Falmouth Harbour Commissioners (FHC) has submitted two consent applications to the Marine and Fisheries Agency as the next stage of the Port of Falmouth Development Initiative.
The first application is for the dredging of the harbour approach channel and the subsequent disposal of dredged material. The application states that any contaminated material will be disposed of on-shore via approved routes. Clean material that is removed will be disposed of at the offshore disposal site, which was identified in the Environmental Impact Assessment.
The second application is for the placement of maerl to increase the area of maerl habitat within the Special Area of Conservation. The process involves dredging some areas to a greater depth and placing clean maerl dredged from elsewhere to approximately 1m thickness.
Falmouth Docks and Engineering Company have submitted a third application in respect of works on the Queen’s and Northern Wharves.
Consent applications are required to be submitted at least 10 weeks in advance of any potential works taking place. Determination as to whether to grant consent can take much longer than 10 weeks where extensive consultation is required.
Copies of the application and the supporting information are available for the public to view at the Falmouth Harbour Office and at Falmouth Library. The supporting information will be published on the FHC web site.
FHC is continuing discussions with partners regarding the future of the project, timeframes and possible means of funding.
