not entirely dissimilar situation:

'Why do we find it so hard to stand up to fishermen? This tiny industrial lobby seems to have governments in the palm of its hand. Every year, the EU sets catch limits for all species way above the levels its scientists recommend. Governments know that they are allowing the fishing industry to destroy itself and to destroy the ecosystem on which it depends. But nothing is sacred, as long as it is underwater.'
and...
‘The rules that do get passed are ignored by fishermen and governments. Last Sunday, I stood with a fisheries manager on the banks of a famous sea trout river in Wales. Perhaps I should say a famous former sea trout river in Wales. For the past four years, scarcely any fish -- sea trout or salmon -- have appeared. He was not sure why, but he told me that trawlers in the Irish Sea land boxes of what appear to be bass; hidden under the top layer are salmon and sea trout.’

Rumours suggest big boats transferring to little boats by pre-arranged rendezvous. And if other rumours are true, there may well also be a connection between bycatch translating into rubby dubby translating into an explosion of bottom feeders (in every sense of the word!)? However, whether these connections are deliberate as part of a wider scam (e.g. site-specific inshore bycatch dumping for crab baiting), or incidental, we can only surmise for the time being. Perhaps the investigation will result in some bycatch of its own?

The minutes of Cornwall County Council's Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committe in July last year give some background - see items SFC/58 & 59 and SFC/65 (many of the vested interests want the harbour development schemes pronto in case it all goes pear-shaped suddenly, others want to cautiously wait to see what transpires). The South West Observatory's Environment report looks at the wider picture.  And also this article on Marine Protected Areas from the Western Morning News.

Our guess is that DEFRA will play this one to the bitter end? DEFRA and Plod are now combing through the auction records to find out which purchasers paid over the usual market price for low-grade fish. It may well be this shower that could be next in line for prosecution?

So why now when these offenses were committed several years ago? Contrary to popular opinion, all three major political parties would like to take their scientists' advice and try to save the fisheries by declaring no-fishing zones and Marine Protected Areas. However, to be able to do this without forking out massive sums in compensation to decommission the hundreds of Weapons of Mass Destruction (otherwise known as beam trawlers) a bit of leverage is needed. Decommissioning is also a big vote loser and so the suits in Whitehall have been busy looking for a way to break the stranglehold of the big fish business interests, the solidarity of the fishermen, and the public's perception of a stalwart and embattled industry. This case may well be that which gets the snowball rolling? Meanwhile, if you haven't yet read 'End of the Line' by Charles Clover, we urge you to do so.

Andrew George is caught between the two stools of the environmentalists and the fishing industy. Which way he finally wobbles one can only guess? These minutes give some clues as to where his loyalty lies - but don't be too surprised if that changes suddenly?

By a remarkable coincidence (or could it all be impeccable timing?), DEFRA have just announced their latest fishing vessel decommissioning scheme which could potentially affect several Newlyn beamers:
Marine and Fisheries Agency opens £5m fishing vessel decommissioning scheme
Word at the Mission says that boat owners who sell out will be viewed as scabs so it will be interesting to see who has the guts to jump first? (or gets pushed first?).

One thing is for sure: When this really does hit the fan, the last thing Newlyn needs is a heap of yuppies in their big poncy plastic boats sauntering past our redundant fishermen whilst sipping their G&T’s!

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"When the last tree has died,
the last river has been poisoned and
the last fish has been caught:
Only then will the white man learn that he cannot eat money"
19th Century Cree Indian
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Beam Trawlers

Like an army of robotic warriors,
Huddled in the harbour.

Ancient rusting boats;
Dinosaurs in the mist.

A film of oil forms
Grotesque rainbows
On the water.

Adam Round (aged 10+ St Mary's C of E School)

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30th April 2007 - Dont miss the three page article on Penlee Quarry/Marina in this month's (May edition) Cornwall Today. Our very own Caroline Astin 'Head To Head' with MDL's Edward Iliffe. click here to read

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2nd April 2007 - Cornwall Wildlife Trust have completed their survey of the eelgrass beds off Roskilly. You can download the report here or go to our downloads page. Here's the interesting bit:

"The proposed developments at St. Austell Bay (Par Docks and at Carlyon Beach) and Mounts Bay (Penlee quarry and Newlyn harbour) could have impacts on any eelgrass beds in these bays. The eelgrass bed at Roscilly would be particularly at risk from any development at Penlee quarry. The eelgrass located at Larrigan rocks could also be affected by the proposed developments at Newlyn harbour...."

