Press

01/10/2008

Penzance Harbour – public deserve full consultation

Speaking after his attendance at the public consultation session of the “Isles of Scilly Link” display at St John’s Hall yesterday evening, local MP, Andrew George, has requested that the Route Partnership Committee (made up of representatives from the Council of the Isles of Scilly, Penwith District Council, Cornwall County Council and the Duchy of Cornwall) should consult more widely before pressing ahead with the extension to the Lighthouse Pier and the Battery Rocks/Jubilee Pool area of Penzance Harbour.

Mr George, who had just returned from the Isles of Scilly (where the proposed changes to St Mary’s Harbour appear to have stronger public support than in Penzance) met many constituents who, for a variety of reasons, opposed the proposed reconfiguration of the southern aspect of Penzance Harbour.

Mr George said: “I have asked the Route Partnership to extend the public consultation on this proposal prior to the submission of its planning application at the end of October. Although the majority of people I spoke to appear to be in favour of plans to protect the future of the Isles of Scilly ferry and freight link with an appropriate level of investment, the location, design and configuration of the proposed Harbour improvements appear to have generated strong concern. Indeed, many people had complained that they had not known about these proposals and many, who had turned up in the evening, had only been told by “word of mouth” and had not seen the advertisements.

“Others expressed concern that the Route Partnership Committee appeared to have no “Plan B” if this proposal were to meet strong public opposition or some other impediment. I have already met with the Penzance Harbour Users Association whose plans for the future of the Harbour have received endorsement in Penwith District Council and the Penzance Market and Coastal Town Initiative Plan (“Penzance Futures – Community Strategic Plan for the Penzance Area by 2027”) which would involve an alternative development to the east of the Harbour in the Chyandour area.

“Although I do not intervene on decisions which should be taken by the who are elected to those local authorities which must determine the outcome of such planning applications, I have and will continue to support the Route Partnership’s effort to secure Government and European funding to maintain a viable sea link to the Isles of Scilly in my constituency. I have been arguing, since I was first elected, that the Isles of Scilly deserved a similar level of public support for its “lifeline” sea link as do the Islands of Scotland which have received substantial public funding to under pin both their sea and air links for at least the past couple of decades.

“These are substantial changes to Penzance Harbour and deserve a full opportunity for consultation and a reassurance from Government that the funding timetable will allow for the development of an amended proposal if that is the settled will of the local community.”

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