Letter by Michael Galsworthy PDF Print E-mail
Friday, 14 May 2004 00:00

Letter by Michael Galsworthy, CVO, CBE, DL

I welcome this opportunity to stand back and to reflect on the work of the Newlyn Fish Industry Forum since we were established in 2001. In fact we are fast approaching our third anniversary and I want to pause for a moment to look at what has happened thus far and to make sure we have the right bearings for the course ahead.

What inspired the CFPO to set up the Forum was their vision of capitalising on Newlyn’s strategic importance as the premier landing port of England in terms of value. What they hoped to achieve was a revitalisation of port infrastructure and to secure more modern facilities and a capability of meeting new exacting hygiene standards. In this way Newlyn would be given a secure long-term future, employment would be maintained and greater value added would be captured from diversified landings for the benefit of the local community.

The CFPO recognised from the outset that if nothing at all was done then Newlyn as a working port would at best stagnate but more likely it would slowly decline in terms of significance and viability with a severe knock-on effect on the local community. Newlyn at present, they argued, was simply not capable of conforming to challenging new rules, regulations and standards driven wither by Whitehall, the EU, the environmental lobby or very importantly the evermore discerning consumer. So doing nothing was simply not an option if the future of Newlyn Harbour and its surrounding community was to be safeguarded.

It was from this bold thinking that the Forum was given life to become a remarkable and enduring public and private sector partnership embracing every aspect of local industry, the harbour commissioners, the community and local government. This body was given the responsibility of setting out an agreed regeneration strategy to respond to urgent local needs and aspirations and to lay the foundations for a genuinely self-sustaining local economy.

The strategy was rolled out through 2002 and into 2003 and was then improved and refined through an exhaustive public consultation process. Indeed the Forum was enormously encouraged by a wide public response providing many helpful recommendations and constructive criticisms, but always underpinned by a common wish that “something must be done”.

Once this initial consultation process ended, the Forum set about lobbying for funds to underwrite the vital technical investigations that had to be carried out before any strategic infrastructure investments were contemplated. At the same time we were able to see through some “early wins” within the harbour precinct itself and begin work to deliver the vitally important Seafood Park, which is at the heart of the industry related element of the Regeneration Strategy. In due course this will enable fish merchants to relocate to brand new premises outside Newlyn, close to Stable Hobba, creating some additional jobs eventually and freeing up buildings for alternative use in Newlyn. Traffic movement will also be reduced to the benefit of local residents.

It is worth mentioning perhaps that the Forum is now well regarded as an enabling body both by the Regional Development Agency and the Government Office of the South West and that investment projects refined, promoted and recommended by the Forum are generally taken seriously and recognised as well conceived and worthwhile.

It is therefore encouraging to report that in the last eighteen months it has been possible to attract upwards of £1.5 million for some investment projects in Newlyn that were identified in the overall Regeneration Strategy.

These include the technical investigations (now nearly completed by Hyder, appointed consultants), a trial fish waste treatment plant, chill chain curtains in the fish market, three phase electricity, landing derricks and the slipway upgrade. Beyond this, work will be starting soon on new and costly traceability and grading systems for the market to ensure it is able to meet exacting Food Safety regulations due in January 2005. In all these projects the understanding, commitment and cooperation of the Harbour Commissioners has been invaluable and their partnership in delivering the Regeneration Strategy is much appreciated. So too is the wholehearted and enthusiastic participation of the Penwith District Council whose officers are providing so much help to the Forum itself as well as to its appointed Sub Groups for Affordable Housing and Environmental Enhancement. Other such groups will be set up shortly and will help the Forum by bringing even greater focus to projects within the overarching strategy.

The Regeneration Strategy of course has a vital Community Aspect which is of equal importance. Here the Forum wishes to address issues to do with social exclusion, quality of life and providing opportunities for the younger generation through appropriate training facilities, amongst other things. We are also wholly committed to the exciting and inspirational Trinity Project which Reverend Julyan Drew is spearheading and which we recognise as providing a vitally needed and adaptable community resource.

Above all though we recognise the urgent need for affordable housing for local people and I am pleased to say that the Forum with the full support of Penwith District Council, has researched and now adopted a sound and deliverable policy which will be rolled out in the months ahead.

Beyond this we intend to carry out some targeted environmental enhancement works in Newlyn which the community itself has highlighted on various occasions throughout the consultation process. We also wish to provide additional, converted premises for young artists and craftsmen, building on the artistic heritage and traditions of Newlyn and helping to diversify the local economy.

In the years ahead there will also be a wider engagement with tourism in Newlyn, whether through the harbour where marina facilities are to be installed or through further visionary projects such as the newly launched Newlyn trail. All of this will help to broaden the economic base of Newlyn and its community, providing additional employment opportunities and giving self confidence to the younger generation upon whom the future of Newlyn will depend.

There is a long way yet to go but there is a ground swell of opinion that regeneration must be both successful, real and sustainable - not just a flash in the pan. So long as the Forum remains totally committed and fully engaged and so long as the community itself continues to want regeneration and investment, our strategy will continue to unfold and in due course Newlyn will be all the stronger and more economically viable for it. I have no doubt about this whatsoever.

Ours is a holistic and inclusive approach to regeneration where all sectors of the community stand to benefit. We believe too that it is vitally important for the community itself to participate in this regeneration programme and it is for this reason that the Forum has begun to set up focussed Sub Groups to help identify and refine projects in key specific areas. This is an approach which the government has now recognised and approved because it is also a joined–up strategy that stretches across various sectors and interests. We believe the government genuinely wishes to be supportive and helpful and this is potentially much to our benefit, as recent discussions with ministers has suggested. For they recognise that the work and objectives of the Newlyn Fish Industry Forum reflect very closely the recent recommendations of the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit report on the UK Fishing industry (Net Benefits).

Anyway, we have now reached a critical milestone with the opening of the public consultation process in early July to consider the necessary Harbour Revision Order as the Regeneration Strategy moves into its next phase. This consultation will take place in the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen building on two full days on the 2nd and 3rd of July and it is a vital opportunity to hear from Newlyn Pier and Harbour Commissioners, Newlyn Fish Industry Forum representatives and Hyder consultants (and to question them) about their investigations and assessments of investment priorities. They will by then have tested the validity of the various investment recommendations of the Strategy and have reached assumptions about costings and deliverability. In other words it is an opportunity to reaffirm what we all want to achieve –that is a secure and viable future for Newlyn as the premier working port of the fishing industry in England and for its dependent community.

I very much hope that you will be able to participate during this period of public consultation on these two days. In the meantime the work of the Forum goes on supported by our belief that the community too shares our vision for the future.


Michael Galsworthy

Chairman
14.06.04