Residents are furious after finding out a company that had to pull back from creating two massive seaweed farms at a beauty spot due to strong opposition is now planning a similar project in another pretty seaside town.
Biome Algae and The Carbon Sea Garden had initially applied for permission to set up two 55-hectare seaweed farms in Gerrans Bay off the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall.
If approved, these farms, equivalent to 176 football fields, would have been built complete with navigation lights and 9,400 floats, visible from popular tourist spots Portscatho and Portloe.
Marine biologist Dr Angela Mead, founder of Biome Algae, had defended the plan as a proven ‘farming’ model, with seaweed being a versatile source of food, animal feed, and even fuel.
However, after hundreds of locals, tourism businesses, and even the local MP voiced their opposition, Biome Algae and The Carbon Sea Garden withdrew their applications. Now, Biome Algae and Camel Fish Limited have submitted two new applications for a similar seaweed farm project at Port Quin Bay.
Located between Polzeath and Port Isaac, the proposed farms would each cover 50.4 hectares, roughly the size of 140 football pitches in total.
In their application, the firms said: “Biome Algae is a seaweed farming business. We farm seaweed in the South-West region. The seaweed is all native to the UK and is grown to provide food, low-carbon animal feed and fertiliser alternatives and biomaterials to replace single-use plastic and take away carbons.
“Farming seaweed does not require freshwater, land, feed, fertilisers and it does not produce waste. It can however sequester carbon at a rate six times that of trees. Seaweed has many benefits for the marine environment such as habitat restoration and increased marine life.
“The site is 50.4 Ha. It will farm the seaweed using a tried and tested farm model, including stable infrastructure which will occupy a total of five hectares of the 50.4 Ha site.
“The remaining space is required for farm access and operation, as well as navigational safety. Camel Fish will be co-operatively working with Biome Algae Limited who will be working with local Universities to measure the effects and benefits of seaweed farming on marine environments.
“It is expected that the farm will have a positive economic effect within the region, providing local employment, training and support local businesses as we source our materials and equipment from them.”
The application notes a tentative start date of September 1, 2023, but residents believe this might be a mistake and actually means September 1, 2024. If the plans get the green light, around 144 160-metre longlines could be set up in Port Quin Bay over two to three years.
A local teacher, Sky Yolland, has kicked off a campaign to push back against the seaweed farms plans in Port Quin Bay.
Posting on social media, she shared: “Port Quin is in an area of outstanding natural beauty and lies just outside the Marine Conservation Zone.”
She added: “This is a completely unspoilt area. The land, the sea, the vista. This is a beautiful stretch of pristine coastline. I’m all for carbon sequestration but I don’t think this is the right area for it.”
She fears that the area of Port Quin is exposed to winter storms, which could damage the seaweed farms and leave dangerous ‘ghost gear’.
Local farmer and surfer Mark Williams also opposes the scheme. He worries about its impact on the AONB and potential risks to sea users if the farms are damaged in storms.
He said: “There hasn’t been any consultation of local residents and local businesses about this. We all found out quite late. I think they should go back to the drawing board and organise to meet us in a village hall somewhere and talk to us about their plans. But it seems they skipped the part about talking to us local people.”
Rupert Hume-Kendall, who lives above Port Quin agreed: “It’s mistake to try to do this in Port Quin. This is a SSSI, AONB area and absolutely the most beautiful part of coastline anywhere in the world. I think this seaweed farm is too big, in the wrong place and there hasn’t been any consultation. We will fight this with everything we have.”
Jim Wood, a landscape officer, is not happy with the plan for lots of light-up buoys by the coast. He told CornwallLive: “The views from The Rumps to Kellan Head will give rise to a marked change to the existing open wild undeveloped coastal landscape and seascape.”
In his letter of objection to the MMO, he said: “We object to this proposed seaweed farm on the basis of the harmful effects on the coastal landscape and seascape which forms the setting of this part of designated landscape and which enjoys the same protection from harmful development as the designated landscape itself.”
Biome Algae decided to leave Gerrans Bay but they said they’ll come back later to work on projects in a different place. They want to work with local people from the start to show how good their seaweed project can be.
If you want to see the application, you can check it out online at the MMO public register using the case numbers MLA/2023/00308 and MLA/2023/00307. But right now, there’s no chance for the public to talk about it.
If you have any worries or queries, you can email marine.consents@marinemanagement.org.uk; or send a letter to Marine Management Organisation, Lancaster House, Hampshire Court, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 7YH.
Express.co.uk has reached out to Biome Algae for comment.
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