Penzance Harbour Options Review

Yesterday afternoon I went along to the Penzance Harbour Options Review, and good fun it was, got to meet lots of old friends, had a good chat with a lot of people. The turn out for the Review had been very good, with over 350 having turned up by 2 pm so with 7 hours still to go,  I’m sure it went very well.

So what did I learn, I should point out that I spent over 20 years of my working life at sea, but I’m no expert, but it would seem that hidden within Penzance is the greatest gathering of marine engineering, sea transport, harbour design experts in the world, if, as I’m sure there is, an International Conference on Harbour Design, Penzance would be very empty. I spent some time speaking with an old friend, he did not claim to be an expert, but as he gets to drive the Scillonian, his views were good to hear.

All the usual suspects were there, spouting as to why their scheme was the only one that would work, accusing everyone else, ( Town Council, Andrew George, Friends of Penzance Harbour, True Friends of Penzance Harbour, Chamber of Commerce, et al ) of doing this or not doing that, so all in all proper consultation.

As an exercise in consultation and engagement the Harbour Review Board could not have worked harder, having been as open with what they have been doing, as anybody could be, they came to this process with a blank sheet of paper, (much decried by some, who went out of their way to misinterpret their intentions), a limited amount of money and a very tight timetable. They brought in Hydra as consultants ((true experts) to cries of what do you need a bunch of consultants for? Well if you don’t know the answer to that, you really don’t have any idea), who had not been involved with the previous scheme, but already had a lot of information from work carried out for Penwith DC in the past, cutting both costs and time.

The presentation boards were good, in that options were put next to each other so a comparison between the options could be made.

I’m told that after yesterday all the comments will be taken into account and final options prepared.

Now if only we could get those, from all sides, to just stop for a minute, engage their brains, look at what’s on offer, see this as the start and not the end of redeveloping the Penzance Harbour area, use their energy in a more positive way, we just may get somewhere. Hope springs eternal. 

Penzance Harbour

I left last nights Public Meeting in Penzance ( I should say before the end, I could take no more) in a state of despair, totally saddened by what I saw and heard. People, who I know in other aspects of life, as sensible, intelligent and forward looking, were sat in their trenches taking pop shots at each other.

The Penzance Harbour Management Board in a genuine attempt to engage with the people of Penzance came to the table with no preconceived ideas, no ready made set of plans, no options A B or C in fact they came with a genuine open mind, which is much more than a lot of the audience did.

After a brief introduction and a presentation as to where we are now, the chairman asked for questions from the floor, did we get questions? No, did we get sensible ideas? No, what we got was one after another, making statements as to why their scheme was the only scheme that would work, demands that could not be met and people with totally closed minds.

It was obvious that most had not listened to one word that had been said, and were just waiting to pronounce on their own entrenched position.   

Just what is wrong with these people? What went on in the past is just there, in the past, forget it, its over, move on, this is a different situation.

What we have is a limited amount of money, if you call £8 million limited, but more importantly a limited amount of time, the money is only available from Europe in the time frame set out, and looking at what is happening in Europe, there will be no more for a very long time, I suspect, if the past was left there, this would be seen as an opportunity, a chance to enhance the harbour area, to deliver better facilities to those using the boat service to the IOS, secure the future of the harbour for all users, look forward, re-engage the town with the harbour. This should be seen as the start not the end, an opportunity.

 My only hope is that now they have got it out of their systems, they can see this as the opportunity it is, that there is going to have to be some compromise and that they do have a genuine opportunity to have a positive input to the final scheme, because if not the future will be very bleak indeed.