There are lots of rare and beautiful species in these eelgrass beds and no nature lover (or diving enthusiast) would allow their despoilment or destruction without one hell of a fight!

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27th March 2007 - Very interesting 'goings on' at the offices of WS Stevenson this afternoon. A very large and noticable contingent of the boys in blue, HM Customs & Excise and DEFRA Fisheries officers was observed, several key figures were questioned and bags of documents and computers loaded into police vans - most intriguing! What could it all mean?

***Update 28/3/07*** - the word at The Mission this morning says it's all to do with the ongoing investigation into illegal fish sales - the so-called 'black fish', otherwise known as illegal over-quota landings and clandestine sales. An employee of Stevenson's was heard to say "they're going back ten years". Well well? It just so happens that Tony Woodhams is on record as saying "there is no black fish in Newlyn" - well, we'll have to wait and see won't we?.. How might all this affect the Harbour development one wonders?

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26th March 2007 - Next Meeting - this coming Thursday 29th March (Newlyn). If you want to come along, contact Caroline.

26th March 2007 - Green Fayre
We will be have having a stall at this year's Green Fayre. Saturday 7th April (Easter Saturday) 10am - 2pm, St. John's Hall, Penzance - We hope to see you there!

26th March 2007 - Supporter's Newsletter - February 2007:

Things have been quiet on the campaigning front for some time now, but we are planning to get active again.  Details of how you can get involved below – please read on!

Quarrying

You are probably aware that quarrying resumed in Penlee Quarry on January 31st, after a meeting of Cornwall County Council. Councillors were shown (traffic free) photos of the roads along which lorries carrying stone would pass.  They decided not to have a site meeting on the advice of their solicitor, who suggested that this might “raise the hopes of objectors”!  450 000 tonnes of stone will be removed from the quarry over a period of twelve months.  The stone will be taken to Sandy Cove and presumably deposited somewhere on the two thirds of the cove which belongs to MDL (the other third belongs to Newlyn Harbour Commissioners).  As yet no use has been found for this stone.

Blasting

We have had reports of very loud blasts from people living in both Newlyn and Paul.  These were apparently strong enough to shake a house.  MDL say that the blasts measured less than 1.5 mm per second but according to monitors placed by Cornwall County Council they measured 3.8 mm/s.  Permitted blasting levels can go as high as 8.55 mm/s. Local people have had no specific warning of this, and MDL have refused to divulge future blasting dates, however CCC is to suggest that they publish dates and times of blasting in the Cornishman. The police have been informed and have said that they will tell MDL that they must put up red flags prior to blasting.

Nature and Wildlife

From a distance, the quarry looks as if it has been stripped bare of all living things preparatory to the resumption of quarrying.  I am wondering what has become of the many plants, birds and animals that were found in the quarry when it was last surveyed in 2004.  According to MDL’s own report, the ‘Greater Penlee Quarry area’ was home to badgers, slow worms and lizards, 42 species of birds including 15 of nature conservation concern.  There were two species of bat, pipistrelle’s and daubenton’s, 98 species of invertebrate, and any number of plants including the very rare Western Ramping Fumitory, only found in Cornwall.

There are two further matters of interest on the nature front.
1). Apparently MDL were unable to use the cycle path to transport stone as it was suggested by English Nature (now known as 'Natural England') that this might have a ‘detrimental effect’ on the marine environment.  If this would have a detrimental effect on the marine environment, then what would blasting a channel from the quarry into the sea do!  2). A report has finally been published by Cornwall Wildlife Trust on the existence of eelgrass beds in Mount’s Bay (the survey was done in 2005).  Eelgrass beds are a very important marine habitat, and the report makes several mentions of the detrimental effect that possible development might have on these and the species they are home to.  If you want to see the full report it can be found online at
http://www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/nature/marine/eelgrass.htm

addendum - PDC has agreed that Mount's Bay should become a Marine Protected Area - but not yet.  Those intrested in the environmental future of Mount's Bay (and its potential as a tourist resource eg, diving) might wish to forward comments to Natural England, and/or PDC.

