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With the continuing debate over the future of Penlee Quarry as a marina,
with housing and an hotel, the whole question of such facilities around
Penwith is brought to the fore once again.
At various times there have been suggestions for such docking schemes
at Hayle in any harbour redevelopment, at Newlyn, at Penzance and now
at the disused quarry. With the way things are panning out at Hayle any
such notion there could well be many years hence.
The quarry scheme is a privately financed one and there is growing opposition
to it from the environmental lobby. Notwithstanding, much work has been
put into bringing the plan thus far and the developers must be given a
fair chance to show the workability or otherwise of their scheme giving
due regard to environmental and other concerns voiced in recent weeks
in our letters column.
The forum for the regeneration of Newlyn would seem to have got its act
together in getting support from the various government funding agencies
and at this stage must be the front runner in the provision of an element
of marina facilities, yet there are those that believe that the area could
support more than one marina.
This leaves Penzance and we are prompted to ask how effectively the town's
corner is being fought on this front.
There have been several studies and wide public support for such facilities
over many years, but seemingly scant progress.
It is time we got our act together in support of a coherent, unified
harbourfront scheme for the town. The bay is the town's greatest asset.
Such a refurbished harbourfront, including a marina, would enable Penzance
to turn its face once again to the sea with a vibrant waterfront attracting
tourists and business from throughout the county and beyond.
And as a starter for this particular debate can we suggest the car park
is excavated and returned to maritime use with car parking facilities
being provided elsewhere in the harbour area with reclaimed land.
In this respect we must strive for the very best for the town not be
fobbed off with some second best option.
This would allow us to right the wrong of that decision all those years
ago to infill the harbour for a car park and to give Penzance a truly
maritime flavour linking with the current harbour and the Promenade.
article copyright © THE CORNISHMAN
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