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Anyone sneaking into Penlee Quarry while the diggers are asleep will
know it is a magical place where a steep wall of rock towers over a
tantalising pool of deep blue water. White birds chatter on their
nesting ledges and all seems wonderful with the world.But this scene
from The Blue Lagoon is experiencing a short spell of tranquility. A
car park is being carved into its newly landscaped entrance, a sun dial
has been etched into one of its slopes and its terraces are being
"tidied up".
Developers say a detailed planning application for the large-scale development will be lodged before the end of the year.
But
those who oppose their proposals to take a chunk out of Newlyn's
coastline to berth 200 yachts say they won't sit back and watch the
plans sail through.
Edward Iliffe, managing director of Marina
Developments Limited, the company which owns the majority of the site,
promises to make the area a magnet for wealth by transforming it into a
glittering marina.
The rock that will be blasted to make space
for its adjoining five-star hotel complex and 200 apartments and houses
could be used, he said, to redevelop the harbours at Newlyn, Penzance
and the Isles of Scilly as well as provide necessary building material
for a boat yard which is being planned for Sandy Cove.
Tony
Harmon, who owns part of the quarry, said the development would
encourage other areas in the South West to improve and will be a boost
for the area.
"This is going to be spectacular," he said. "As
the first marina in Britain it will get all the traffic coming in from
across the Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay. I think it's rather sad that
people have grouped together to oppose such an exciting plan that will
revitalise the area and create jobs."
A Cornwall Enterprise
report written in 2001, which assessed the contribution marinas could
make in terms of increasing Cornwall's prosperity, highlighted Mount's
Bay as "under-utilised". It stated that the Land's End to Lizard
cruising area is in "desperate need" of more facilities and revealed
that other marinas in the county have 90-100% occupancy rate while
community harbours are full with five-year waiting lists.
However,
an environmental study commissioned by MDL in 2004 documents the
potential ecological costs. Setbacks include the deterioration of
nearby bathing water which has been classified by the Environment
Agency as being of good to excellent quality.
The same report
warns of the "significant changes" that may occur when the freshwater
in the quarry is mixed with the sea water and forecasts a potential
increase in flooding risk during excavation and the blasting of
dredging works. According to a UK flood risk assessment, Newlyn,
Mousehole and Penzance will be threatened by floods by 2050 because of
rising sea levels.
"I don't want to be part of this ecological
and financial disaster," said Rodney Blunson, who is part of a group
called Stop The Marina. With the possible downgrading of our local
hospital and the problems with ever-increasing traffic, can we afford
this development to go ahead? The answer of course is no."
Olga
Stancombe, from Mousehole, is also against the proposals. "We don't
want yachties here," she said. "This area isn't about posh hotels and
big developments. It's about peace and the enjoyment of natural beauty."
article copyright THE CORNISHMAN
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