Complaints

Last week MDL received 19 letters and calls of complaint from local residents and are, apparently “very uptight”, according to Fiona Williams at Penwith District Council!  Only one of these complaints was about blasting. Keep the complaints coming in – they don’t like it and Edward Iliffe was heard to comment quite some time ago “I’ll walk away from all this if I get too much grief.”.  Complaints about blasting should be made to Felicity Webber at Cornwall County Council, telephone 01872 322667.

New Structure Plan for Quarry

According to an officer at Penwith District Council, the structure plan for the quarry development is to be altered, and the housing scheme will be discussed at upcoming meetings of the Market and Coastal Towns Initiative.  We are waiting to hear the dates of these meetings.

Action

If you would like to be involved, there are several things you can do:

1. Attend a meeting of the MCTi.
2. Write to English Nature, Cornwall Wildlife Trust and /or MDL asking for information about the wildlife formerly identified as living in the quarry.  Ask whether there has been a recent survey by a suitably qualified ecologist.
3. Come to our next meeting.  Date/venue to follow.  We need people to seek information – to do with planning, traffic surveys, finances, wildlife…  If you feel able to help or have any useful information or experience to share, please let us know.

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21st March 2007 - Today's Budget - 'Quarrying costs to skyrocket'.
Nice one Gordon!

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12th June 2006 - The Newlyn Pier Harbour Commissioner are holding an exhibition of proposals for the new fish market. The exhibition will be held at the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen in Newlyn on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th of June - between 9:00am and 6:00 pm on both days.

Click to view the proposals for the new fish market.

22nd May 2006 - Action Alert - Further Update:

Cornwall County Council inform us that:

1. A large number of letters (80+?) have been received from members of the public voicing concern over the various aspects of MDL's application to resume quarrying at Penlee. This high volume is normally reserved for more-inflammatory (pardon the pun) issues such as the controversial incinerator proposal. We understand that the vast majority of these letters are objections. This level of opposition has sent a very clear message.

2. Due to the number of ‘suggestions’ received from within the correspondence, CCC have postponed hearing the application until a number of important questions have been answered by MDL. Therefore, the item has not been included on the agenda for this Wednesday’s meeting of the planning committee.

3. The primary cause of concern to all is the traffic issue. This concern is shared by a number of officers within CCC 'up to, and including, the head of planning’.

4. MDL have been asked to consider alternative means (other than by road) of getting stone from Penlee to Sandy Cove. These alternatives include ‘by sea barge’ and an ‘overhead conveyor’. Note: a sea barge would still need to be loaded somehow and a conveyor system would be useless for 10tonne blocks!

5. We (the general public) will get a further oportunity to comment on MDL's answers to the various questions posed. Let's hope that we are given a reasonable time within which to do this!

6. CCC expect the application will be ready by either the 21st June or the 5th July meeting. We will be informed at least the week prior.

“Thank you” to each and every one of you who wrote letters.

22nd May 2006 - The malfeasance of Scarborough Borough Council over the handling of the proposed marina at Whitby (see 'Sham Storm over Marina Consultations' below), has attracted the scrutiny of The Ombudsman and all development relating to the scheme is now on hold. We are in contact with the Whitby anti-marina group and hope to learn a great deal from the issue.

20th May 06 - Our Press Release 8 has found its way onto WestCountry Indymedia: 'Cornish Wildlife Sanctury to be trashed for posh houses and cars' - well, that's one way of putting it!

19th May 06 - The sheduled meeting of Cornwall County Council's planning committee on the 24th May will NOT include MDL's application to resume quarrying - it has been 'postponed'. We are told the application will be heard at a later date, possibly July? This is excellent news! We can assume our protests have had a direct effect and that the shortcomings in MDL's submission that we have highlighted in our letters have had a material impact. We hope to report on the specific reasons why the application has been postponed shortly - watch this space. Click here to go directly to Cornwall County Council's site to view updates of the application as it progresses though the planning stages.

16th May 06 - ' £42m harbour restoration progress' - BBC Article. One might wish to question the ethics of funding Newlyn's regeneration from the proceeds of people's addiction to gambling? There's progress for you!

16th May 06 - Digging the dirt on the Eden Project Perhaps the finest example of a regeneration nightmare? Take heed!

15th May 06 - 'French Sand To Revive Lyme Regis Beaches' Informative article in today's Guardian. Note: Superior quality stone imported from Norway and cheaper to bring it in by sea than to use lorries. In other words, MDL/PNP are telling us porkies! (see Quarrying)

10th May 06 - Cornwall Wildlife Trust have asked us to remove their logo from our home page - here's why!

