Unsightly Cornish Sea Defences Must Be Removed By Developers

Temporary sea defences taking the form of a stretch of metal pilings and rocks, must be removed. So say a Cornwall Central Sub Area Planning Committee, talking about the defences at Carlyon Bay in Cornwall. They were erected about nine years ago to protect a building site that was due to become a quality development of 511 apartments with shops and leisure services.

But the temporary permission for the erection of the fences has now expired. The Commercial Estates Group (CEG) wanted to keep the 80m (262ft) defences at Carlyon Bay in Cornwall until 2016. The reason was that CEG said it was struggling to finance the development and needed to keep the defences. The committee refused amid claims the defences were an "eyesore".

Unsightly sea defences at Carlyon Bay

For those who know the area, Carlyon Bay, near St Austell, was once the site of the Cornwall Coliseum entertainment venue. But it appears that plans for the £250 million development have been proceeding slowly due to the recession.

"The recession has impacted heavily on businesses nationwide," a spokesman for CEG said. "Development projects around the country including other major Cornish projects have been similarly adversely affected and we are asking for a little flexibility during this difficult period until
the economy picks up and development finance becomes more accessible."

CEG said it was "disappointed" after it requested a report on an enforcement timetable to remove the defences. CEG said it was considering "all options before making any decisions about the timing of its removal".

Peter Browning of Carlyon Bay Watch (CBW) said: "CBW is delighted that councillors have acknowledged the views of hundreds of local people and visitors alike that 'enough is enough'. If CEG can't begin their development then they should remove the eyesore they've created on the foreshore and let people enjoy the beach again."

                                               What CEG are hoping to do at Carlyon Bay

Stonehenge Slowly Giving Up Some More Of Its Secrets

Interesting research that is likely to be made public fairly shortly hopes to throw more light on Stonehenge, and in particular the bluestones that are found at the site, but are now known to originate from Pembrokeshire.

The people in the know who want to make sure that we also know are Scientists from Aberystwyth University, University College London and National Museum of Wales. It seems likely that what they are going to tell us is that they have isolated a specific outcrop, namely Carn Goedog in the Preseli Mountains, as the birthplace of the rocks that made the precarious journey some 5,000 years ago.

It was first put forward as a theory in 1923 by geologist Herbert Henry Thomas that the rocks which form the giant inner ring were specifically quarried for Stonehenge by Neolithic man around 5,000 years ago, and were hauled to Wiltshire from Pembrokeshire via land and sea.

Birthplace of Stonehenge?

Any good debate should have a well reasoned opposing view, and other geologists theorise that they were carried east on an ice-age glacier 20,000 years ago. That debate will still not settled by the contents of the report, but Dr. Richard Bevins of the National Museum of Wales says: "I'm not here to come down on one side of the argument or the other, but our research is aimed at better informing the debate." Perhaps some unknown variables will be eliminated.

Dr Bevins, keeper of natural sciences, added: "Trying to match the rocks at Stonehenge to a specific outcrop is considerably more complicated than looking for a needle in a haystack but the more we can trace them back to their original source, the closer archaeologists and geologists can hunt for clues to back-up their theories.

"Archaeologists can now search an area of hundreds of metres rather than hundreds of kilometres for evidence of Neolithic quarrying. While geologists supporting the glacier theory know exactly where to hunt for the scarring they'd expect to find on the landscape if enormous chunks of the stone had indeed been swept east on a glacier."

There are distinctive markings on the rock, as their recognised name, spotted dolerites suggests. These markings were created by the elements contained within, that then cooled at different rates in the minutes after they were spewed out of an underwater volcano some 450 million years ago.

It  was only two years ago, in 2011, that Dr Bevins's team located the source of another of Stonehenge's Pembrokeshire Bluestones - the rhyolites – only three kilometres away from the spotted dolerites at Craig Rhos y Felin.

These discoveries, funnily enough provide evidence for both sides of the argument. "Three kilometres is both closer and farther away than expected, depending on which theory you support,” said Dr. Bevins.

