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The South West of England Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) said this week it remained committed to creating a new seafood park in West Cornwall despite its unsuccessful efforts to buy a prominent site in Newlyn Coombe.
SWRDA said on Tuesday that it believed a seafood park in West Cornwall would boost the local economy by providing modern new premises for fish merchants and allow for more processing of fish in West Cornwall, rather than it being exported and processed elsewhere.
The organisation had been negotiating to buy a 16-acre site near the A30 at Newlyn Coombe to create the £5.5 million seafood park in partnership with Penwith Council and said that establishing a seafood park as part of the overall regeneration plan for Newlyn had always been seen as a crucial element of sustainable regeneration in the town.
But negotiations broke down on Monday, with the landowner pulling out of the talks.
Stephen Bohane, head of operations for the South West RDA in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, said: "There is enormous support from the Newlyn fishing industry and Penwith Council for the seafood park to go ahead.
"We will now be working with the fishing industry and local merchants to identify other potential sites. Both the RDA and our partners, including the Newlyn Fish Industry Forum, remain committed to delivering this scheme."
Commenting on the unsuccessful negotiations for the site at Newlyn, Mr Bohane said: "Because we spend public money, Government demands that we use these funds in the most responsible way.
"We cannot invest in land we do not own so, for that reason and to protect our investment, we have consistently attempted to secure either a freehold or long leasehold of the site, but have been unable to reach agreement. That means we have to look elsewhere. We want to support West Cornwall's fishing industry and add potentially million of pounds a year to the value of the catch here in Cornwall."
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