10th May 06 - Our Action Alert! has appeared on the UK's largest dive forum - Our sources tell us there are many local and non-local divers who are extremely concerned about the loss of a prime dive site off Roskilly Beach.

9th May 06 - Marina Plans Head For Stormy Waters: Celtic League Press Release viewable here

4th May 06 - We are pleased to announce that The Celtic League Kernow have given us their unequivocal support - more info soon.

3rd May 06 - Warning on Cornish roads gridlock - BBC article. Let's hope that Cornwall County Council pay attention to their own warnings when considering the massive increases in traffic resulting from the proposed Port Penlee and Sandy Cove schemes!

2nd May 06 - Housing boom comes up against an environmental brick wall - Article in The Independent; succinctly summed up with this superb quote: '...the prosperity of the South-east was enormously dependent on people thinking of it as an attractive place to live. "As there is more and more pressure to develop, a tipping point is getting closer, where eventually people will say, 'this is a shitty place, let's go and live somewhere else',". Let us hope that over development in Penwith is stopped before we get to this stage? Some would think we have gone way beyond it already of course?

1st May 06 - Urinetown - an interesting essay on what happens when a local community overshoots its resource limits. A profound philosophical dilemma that faces us all.

28th April 06 - Living Streets Penwith have asked us to draw attention to the ongoing thread on the Newlyn Info forum concerning cycling on Newlyn Green. Although not directly related to our campaign, or the development schemes per se, it serves to highligh the degree of local government ineptitude that we are subject to and the way by which public opinion can be manipulated to suit hidden agendas.

28th April 06 - The following item of nostalgia just received via our Paul contact: "Dear Rod, Re fall out from blasting....My Grandfather who was a stone mason and lived on the Gwavas allways drummed it in to us about blasting and if we were on the beach and heard the siren we were to run for the shelters which from memory were solid concrete he actually took us down there and showed us what to do.....bearing in mind this Guy came through the trenches in WW1 he wasnt a man to spook for no reason.we were told that someone had been hit by small pieces, but suffered cuts only. Dont recall anyone rounding people up.......you just had to run for the shelters, that were spaced at about every 1/4 of a mile....I think there were 3 or 4.....I have actually run for them myself.....Everyone took it as one of those things, Madness when you look back...but it was treated very seriously by the local men most Ex WW1 guys who knew what they were talking about. Didnt think of this until I saw it mentioned, and it all came back to me....If you need any of this in writing....let me know, Peter". - Does ayone else have any fond recollections from the good ol' days of quarrying? Do share it with us.

25th April 06 - A man appeared at the front door of a Newlyn Coombe resident yesterday and asked if he could take noise measurements in the back garden. He said he was ‘carrying out a series of measurements in the area in connection with the proposed recycling centre on the site of the electricity substation in The Coombe’. He thought that planning permission would be applied for in the 'not too distant future'. We have also heard rumours from two very reliable and well-placed sources that the three fields that had been earmarked for the wretched Seafood Park are now being considered for ‘affordable housing’! Has anyone heard anything about either of these proposals?

25th April 06 - 'Sham' Storm Over Marina Consultations. Looks like Newlyn isn't the only one suffering from the curse of development? So-called 'public consultations' serve one main purpose: and that is to let the developers know how much they can get away with! Further coverage here

20th April 06 - We have been informed that in the good old days of quarrying at Penlee, anyone who was on Roskilly Beach when blasting was about to commence was 'rounded up' and herded into a nearby 'blast shelter' - and for good reason: On one occasion a 6" chunk of stone went though the roof of Pembroke Lodge - all hushed up at the time but we have it on good authority. On another occasion, a series of cars were peppered with 'fist-sized stones'. MDL want to resume blasting twice daily!

20th April 06 - Interesting info relating to our Action Alert!: Cornwall County Council Highways Dept have been awaiting a Traffic Impact Assessment from MDL since January; it should have been included in the submission evidently. One can only wonder why the application has been made in haste without it? Hmmm? The County Council is 'extremely concerned' about having to close Cliff Road during blasting operations (in the old days it was five minutes before and after; abut fifteen minutes in total) - no mention of that in the submission either!!!

19th April 06 - We have just heard that the decision whether to allow MDL to resume quarrying will be heard by the County Council Planning Committee on the 24th May 2006 in Truro. We can send comments for consideration up until the 14th May - See Action Alert!