Spotted Dolerites

"From a geologist's point of view, three kilometres is nothing, and the rocks which ended up close to each other in Wiltshire could easily have been carried on the same glacier. However, for the archaeologists a distance of 3km between the potential quarries could be seen as evidence of planning and forethought, and a suggestion that the different types of stone were chosen for some specific purpose."

Dr Bevins's team are able to say so categorically that they have discovered the source of the spotted dolerites by using  a range of laser mass spectrometry techniques which seek to analyse both the chemical composition of the rock and the microbiology present when it was formed.

He feels that the chance of them having originated anywhere other than Carn Goedog is "statistically-speaking, infinitesimally small".

He is of the view that these potentially important discoveries do not in themselves solve the argument, but undoubtedly bring the day closer when the riddle could well be finalised.

"I've been studying the bluestones for over 30 years now, and I'm no closer to finding an answer which convinces me either way. But the one thing which I am increasingly sure of is that each piece of the puzzle we find brings us another step closer to the truth.

"We've located two of the sources, and there's another five or possibly six to go." he added,  "By the time we have identified those then I'm certain we'll have an answer either way. Whether that happens in my career, or even my lifetime, who knows?"

                                                                        Stonehenge

                                                                  Visit Pembrokeshire

Atlantic Array Wind Farm Proposal Sinks Slowly Into The West

Maybe they were pushed before they were shoved, but developer RWE Innogy has decided to pull the metaphorical plug on the 240-turbine Atlantic Array project, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has announced

The scheme, which had not yet received the go-ahead, had attracted criticism, with environmentalists worried about its impact on marine wildlife in the Bristol Channel. RWE Innogy merely announced that it was "not the right time" for the project, leaving a suspicion in the air that they may be waiting for “the right time”

An Array in some disarray

The Atlantic Array was planned to be sited in an area of 200 sq km (77 sq miles) about 16.5km (10 miles) from the north Devon coast, 22.5km (14 miles) from south Wales coast and 13.5km (8 miles) from Lundy Island nature reserve. The turbines would have been 220m (720ft) tall and capable of producing 1,200 megawatts of electricity - enough for up to 900,000 homes, the developer has said.
It is when you digest those figures that you begin to realise the enormity of the scheme.

However RWE continued by saying that the project was not viable. Director of offshore wind (yes, there is one) Paul Cowling said: "This is not a decision we have taken lightly. However, given the technological challenges and market conditions, now is not the right time for RWE to continue to progress with this project."

DECC said that the scrapping of the scheme was a matter for the developer, but the decision "was made on purely technical grounds and reflects the many complex challenges of constructing offshore wind farms".

But local media experts have been picking up vibes about the money side of things, one saying: "Sources have told us that this will not go ahead because of problems in financing it. Just last week, [green energy group] Regen SW said that the government's recent announcement that it is going to cut back on green levies to support renewable energy was already undermining investment in the region and putting jobs at risk. In terms of investment and jobs, this is a really big project, the company (RWE) says it would provide thousands of jobs."

Friends of the Earth's head of campaigns, Andrew Pendleton, said: "The government's wanton green-bashing is starting to cost jobs and threaten the future security of our energy supply.
"The UK has some of the finest offshore clean energy resources in the world and harnessing it is becoming cheaper. But anti-green ideology at the heart of the coalition is sending the development of world-beating clean power into reverse."

Countering this, DECC said: "The UK still expects to deploy significant amounts of offshore wind by 2020 and we remain well placed to meet our 2020 renewable energy target."

Unsurprisingly locals such as Derek Green, manager of Lundy Island, were pleased with the news. "If it's true then we are absolutely delighted,” he said "It is fantastic news for tourism and wildlife in the Bristol Channel and in particular for Lundy."

Lundy's owners, the Landmark Trust, have spent the last 40 years "preserving a special way of life. We were concerned that by bringing development so close to the island that it would overwhelm it," said Mr Green. There are many turbines near Landmark Trust properties which we haven't opposed.”
"But we have always said that offshore wind farms should be built offshore and this suite was in the middle of the Bristol Channel. We all need electricity, but there are more appropriate places."

Other critics also welcomed the move. Steve Crowther, from the superbly named local campaign group Slay the Array, said: "This was clearly an ill-conceived scheme in completely the wrong place."

