THE ANGER, frustration and disbelief of many residents was palpable at the first meeting of the Newlyn Harbour commissioners since their unexpected decision to turn down plans for a new £5 million fish market.
There was standing room only as dozens of people packed the public gallery to express their resentment.
Among them was former Penzance mayor Ruth Simpson, who has been a stakeholder in the project since 2002. She said: "I want those who voted against to have a look at those rotting boats – the whole place will rot. Years of work have been put into this and all that has been tossed aside. What we have got is a shoddy building. I can't see why you have done this. Sometimes you have to take a risk if you want a future. How can you justify this?
"If Newlyn was once called a trust port, that trust has been lost now."
Mrs Simpson's frankness was met with a huge applause from the audience. They wanted to know concrete facts, such as what the commissioners' Plan B entailed, when the new bid to the European Fisheries Fund and Cornwall Council was going to be submitted, and a start and end date for the project.
Former UKIP parliamentary candidate and ex-fisherman Mick Faulkner said the board had only consulted the catching sector and neglected the rest of the community, such as crewmen, local businesses and the leisure industry.
He believed the very sector that 25 years ago turned down an electric auctioning system had persuaded the commission to turn down the current plans. He said: "If you said yes to the offer it would have given you more time. None of you have any business sense or you are under pressure from one sector that you have not told us about.
"You have to take on board what's good for the whole community not just for one sector. It's a death knell for Newlyn."
But Gilbert McCabe, chairman of the commissioners, said the harbour authority was already in the red. He said that the plans had became unrealistic, but with the new commission in place he believed it could become a thriving port.
He told the meeting: "Our house is not in as good order as we would like it to be.
"The catching sector is expecting that we will have an improved market facility building but they said no to this particular market.
"I am confident that if we get our house in order then in five to ten years we will get the maximum number of boats landing here."
article copyright THE CORNISHMAN