Last night, a packed Cornish Bank hosted Falmouth’s third community conversation on the expansion of its historic dockyard. Beginning with a panel discussion of local experts, fishermen, and activists, the conversation was broadened to Falmouth’s residents. Most questions were aimed at Balaena’s director of port development, Drystan Jones, who acted as the lone spokesperson for the company. MP for Truro and Falmouth, Jayne Kirkham, was also quizzed by constituents on the government’s position on the Dredge.

Local residents demanded answers on a wide variety of issues, largely surrounding the environmental consequences of dredging in the Dock. Some panellists, notably Francesca Willow, asked questions pertaining to the acquisition of military contracts by Balaena, and others drew attention to economic issues downwind of the infrastructural development.

Stop the Dredge, a local campaign group who organised the event, was also represented on the panel to discuss Falmouth’s ecology and its role in the town’s identity. In his opening remarks, panelist Dan Barrios-O’Neill, head of marine conservation at Cornwall Wildlife Trust (CWF) pointed out “the environment is the economy in this instance, for so many of us.”

“Carry the torch.” – Fisherman worry for the future of their industry.

Two panelists, Patrick Vinnicombe and Jason Pascoe, were Oyster Fishermen, the former a sixth-generation worker in the industry. The environmental effect of the proposed dredging has been well documented, and both men emphasised the destructive effects of silt on the lifecycle of crustaceans – and consequently other marine life.

In his opening remarks, Vinnicombe told the crowd:

“I represent the future of Oyster fishery for Falmouth and the Fal estuary. My main concern is the silt, and the sediment, and making sure it (the development) doesn’t infect the oyster fishery.”

“The oyster fishery has to be in a goldilocks zone for productivity, to make sure the oysters can reproduce. If this development goes forward, and you have the heavy metals, the TBT (tributyltin), pesticides, and whatever else is in and around the docks, you’re going to see infection and disease. And it won’t just be localised, the oysters will spread that disease.

“There’s a few of us trying to carry the torch of the oyster fishery, but we’re not going to be able to carry the torch if what is in the docks floods and kills everything in the estuary.”

A prominent voice in the fight against the dredge, Jason Pascoe, has been a fisherman for decades. In his contributions he shared similar worries about the affect on his industry, and poked holes in the arguments put forward by Balaena.

Like Vinnicombe, he noted with concern that pollution of the local marine life would affect those who travel from as far as Marazion to fish in the estuary. Pascoe expressed firmly that “fish do not stay still” and that wider pollution of Cornwall’s fishing industry would likely come as a result of the movement of mackerel and other species in the estuary.

Addressing these ecological concerns, Drystan Jones stated:

“We have spent the last 7 years trying to work with the regulators, to make sure we’re doing every step correctly and taking a precautionary principle at every point. We’ve worked with experts over that period, all the sampling we’ve done has been exactly in-line with what the regulators have asked us to do. Well over a million pounds has been spent so far on just the environmental assessment alone… I can tell you now, the last thing we want to do is to damage the environment around us.”

‘Below the thunders of the upper deck’ – Balaena greenwash their arms ties.

Jones was largely silent on the issue of increased military capacity as a result of the planned expansion. As previously reported by Cobblestone Media, former dock management A&P had pushed their military interests at Falmouth Town Council, but not in public communications. Spokespeople even went so far as to claim that if the docks were unable to secure a Floating Offshore Wind (FLOW) contract, they would simply use expanded capacity for increased military work.

A&P and now Balaena partner with arms giant BAE Systems and the Ministry of Defence in the repair and storage of large vessels – specifically the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. This, alongside other military contracts, were largely omitted by Balaena’s spokesman in his pitch to the audience regarding the development, and when questioned why, responded:

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about defending our nation, starting from that perspective. The second thing I’ll say is that over 50% of our income in the docks comes from defence contracts – it’s an important aspect of our business.

“We’ve got a particular contract looking after some particular vessels for long periods, from all around the world. Devonport is just up the road, and Falmouth played a role between the First and Second World Wars. So we don’t hide defence at all, and we are proud about the work we do in defence, we’re proud about supporting our nation.”

Other panellists pushed back on this, with Pascoe claiming that the company that conducted the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) – Ramboll Ltd – has financial interests in the tourism, renewable energy, and defence sectors – citing a potential “conflict of interest”.

Danish consultancy group Ramboll have been granted contracts by the Ministry of Defence and other private contractors in the aforementioned industries. In response to Pascoe, Jones stated that they were “used all around the UK at different ports” and were “very experienced”, with any work done by Ramboll being subject to regulation.

A turning tide for Falmouth.

The proposed development, as it stands, could fundamentally alter the character of Falmouth. Many in the audience at the Cornish Bank specified they were not against the redevelopment of the docks per se, but that Balaena’s current aims were antithetical to their wishes.

Increased media coverage, including from the Guardian and the Times, has led to a flurry of public statements from Balaena. This, combined with growing grassroots pressure from the Stop the Dredge campaign, makes Balaena’s chances at convincing the public all the more slim.

Image Via: Jessliliawood.