                                                      This is what the fuss was all about

Twenty Seven New Marine Conservation Zones For English Waters

As a way of protecting our fragile coastline, the government has just announced that it will create 27 new marine conservation zones (MCZs) to protect wildlife in the seas around the English coast.
In particular, these MCZs will ensure that seahorses, coral reefs and oyster beds remain safe from dredging and bottom-trawling.  This move was welcomed as a “significant milestone” by The Marine Conservation Society. This was coupled however with a warning that there was still a shortfall in the number of MCZs recommended by scientists to complete an "ecologically coherent" network.

It was only last December that a two-year £8m consultation involving the government's own science advisers had made the recommendation that the creation of 127 MCZs was needed to halt the rapid decline of fish, lobsters, oysters and seahorses.

The sea bed fights back!

The announcement of twenty seven is therefore seen as some way short of what is required. At the time, campaigners quite rightly described the plan as "pitiful" and a "bitter disappointment" - but the then environment minister Richard Benyon insisted that the scientific evidence for a large proportion of the zones was "just not up to scratch".  He said another £3.5m was being spent on gathering more evidence that could support more zones being designated in future.

Making the announcement about the 27 new zones, the present marine environment minister George Eustice said the department was doing "more than ever" to protect England's marine environment and almost a quarter of English inshore waters and 9% of UK waters would be "better protected".

He said that the new MCZs - which would join over 500 marine protected areas that already exist - would cover an area roughly three times the size of Wiltshire and would span the waters around the English coast.

The scheme will ensure that prominent and well known areas such as Chesil Beach and the Skerries Banks are safeguarded. The reduction from 31 to 27 was because two of the sites - at Stour and Orwell and Hilbre Island - were too costly,

A final decision on the two remaining sites - at Hythe Bay and North of Celtic Deep - will be made in the next phase of the project.

The areas within which are the new MCZs are:      

Inshore sites:
•    Blackwater, Crouch, Roach and Colne Estuaries, Essex;
•    Aln Estuary, Northumberland;
•    Beachy Head West, East Sussex;
•    Chesil Beach and Stennis Ledges, Dorset;
•    Cumbria Coast;
•    Folkestone Pomerania, Kent;
•    Fylde, Lancashire;
•    Isles of Scilly;
•    Kingmere, Sussex;
•    Lundy;
•    The Manacles, Cornwall;
•    Medway Estuary, Kent;
•    Padstow Bay and Surrounds, Cornwall;
•    Pagham Harbour, Sussex;
•    Poole Rocks, Dorset;
•    Skerries Bank and Surrounds, Devon;
•    South Dorset;
•    Tamar Estuary, Devon/Cornwall;
•    Thanet Coast, Kent;
•    Torbay, Devon;
•    Upper Fowey and Pont Pill, Cornwall;
•    Whitsand and Looe Bay, Cornwall
Offshore sites:
•    The Canyons, Cornwall;
•    East of Haig Fras, Cornwall;
•    North East of Farnes Deep, Northumberland;
•    South-West Deeps (West), Cornwall;
•    Swallow Sand, Northumberland

Mr Eustice also announced that this was now a continuing programme, with plans afoot to designate two more phases of MCZs over the next three years, with a consultation on the next phase expected to be launched in early 2015.  "This is just the beginning," he said.

Melissa Moore, who is the senior policy officer at the Marine Conservation Society, said that her organisation broadly welcomed the new proposals. "This announcement is a significant milestone for marine conservation", she said.

But she went on to say that: "We urge government to bring forward designation of future tranches to prevent many threatened seabed habitats being further damaged - these 27 sites represent less than a quarter of the number recommended by scientists to complete an 'ecologically coherent' network."

She also pointed to the need to "police" potentially damaging activities. "The MCZs will be multi-use, so low-impact fishing such as potting will be permitted in most sites," she said. "It is vital that within these sites there is a clear notion of what can and can't happen, and who is responsible for policing those activities, otherwise we're just creating paper parks."

Defra said it had received around 40,000 responses to their consultation to 31 March 2013, which asked for feedback on the proposals via their website.

