Plans To Create An Artificial Reef Receive Financial Setback

The community group, Wreck To Reef, which has far reaching plans to sink two warships off the Dorset coast to create an artificial reef has heard that their application for £2.1 million worth of government funding has been unsuccessful.

Divers would benefit from the reef

You may recall that in February this year, we reported that they were making an application based on an idea dating back some four years to create the reef, off Ringstead Bay.  HMS Scylla became Europe's first artificial diving reef when it was scuttled off Whitsand Bay in Cornwall in 2004.

Neville Copperthwaite, project co-ordinator of Wreck to Reef, is of the opinion that an artificial diving reef off Dorset could generate millions of pounds for the local economy and attract divers from far and wide. "What we want is for the government to gift us a ship," he said.  But we keep coming up against a brick wall - no-one is listening."

The unsuccessful application was put in to the government's Coastal Communities Fund in April. This fund makes awards to projects with a view to rejuvenating seaside assets or help emerging industries.

During the last year, it handed out £24m to projects, including £2m, over two years, to create the National Coastal Tourism Academy in Bournemouth. This year's pot has been boosted to £28m but, although some unsuccessful bids have already been notified,  the  successful bids will not be announced until later this year.

Pointing out the pressures on the fund, HM Treasury said that they had received 541 expressions of interest at a total value of about £245m making it "oversubscribed by nearly 10 times".
South Dorset MP Richard Drax said he had investigated the matter with the government, on behalf of the group, "on several occasions". He said: "I have been told emphatically by the government that it does not gift ships for this purpose."

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "We always aim to achieve the best possible return for the taxpayer when disposing of surplus assets, and interested parties are invited to formally submit proposals as part of an open competition."

Not to be deterred, Wreck To Reef are now making a £2.5m bid for the project to the Local Enterprise Partnership  (LEP), a voluntary partnership between local authorities and businesses which promotes an area's economy and jobs.

It is hoped that this money could also help to fund a separate scheme to restock the group's artificial lobster reef, off Weymouth, where 1,750 tonnes of Portland stone were sunk off Weymouth in May last year. The project, which would give a  boost to lobster stocks to help the fishing industry, has only recently received £17,300 from Southern Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA) to provide funds for a trial lobster tagging and restocking scheme for three years from 2014.

                                                      http://www.wrecktoreef.co.uk/