17th April 06 – Our stall at the Green Fayre PZ on Saturday was a resounding success! Our ‘Stop The Quarry’ petition was launched at 10am and in a little over three hours we had one hundred signatures! We aim to have over a thousand by the 26th May. You can download the petition here (MS word format) or go to our Campaign page for additional info.

15th April 06 - Interesting bit of gossip to liven up the forthcoming District Council Elections (scroll down to 'GOSSIP' below).

13th April 06 - We'll be having our own Stop The Marina! stall at the Green Fayre this coming Saturday (15th) and hope to see you there! St. John's Hall PZ, 10am - 2.30pm. We'll be launching our petition to 'Stop The Quarry and Stop The Marina!' so be sure to come along and be among the first to sign!

10th April 06 - To confirm unequivocally that Newlyn.info is little more than a shop window for the developers, it will come as no surprise to learn that our 'Action Alert' mysteriously vanished from their discussion forum within hours of posting; a case of 'now you see it, now you don't'! A technical error obviously?

10th April 06 - An interesting bit of gossip from Living Streets Penwith - scroll to bottom of page....

10th April 06 - Stop The Marina! 'Awareness Stickers' for you to download. See: Our Campaign  Get Sticking!


29th March 06 - It’s now over ten weeks since this site was launched and the most remarkable thing is that the silence has been deafening! We have not had ONE single refutation of any of the facts presented within these pages; no libel writs; no threatening phone calls; no brown envelopes (unfortunately) – nothing! In this respect we fully stand by our principle assertions which are namely:

  1. The regeneration schemes have been specifically contrived to make use of unwanted stone, without so-doing, a marina could not be built.
  2.  The schemes, the funding, and their interconnectedness, were orchestrated and agreed upon long before any of the information went public.
  3. The so-called public consultations have been conducted to give the impression that we are being listened to. The exact opposite is true; it’s an elaborate whitewash.
  4.  The developers are lying through their teeth. There are several key individuals in the public employ who know this and are turning a blind eye to suit their own agendas.
IMPORTANT 29th March 06 - An application has been submitted by MDL to Cornwall County Council to commence 'limited quarrying operations' at Penlee. The application is advertised on page 44 of the Cornishman classifieds (23/03/06) and it is listed at CCC's website here  It can also be viewed in full at  PDC St Clare or  Morrab Road Library. It is a large document of several hundred pages.

To support the application, MDL have now rebranded the quarry as 'Penlee Armourstone Quarry' and have a new website to promote this. The website has been built by none other than the 'notoriously impartial' Gabriella Nonino (Sandswimmer.net) see her portfolio. You can download the application's introduction and a few maps from the new website. (8.32 and 4.71Mb - broadband advised) but there is a whole lot more in the full application.

We do not consider the removal of 450'000 tonnes of armourstone by road a 'limited quarrying operation' - more on this important subject, and others, shortly. Watch this space...

Stop The Marina! will strongly oppose this application on a number of grounds and recommendations for letters of oposition and further information will appear here in a few days. Cornwall County Council are inviting comments on the application and the deadline for this is the 18th April. We will request an extension of this date as we feel it is an unreasonably short timeframe to consider an application of such importance. If you want to submit interim comments now, do so but  request at least another eight weeks extension to the closing deadline and state that you will write again listing your objections more fully. You can submit your comments directly to CCC via the appliction page here. click 'submit comments'. Send copies to the three County Councillors (click 'Councillor details') and ask them to help you achive this and to comment on the application.

'Latest News' and 'Latest Findings' Archive Jan-Mar 06

What's new at this site...

3rd April 07 - Link to Transition Penwith added under Links

21st April 06 - There is now a link to The Standards Board under Links. Anyone who feels that their elected representative has acted inappropriately may report any malfeasance. For instance, a councillor who has publicly expressed a particular bias towards a development, and then votes on it! Here is a typical example from 2002. This position may help to explain why certain members of the planning committee have not yet (publicly) expressed any particular bias; this does not necessarily mean they will not ‘do the right thing’ when the time comes!

5th April - Latest Pics of the Newlyn Harbour and Sandy Cove schemes - yuk!  Picture Gallery and possibly the best 'classic quote' yet? (scroll to bottom of The Players page)

29th March - A personal message from Tony Williams of the Protect Newlyn Coombe action group.