                                               Find out more about what is going on

Talk Of The Passion That Sealed Hull’s 2017 Success

Now that the dust has settled, and the residents of Hull are coming to terms with their successful bid for the UK City of Culture Award, everyone is trying to identify exactly what was the reason for the award.

Obviously the residents themselves feel that it was simply down to the fact that their city was the best, but it is more than that. Hull beat off strong competition from Dundee, Leicester and Swansea Bay, any of which would have been a credit to the award if they had been successful.

Is this what they mean by "Hullness"?

But it took Phil Redmond, as the chair of the panel, to try and put into words what he saw in his capacity as a judge. The creator of TV programmes Brookside, Grange Hill and Hollyoaks, said: "I looked into the eyes of the bid team and looked at the passion."

He said Hull's team had been able to sell their bid and accompanying written submission to the independent panel awarding the accolade. "There was a lot of mention of 'Hullness' from the team and there was a lot of feeling in that word.

“Hull reminds me of Liverpool, it too is a city on the edge, on the periphery. And that gives it a certain feel". Liverpool was the European Capital of Culture in 2008.

He was pleased to see mentions of the city of Hull spread across social media in the wake of his panel's decision. "It is the best metric we can see of how people like the decision," he said.

In the 24 hours of the decision day there were 75,000 tweets mentioning Hull and the hashtags #HullYes and #CongratulationsHull both trended, the bid team said. Jacqui Gay, who led communications for the city's bid, said "We wanted the judges to hear the people of Hull ringing in their ears."

Ms Gay said content was created for Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, but the campaign was run by both the bid team and the community, although Mr Redmond said the strong online presence had had "no impact on the decision". In order to create “a level playing field”, the panel had tried to avoid the social media flow, he said.

Mr Redmond has jokingly said he would now rename the M62 motorway between Liverpool and Hull the "cultural corridor", and he hoped that 2017 would be a "catalytic year for the city".
In amongst all the euphoria, warnings were issued to the organisers who will now have to deliver the year-long celebration in 2017.

"The people tend to take over the organisation of the event and they will have opinions", he said. "Hull should recognise what it is... before Liverpool won the European Capital of Culture in 2008 it had had 30 to 40 years of constant attack on its economic downturn, its politics and its people. It had forgotten what a cultural and proud city it was. Now Hull has to rediscover this too."

He remarked that Hull would not be able to become a London or Barcelona overnight, but neither should it try to be. The award was a "very big prize to win", and would it would bring enormous publicity and national cultural events to the city from the leading arts organisations. Hull is the second city to hold the title after Derry-Londonderry and Mr Redmond is sure there would again be a positive feeling in East Yorkshire.

Whilst acknowledging that Derry-Londonderry had witnessed more troubles over recent years than most places,  a 46-year-old local taxi driver in Derry said he had had a "fantastic year, it was the most peaceful year of my life."

Durham’s Lumiere Festival Declared “An Overwhelming Success”

With visitor numbers around 175,000, you can’t argue with that statement from Durham Council leader Simon Henig. The last festival was held in 2011, and the number of people attending has risen by about 15%.

The Festival ran for four nights ending last Sunday, and featured 27 light installations beamed on to buildings, including the city's Norman cathedral. Works included a huge 3D elephant and several magnified pages from the Lindisfarne Gospels, which is a topical subject in view of the success of their return to the area this summer.

Durham's Lumiere - a "world class event"

Warming to his theme, Mr. Henig described the Festival as a "world-class" event. Two years ago there had been issues with regard to overcrowding, which had taken the shine off the event. However, these had been addressed after consultations with Durham Police and Durham County Council.

This year, in order to spread the crowds, the Festival had extended opening times and had used a free ticketed system during peak  hours in the central area.

Mr Henig said: "Lumiere 2013 has been breathtaking, thought-provoking, entertaining and an overwhelming success for tens of thousands of festival-goers and very many businesses. I confidently predict a very significant economic boost to the county linked to the opportunities delivered by this world-class event.

"Just as important though is the immense sense of pride we can take in knowing we have worked together to showcase just some of the very best we have to offer in County Durham."

