We read the story ‘Ferry terminal jobs in jeopardy amid fear of delay and fund cuts’ that ran in the

Western Morning News on Tuesday 1st February with great interest.

It is quite within the power of Cornwall Council to resolve the funding questions surrounding the IoS

Link Project. They need to climb down from what is increasingly being seen as an over-ambitious

and extremely expensive proposal that is misaligned with the real requirements of a sustainable Link

to the IoS, and out of step with the current economic climate.

They need to adopt an approach accepting that an improved Scilly ferry link can be affordably

funded and successfully run using re-fitted second-hand vessels that operate within the existing

infrastructure of the harbours in Penzance and St Mary’s, and can be serviced locally in the

Penzance dry dock. There are immediate savings in the region of £18m if this approach is adopted,

and the service continues to run using separate passenger and freight vessels.

Having accepted this, then the expensive and damaging pier extension, land reclamation and

associated sea-defence works in Penzance do not need to be undertaken either. The Penzance

Business Network has proposed an improved alternative scheme (known as Option PZ+) that would

construct a high quality passenger terminal on existing Cornwall Council owned land adjacent to the

Wet Dock and South Pier, and relocate the freight depot and associated traffic away from the

historic harbour center. Adopting this approach could save another £6m.

Expenditure on upgrading sea defences for the Penzance-Newlyn sea front should be postponed,

and tackled intelligently and creatively in the coming years, taking into account the wishes of the

community. The Environment Agency understands that inappropriate sea defences can kill the

economic basis and potential of a coastal community and are now looking for direct economic

benefits from any flood risk work undertaken. The needless destruction of heritage and amenity

assets does not achieve this.

By adopting this alternative approach, overall savings in the order of £24m are possible for the Link

project, currently budgeted at £62m. It is unclear what savings Cornwall Council have made to their

scheme after being asked to do so by the DfT, since the £62m price tag they are now quoting is the

same as they publicised in March 2010 (figures given by the project director at a ‘technical

briefing’ prior to the Council’s Strategic Planning Committee meeting on 8 March 2010). The

problem is that they have no room for manoeuvre whilst they remain locked into commissioning the

large single vessel, and to the extensive related shore-side works. Given this, the cutbacks can only

be on the quality of the fit out of the vessel and the shore facilities, which will do nothing to sustain

and increase the passenger numbers required to pay for the new ship.

Importantly, Cornwall Council give their own project an ‘extreme risk’ rating. The DfT’s experience

suggests that financial overspends on such high risk projects can be as much as 50%. The DfT

also point out that any budget overruns are to be picked up by the local authority, which effectively

means the local tax payer.

Lord Christopher announced in the House of Lords that there is “a very real risk” that Cornwall

Council’s finance committee will decide not to sanction their £10m commitment to the scheme

because of the DfT’s concerns about the level of expenditure and the delays this is causing. Given

the Council’s current financial deficit, and the very real financial risks posed to the County by the

current Link project proposal, the committee would do well to be extremely cautious and sceptical.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond quite rightly wants to see better value for money, and greater

local financial contributions for the project. He wants to see the scope of the scheme expanded so

that it’s expenditure does not just serve the Isles of Scilly but benefits the wider community.

Undersecretary of State Norman Baker states (in a speech to the House 19th January 2011) that

The Department for Transport’s objectives are to: “help create growth in the economy, and to tackle

climate change by cutting our carbon emissions”.

The Penzance Business Network Option PZ+ proposal for shore facilities in Penzance places

regeneration benefits for the town on an equal footing with improving the passenger and freight

service to the Scillies. The scheme would actively encourage economic activity in the immediate

harbour area, and by making the most of the historic harbour and sea-front assets of the town will

boost private developer confidence to take on key development sites adjacent to the harbour. Their

approach has the support of English Heritage, the Commission for Architecture and Built

Environment, and the South West Design Review Panel who reviewed the proposal last autumn,

stating “Your scheme has the potential to strengthen Penzance as a real place where business,

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heritage and environment reinforce each other.” These government advisory bodies continue to

voice objections to the Council’s plans for Penzance.

In terms of cutting carbon emissions, the light-weight low-impact Option PZ+ proposals have a

minimal carbon footprint compared to heavy civil engineering project of Option A which requires

hundreds of thousands of tons of concrete, rock and fill for its unnecessary reclaim land and pier

extension.

Lord Christopher has adopted the scare-mongering of Cornwall Council’s Transport Department

who a year ago, despite the current ferry operator stating that ‘Falmouth was not an option’, claimed

that the ferry service would relocate to Falmouth if Penzance did not accept their ill-conceived

scheme. Now it appears that unless the full £62m scheme gets funded in entirety, the whole ferry

service will close down – with the loss of 380 jobs! In fact, there is no indication that the IoSSC

would stop running the existing service even in the event of NO public funding, and there would be

few if any job losses over and above those experienced by any sector in a recession.

The Penzance Business Network’s design for the Penzance facilities has received positive and

actionable pre-planning assessment and advice from Cornwall Council Planning and Conservation

Departments, English Heritage, CABE and the SWDRP. We believe that an exciting fully functional

building can be built to budget and is deliverable in the funding timeframe. Cornwall Council has

spent many years and millions of pounds assessing the Link and its various options. Within all this

work is a viable, fundable, deliverable and sustainable option for the Link.

Rather than shelve the project for 12 months if the DfT are not willing to fund the current scheme, it

would serve the people of Cornwall and particularly those in Penzance and on the Isles of Scilly if

the Council now began the process of openly assessing the real and affordable options for this

scheme.

The Penzance Business Network.

Contact: Hadrian Pigott telephone 01736 333613 or mobile 07968 027625