Dredging plan for Falmouth harbour to be submitted in next few weeks

An application for a dredging trial in Falmouth harbour is likely to be submitted within the next few weeks with the team behind it optimistic that it could lead to full-scale dredging in 2013.

Securing permission to dredge the harbour would unlock plans to develop Falmouth Docks – including a £106.5 million upgrade, a new marina and new wharves – because larger ships could then moor alongside.

This would allow ship repair firm A&P Falmouth to work on larger vessels and allow more cruise ships to dock at Falmouth – both of which would pump millions of pounds into the Cornish economy.

"Our prospects for growth are going to be very limited unless we can increase the depth of water in the approach (to Falmouth)," said Captain Mark Sansom, chief executive and harbourmaster of Falmouth Harbour Commissioners.

"The cruise market is very important and we are getting the message from the cruise industry that they won't be bringing larger ships to ports where they can't get alongside."

Whether the dredging goes ahead has proved a major – and long-running – issue in Cornwall, with Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB, visiting Falmouth on Monday to speak to A&P workers and management about the importance of the issue to the local economy.

Last dredged during the Second World War, Falmouth now has a five-metre channel (during the lowest tide of the year), but to accommodate the larger cruise ships and other large commercial vessels, this would need to be increased to eight metres.

Falmouth Harbour Commissioners and Falmouth Docks and Engineering Co applied for a licence to dredge the approaches to the port in 2009. Because it involves a Special Area of Conservation, this requires an Environmental Impact Assessment.

This has proved controversial with Natural England raising concerns that dredging would adversely affect marine wildlife living on dead maerl beds in the harbour – something that FHC disagrees with.

Maerl is a hard, red algae that is vital for fish stocks and exists only in a handful of areas on the coast. It can take up to 8,000 years to form.

FHC has said that only a small amount of maerl would be affected and that the wildlife involved would recover if the maerl was relocated.

Before making a final decision on whether to grant the licence, the Marine Management Organisation has requested more information about the environmental impact.

The trial will seek to address this by evaluating what effect moving the maerl – calcified seaweed – has on wildlife and how dredging can be done to cause minimal disruption to the marine environment.

Plymouth University's Marine Institute is now working with FHC and A&P Falmouth to devise the methodology and scale of the trial. Once these details have been finalised, an application for the trial to proceed will be submitted to the MMO.

"As soon as we have designed the trial, which we hope will be within the next few weeks, it's got to be agreed with the university and independent scientific advisers. Once this has been agreed, the application will be submitted," said Mike Reynolds, port operations director at A&P Falmouth.

It is hoped the trial would get under way in April. It would last for six months, with the results being presented to an Independent Scientific Advisory Panel set up by the MMO who would then make a final decision.

Capt Sansom said that if permission was given, full dredging could then start in 2013.

He added: "I think that's realistic given the process. We're optimistic. We have been very encouraged by the work done to date."