During the event, a marriage proposal was made at Solar Equation, an animated replica 100 million times smaller than the real sun.

Durham Tourism

Derry Looks Back As Hull Takes Up The Baton

Whilst reminding everyone that they retain the title of UK City of Culture until the first day of January 2017, Londonderry is starting the process of looking back over the last year. It’s a twofold exercise really, firstly to remember wistfully the ups and downs of an exceptional year, but perhaps, more importantly to see what they have learnt about themselves in that time.

This period of debate and discussion has been brought about as the four candidates for the award for the UK City of Culture in 2017 travelled to Derry to hand in their submissions.

Derry has experienced a year of ups and downs

Leicester, Hull, Swansea Bay and Dundee have all been competing to hold the title in 2017, with an announcement having revealed that Hull has been successful. Representatives of each of the shortlisted bids had been on hand not only to learn their fate, but also to have a chance for the cities to learn lessons from those involved in running 2013's events. It will interesting to chart over the next four years what ideas that Hull may have.

The government set up the UK City of Culture competition after the success of Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture in 2008, and those who have been the brains behind Derry's bid happily acknowledge they were "guinea pigs" for the concept, but say that there was no shortage of enthusiasm in the city.

“You could multiply the official programme by about a factor of four," says Sharon O'Connor, chief executive of Derry City Council.  The community here just came out en masse and started doing events."

Tens of thousands of people attended BBC Radio One's Big Weekend, while hundreds of thousands travelled to the city for the Irish music festival, the all-Ireland fleadh. It was the first time the event had ever been hosted north of the Irish border.

Also marking a first, The Turner Prize took place in the city, the first time that it had been held outside England. To many people however, the success of the celebrations came with the number of smaller events that have  added to the general sense of wellbeing.. There have been attempts to set world records for the longest Riverdance, the greatest number of Annies and the greatest gathering of brides. Nothing too serious there then!

That sense of coming together has been very important in a city where wall murals can still give an impression of sectarian division.  Even the fact that the bid was lodged in the joint names of Derry/Londonderry 2013 highlighted the age-old disagreement about what to call the city.

Getting wide support for events across both unionist and nationalist communities was seen as vital. "It has done amazingly well - it has brought both sides together," said one woman about Derry's year as City Of Culture. It has made the town and community one and it has put us on the map for a change."

However, there is some navel gazing going on, with some hoping that millions of pounds of funding would have had a greater impact on Derry's economy. It continues to be a city that has suffered during the downturn, having fought long battles with issues such as unemployment and deprivation.

"Whilst we had great marketing around City of Culture it has had no impact on jobs," says Conal McFeely of Creggan Enterprises. "The jobs situation has actually got worse."

There is also suggestions that maybe more could have been done to attract “outsiders” to join in on what was effectively a 12-month party for Derry The organisers counter by saying that businesses have benefitted.

"We already know that there have been over 75 nationalities represented in the city over the year," said Shona McCarthy, the chief executive of the Culture Company 2013.  "From May right through to September we have broken all previous records for hotel occupancy. So that tells me we have got visitors. That tells me people are coming here."

However, on occasions the City of Culture has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons. There have been artistic frustrations. Rita Duffy, who set up a gallery in an old shirt factory, almost walked away from the project over funding issues.

"It wasn't the most welcoming place," she said. "I had major problems with individuals from Derry City Council. I couldn't get money to the project. In fact, at one stage I was leaving."

She was critical, in particular, of the high levels of bureaucracy that existed between the Culture Company and Derry City Council, although for its part, the council said that it did deliver on what it set out to achieve.

It is unavoidable however to notice that there had been some very public rows between the two organisations responsible for making 2013 a year to remember.  "I think you need to be very clear from the outset," says Shona McCarthy of the Culture Company.  "If you are going to have an independent company (to run events), have an independent company to do it. If it is going to be run by the local council, let it be run by the local council. But I think this hybrid model has not really worked."

As the festivities draw to a close, the focus is moving to the future. There is liberal use of the word “legacy” amongst those who have been involved in organising events, and the best ways to build on what has been achieved. Cash will undoubtedly be at the bottom of it all, after all, it has been an issue all year.

