Olivier Vergnault
·5-min read
Opponents to a seaweed farm approved for a North Cornwall beauty spot fear it will put lives at risk unless it is revoked immediately. The seaweed farm, about 100 hectares in size - which equates to about 140 football pitches - was given the green light to be installed just off Doc Martin's village in Port Isaac Bay a year ago.
The application, complete with buoys and navigation lights, was first filed by Falmouth company Penmayn Limited in 2022 and was approved by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) in August last year. Residents in the area believe that not only was the application approved without much public consultation taking place but was based on what they say is erroneous information.
The Save Port Isaac Bay Group (SPIBG) was set up after local residents and businesses found out about a licence being issued off Cornwall's heritage coast even though they say no one knew about it. Now they are putting pressure on the MMO to examine all the evidence, ask the applicant to hold a proper public consultation or revoke the licence altogether.
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The SPIBG said Penmayn Ltd had used wave data from within Port Isaac's harbour which the SPIBG says does not include the ferocious storms that batter that piece of coastline every winter when even the MMO's guidance say seaweed farms are not suitable in areas with waves over six metres while the sea off Port Isaac can see waves at tall as 10 to 15 metres during the storm season.
Liz George from the group, and a local resident, said: "To anyone who’s experienced the ferocity of the Atlantic during a winter storm here, it is obvious that this structure would fail. If a proper public consultation had been held the MMO would have known this, and would have known to investigate further. As it stands a community has been forced to fund expensive legal and expert investigations. It’s a disgrace. The MMO didn’t even heed its own experts’ recommendations and guidance."
Dr Tony Butt, a coastal morphodynamics expert and wave forecaster for the world's biggest forecasting site, Surfline, contributed to research paid for through crowdfunding by the campaign group. He said: “At an exposed spot on a wide-open coastline with such high energy levels, the structure will have a high probability of failing. If and when it fails, it will pollute the nearshore and coastline, the developers will lose money, and the climate crisis will continue getting worse."
The campaigners fear that the structure of the planned seaweed farm would be put at risk during bad weather which in turn could pose a risk to marine life and human life.
The campaign group said: "Proceeding with this scheme would demonstrate a negligent attitude to both communities and environments, as well as ignorance of the risks posed by the site’s location. It could have a damning impact on the future of the industry in terms of its risk assessment, commitment to cooperation with communities and respect of their localities."
The SPIBG filed a detailed complaint to the MMO on July 22 in relation to the application (MLA/2022/00180) granted a 25-year licence to Penmayn Ltd for a 100-hectare seaweed farm in Port Isaac Bay. The group is asking the MMO to reconsult with Defra's Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), consult local communities properly and launch an investigation into the licensing process with regards to this application.
This is not the only seaweed farm licence that has sparked controversy in Cornwall. An application for Start Bay was rejected, another one for Rame Head was abandoned while a third one in Gerrans Bay was withdrawn by applicants Biome Algae when faced with mounting opposition. The same company Biome Algae is also behind an identical application for a seaweed farm in Port Quin, just round the corner from Port Isaac Bay. However, the MMO has now indicated it has triggered a "rejection pathway" because the application does not alleviate any of its concerns.
The SPIBG added: "The MMO has the power to revoke licences under certain circ*mstances. There is substantial evidence within this submission, and in other letters and complaints that the MMO has now received, that the basis upon which the licence was approved was erroneous.
"In approving the licence, the MMO did not independently verify much of the evidence presented in the application documents. The MMO, in recent correspondence, has repeatedly indicated that it misdirected itself as to the interpretation of policy and guidance relevant to the Licence. The MMO did not seek independent, expert opinion on a number of issues which could have been provided by primary advisors and other bodies.
"We request that the MMO now reviews the evidence that has been supplied in this submission and that it has received from other individuals and bodies in recent months."
A spokesperson for the MMO said: "We are reviewing the points raised in the correspondence we received. As this process is ongoing, we are unable to comment further at this time." We have asked Penmayn Ltd for a comment.
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