Stop The Marina and Friends of The Bay, set up the exhibition to "raise awareness of the implications of the development".

Andrew George, MP for St Ives, also attended the event, which included a photographic exhibition of marine life at Mount's Bay.

Dr Terry Cotton, a mining geologist, suspects the flood water in the quarry, which will mix with the sea if the development goes ahead, is "likely to be highly acidic" and could do "untold environmental damage in Mount's Bay. However, Edward Illiffe, managing director of MDL, has disputed his claims.

"Dr Cotton has never tested the water in the quarry and we have, and we actually think that he is wrong," said Mr Illiffe.

"If this was a public exhibition why weren't we invited?" he added.

Adam Whaler, a campaigner with the Stop The Marina! group, said many of the exhibition's visitors were worried about the increased traffic and there were fears expressed that the proposed lift-bridge would cut Mousehole village off from emergency services at regular intervals in the day.

"The message we are trying to get across is that there is still time to stop this development," he said.

"People see the site being landscaped and they think the development is going ahead, but, as yet, there have been no planning applications either for housing or a marina."

Mr Illiffe said a planning application for the marina would be lodged in the spring. He told The Cornishman that an agreement with a property developer was not likely to be reached until then.

article copyright THE CORNISHMAN 

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