But some believe that it is too easy to forget the simple feelgood factor created by Derry's success in becoming the first UK City of Culture. “I think the legacy of it, is that it has changed Derry," says Mickey Bradley of the Undertones, one of the city's most famous bands.

"There is not another one for another four years, so it is a bit like Brazil winning the World Cup. We are the UK City of Culture until 1 January 2017."

                                                           Derry City of Culture 2013

Cumbria Tourism Gets A Double Boost

Workington and Morecambe Bay lead the headlines this week with two splendid pieces of news that will show that Cumbria continues to be a big hitter in the tourism stakes.

Firstly, Allerdale council representing Workington have announced that a site has been earmarked for a new, £9m leisure centre.  The 40-year-old crumbling complex in Moorclose, Workington, is to be demolished because it is no longer fit for purpose, the council said.

But, after public consultation, instead of building its replacement on the same site, a more central location has been chosen in Brow Top. It has been confirmed that the new complex would have a sports hall and swimming pool and hopefully would open the year after next. Private investors will also be sought to build an entertainment complex with a cinema, shops and restaurants on the site, a council spokesman said.

Good news about Lottery funding

Meanwhile not to be outdone, Morecambe Bay will receive the best part of £2 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to promote natural habitats and historic sites around the area.
The Morecambe Bay Partnership will use the money for what is known as the Headlands to Headspace scheme, which is aimed at encouraging people to get to know the bay area. A cycleway, stretching 124 miles (200km) from Glasson Dock in Lancashire to Walney in Cumbria, will be created.

There will also be an oral history project examining fishing communities. Susannah Bleakley from the partnership said: "We want more people to find out about the bay's heritage and get involved in celebrating it and looking after it. There's lots of projects for people to get involved in - community archaeology projects and oral history projects to capture the reminiscences and the stories of the people of the bay."

Sara Hilton from the HLF said: "We are committed to supporting projects such as this one in Morecambe Bay as they bring together both community groups and public bodies with a shared passion of caring for our environment." Work on the five-year scheme will start early next year.
Morecambe Bay is known as the largest intertidal area in Britain, with around 200,000 people working and living in the area.  It also accounts for the best part of 5% of the UK’s total area of saltmarsh.

There is substantial commercial fishing in the bay, and popular places along the bay include Arnside, located within one of Britain's smallest Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty - the Arnside/Silverdale AONB - Grange-over-Sands and Morecambe, picturesque Edwardian seaside resorts.

                                                      More information about Morecambe Bay

Running Repairs To The South West Coast Path Have Secured Its Future

We are currently looking back on a twelve month period in which exceptional strain has been placed on the many varied authorities who between them are responsible for the repair and maintenance of the South West Coastal Path.

Talking about the landslips and falls that had taken place – these have been numbered in excess of 30 – the South West Coast Path Association said that this number was “unprecedented”. However, they were confident that the relevant repairs and diversions had probably secured its future, and there was a hope that the most “vulnerable” stretches had already fallen

Unsurprisingly the winter months tend to offer the most danger, and in August local authorities said that they had allocated £1.45 million for repairs.

Hard year for the South West Coast Path

Steve Church, representing the association, said because some of the falls had been so severe, permanent diversions had been put in place, and he cited stretches such as the ones near Looe in Cornwall and also near Beer in Devon.

Other areas have a "slight inland diversion", such as around a property or private land. Mr Church said in October there had been an "impressive cliff fall" near Portreath in Cornwall where a permanent inland path diversion had also been created.

He said: "We're not back to where we were last year, but we do have a path for the future. If we get another winter like last year, it's possible it could happen again. Some of the falls really came out of the blue, for example in parts of Devon and Cornwall where we hadn't had falls before which were quite unexpected. We're hoping the most vulnerable places fell last year," he added.

The path has a substantial effect on tourism in the South West of England, where the association said that research it had commissioned estimated the direct spend attributable to visitors to the coast path in 2011 was more than £380m.  The 630-mile (1,000km) path runs from Minehead in Somerset to Poole Harbour in Dorset.

Learn more about the South West Coast Path