23rd Jan - Megayachts - Regeneration page. / Piskies in the Quarry? (see below, no questions asked)

14th Jan 06 - Visitors' Comments page added with link from home page
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9th Jan 06 - STM! Press Release 7, see Press
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5th Jan 06 - Front Page of the Cornishman: "CRUNCH TIME FOR NEWLYN" go to latest press coverage to read this article
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4th Jan 06 - MDL and the Dibden Container Port Debacle - what a bunch of hypocrites!

Latest Findings

Announcements

Forthcoming meetings:


Latest press coverage click here


Special requests / Can you help?

Have you got any photos of Penlee Quarry between 1990 and 2002? Do you have any interesting wildlife sightings from that period?

Do you have any photos of Penlee when it was a working quarry?

Have the developers spoken to you about any and facts and figures relating to the amount of stone needed to be removed from Penlee? We know what they have told us, but what have they told you? There appears to be a number of discrepancies and 'variations' in the quantities stated depending on who they are speaking to. Either they're telling porkies or they haven't got their story straight.

Gossip

15th April 06 - We note, with a great deal of interest, that Malcolm Pilcher’s seat on Penzance South Ward is being strongly contested in the forthcoming Penwith District Council Elections on May 4th. As well as four other challenging candidates, we see that Ruth Lewarne (Lib Dem) is standing also. It may interest readers to note that this is the same (ex-District Councillor) Ruth Lewarne who’s letter ‘WHERE HAVE ALL THE COUNCIL'S MASONS GONE?’ was printed in the Cornishman on the 6th April. In her letter, Ruth asks the awkward question: “why have no Penwith District Councillors declared their Masonic interests over the last ten years or so when it has been common knowledge that over 50% of them are masons?” Why indeed? And why Ruth’s letter did not appear in print for three weeks we can only conjecture also? Amazingly, during this inordinately long time for a letter to be printed, Malcolm Pilcher has suddenly remembered that he is, indeed, a mason and has quickly declared his interest as such on Penwith District Council’s website. By a stroke of luck, this was published on the 5th April, the day before Ruth's letter was eventually printed, and just in time for the closing date for nominations. If Ruth’s letter had been printed earlier, it might well have made things a little embarassing for Cllr Pilcher!? However, we applaud Cllr Pilcher for overcoming his amnesia and trust that he will encourage his fellow members on the planning committee to follow in his footsteps. Cllr Pilcher has, of course, publicly championed the Penlee Marina, and other development schemes, from their inception. We shan’t be sorry to see him go!

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We hear that Penwith District Council's CEO is "seeking employment elsewhere"??? Well he is according to a report on the Newlyn Cycleway fiasco by Living Streets Penwith. Aw, surely not? - he so wanted to come along to our celebratory party too. Don't worry, we'll save a place for you Jim!

The Traceway system:
Item removed until further notice. We may have been fed some disinformation about this? Our unreserved apologies to all those concerned if that proves to be the case.?

Detonators in Penlee Stone.
***Detonator Update 10th April 06 - We have been informed that the subject of unfired detonators could be a ruse to enable secondary and tertiary blasting over and above that outlined in the recent 'submission to resume quarrying'. The unfired detonators are to be removed by....you guessed it: blasting. This circumvents the DOE enviromental impact assessment regs for excess noise and would allow blasting over and above that which would be otherwise permitted - how convenient? We're on to it!***
MDL have told us that there are many detonators embedded in the quarry stone. We expect this is a tactic to start a rumour to prevent people tresspassing in the quarry - we suspect it is nonsense otherwise. Do you have any info on this. Have you heard this from any other sources? Have you ever seen a detonator?

Cobbs Quay
Have you fallen foul of any of the traffic jams in Poole town centre as a result of the lifting bridge; would you like to share an account of your experience with us?

Soil Quality of the three fields at Newlyn Coombe????
Another little bird has told us about the quality of the soil at the field earmarked for the 'fish processing industrial estate'; that this soil is not all that it seems and might well be wholey unsuited for the Port Penlee topsoil as well as being very very unsuitable for building a food processing plant on top of. What can you tell us about it?

Piskies in the Quarry?
Seen any lately? - might be useful if you have! ;)
What can I do to help ? Local contact numbers:
Penzance: Caroline 331086 ~ Mousehole: Sybil 731147 ~ Newlyn: Adam 364554 ~ Paul: Rod 731548
email us