10.07.08
Major Objective One investment at Mevagissey Harbour

Mevagissey Harbour is soon to complete work on two major projects funded by Objective One Fisheries Programme.

With a total project cost of over £170,000, the Slipway Project was part-funded by Objective One FIFG money (£96,880), Rural Renaissance (£51,789), and Restormel Borough Council (£15,000) with the remainder being funded by Mevagissey Harbour Trustees. The project has involved upgrading the slipway nearest the harbour office and boat builders to a new design, expanding the working area around the slipway, improving the facilities for the fishing fleet and providing opportunities for businesses to make more productive use of the harbour. The new slipway will be a much wider, solid structure that extends further seawards and has a reduced gradient, providing much needed hard standing areas and allowing more frequent slipway usage by all fishing vessels, especially the smaller ones.

Hardstanding area is used to move vessels off the slip for working on – this leaves the slipway available for other boats to be lifted up and down. Boats are kept on the hard standing for working on/repairs/upgrade and in the winter for storage.

The slipway has also taken into account the environment, with construction measures such as recycling the excavated waste sediment. This mixture will then be used as infill within the structure. The environmental savings will also include large reductions in vehicle movements by not having to transport waste material to landfill sites. This will also reduce the amount of disruption to the village and harbour as far less vehicle movements will take place through the narrow streets of Mevagissey. The contractors, May Gurney, have had successful results with other projects when they have used recycled materials.

The Mevagissey Fish Landing Facilities Project was also part-funded by Objective One Fisheries investment (£70,221), Rural Renaissance (£12,968) and the Mevagissey Harbour Trustees (£14,259). The project - to create modern and high quality facilities for fishermen landing their catch at Mevagissey - included the provision of a chill store, a bait store, an ice bunker and ice plant, a fishermen's stores, a set of digital scales, the installation of a CCTV system, and fishermen's washing facilities.

These projects form part of a regeneration initiative at Mevagissey Harbour that has been running for more than 10 years. Other projects assisted by Objective One FIFG investment include the Harbour Road Cliff Stabilisation Project (to prevent deterioration of the harbour which would close the south quay area), a semi-mobile crane, the purchase of a forklift truck and the installation of fish landing davits for loading and unloading of fish and fishing gear. The Harbour has also received investment from other sources for a number of other projects which include: the upgrading of the South Pier; a maintenance grid; an ice plant; Mevagissey Harbour Regeneration Strategy; Mevagissey Breakwater Study; and the development of Mevagissey Aquarium.

So far total investment at Mevagissey has been over £1.6 million.

Hugh Bowles, Mevagissey Harbour Master commented: "The Harbour Trustees have taken advantage of the Objective One Fisheries Programme funding and most recently Rural Renaissance grant aid, to assist with upgrading the facilities at the harbour for the fishing industry. The board is very mindful of the need for maintaining the quality of fish landed on the quayside and hope that the improvements over the last few years will assist with this issue. Other funding has also been achieved around the harbour which benefits the general public and includes Heritage Lottery Funding, private and corporate donations and Restormel Borough Council which helped to restructure the aquarium which is an excellent interface between the fishing industry and the general public."

Bill Holliday, Manager of the Rural Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Partnership, was delighted to work in partnership with the Harbour Commission and other investors to improve the local economy of Mevagissey: "This is a perfect example of modernising rural delivery through the Rural Renaissance initiative."

Clare Leverton, Objective One Fisheries Programme Manager, added: "The Harbour's commitment to upgrading facilities for the fishing industry is very encouraging and demonstrates the importance of on shore investment to support the fleet."

For further information contact Clare Leverton of South West Pesca on 01872 270333 or email admin@swpesca.co.uk.

The Objective One Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has invested in the Mevagissey Harbour Regeneration through the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) fund.

Editor's notes:

Clare Leverton
Objective One Fisheries Programme Manager
SW Pesca, Trevint House, Strangways Villas, TRURO, TR1 2PA
Tel:  01872 270 333
Fax:  01872 242470
Email:  clare@swpesca.co.uk
Website: www.swpesca.co.uk

Objective One Fisheries Programme Background

Cornwall's Objective One Fisheries Programme has invested a total budget of over £10 million since April 2001 to the fishing industry in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.  The funds are a mixture of EU and national funds, through the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance fund (FIFG) and the Marine and Fisheries Agency (MFA).

The projects were approved by the Marine and Fisheries Agency in partnership with an Objective One Fisheries Priority Management Group, made up of local fishing sector representatives.  South West Pesca Ltd helped applicants to develop projects by providing guidance and help on completing application forms and submitting applications.

319 projects have been approved through this process with £10,084,953 of funds committed to these projects.

Website: www.objectiveone.com

Mevagissey Harbour Trustees

own and manage Mevagissey Harbour. For more information please call Hugh Bowles, the Mevagissey Harbour Master, on 01726 843 305 or visit www.mevagisseyharbour.co.uk. Mevagissey Harbour Trustees is a registered charity (No. 800349)

Restormel Borough Council

Press office on 01726 223521
Website: www.restormel.gov.uk

Rural Renaissance

Rural Renaissance for the South West is run via the Rural Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Partnership (RCP). The RCP is a public private partnership whose focus is to develop the rural economy and communities in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.  The RCP is contracted by South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) to deliver the Rural Renaissance and the Modernising Rural Delivery initiatives on their behalf.  For more information visit www.ruralcornwall.co.uk or contact Bill Holliday on 01209 611109 or email bill.holliday@cornwallenterprise.co.uk. See also www.southwestrda.org.uk

The Objective One Fisheries Programme grants are managed and partly funded by the Marine and Fisheries Agency, a national agency of Defra (Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs). Website: www.mfa.gov.uk

The Marine and Fisheries Agency is an executive agency of government which is tasked with service delivery, inspection, and enforcement provided by the government to the fishing industry and other marine users in England and Wales.

The MFA has overall responsibility for the enforcement of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and its associated regulations within the 60,000 square miles of English and Welsh waters.  The MFA manages the FIFG grants from the EU which fund the Objective One Fisheries Programme in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Clare Morgan
Media Relations Manager
The Partnership Office
Castle House
Pydar Street
Truro TR1 2UD
Mobile: 07973 813647
Telephone: 01872 223439

cmorgan@cornwall.gov.uk

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