CADS 2015 - MEMBERS UPDATE

21 May 2015 - Number 1

Dear Members and Supporters

Thank you for your patience in waiting for the first of our regular Newsletters. As volunteers we are all juggling daily family and work life with learning new skills in our efforts to protect the Marine Conservation Zone from the proposed developments at Dean Quarry. We have limited funds, so every area of our work from website management & emails to social media, campaigning, legal research and fundraising is done by a hard working group of 14 volunteers.

We hope you have been following our progress on Twitter and Facebook, and read the updates on our website. We are delighted to find that we now have over 1,300 active Facebook followers and our posts are reaching over 30,000 around the globe! The Spotlight article with information about the dive surveys has been viewed by a staggering 15,000 people.

As ever thank you for your support and contributions.

We can be contacted at info@cads2015.com

Marine Surveys

Last week, we carried out a fantastic marine survey, on and around Maen Land Reef on the Manacles Marine Conservation Zone. (This is the site where a company want to build a 535m-long, 50m-wide breakwater and jetties, to load stone onto 10,000 tonne barges 24/7 from the dormant Dean Quarry). We recorded Pink Sea Fan Anemones, Spiny Lobsters, Jewel Anemones, Candy Striped Flatworms and much much more.We were joined by SeaSearch divers and professional marine photographers. Thanks Mark Webster for all the brilliant shots, some of which are on Facebook, and to everyone who was involved! We need to protect our Marine Conservation Zones...!!!!!

You don't have to go to the tropics to find colourful corals. We have them in England in our Manacles Marine Conservation Zone! This photo was taken recently during a survey dive for CADS, within our MCZ.

The pink sea-fan is a soft coral, related to tropical species and one of the most exotic-looking of our seabed animals and they and their sites of attachment are strictly protected under the Wildlife & Countryside Act.

The pink sea-fan lives in areas of strong currents on the rocky reefs below 10m deep - hence them liking our submerged Manacle Reef.

An intricate, branched pink sea-fan can grow up to 80cm high and 100cm across, but it is not a single animal. It is in fact a colony of tiny anemone-like polyps with stinging tentacles, which capture microscopic animals from the passing water. They usually grow at right angles to the prevailing water currents, to catch as much food as they can.

Pink sea-fans are themselves home to other creatures including a sea slug and a rare anemone. Dogfish also attach their eggs to pink sea-fans, wrapping the long tendrils at the corners of the ‘Mermaid’s Purse’ eggcase around the sea-fan’s branches.

Pink sea-fan colonies are extremely slow-growing and vulnerable to damage. The main threats to them are beam trawling, scallop dredging, and boat anchoring.

The broken branches of pink sea-fans are a common sight on the strandline of the south-west’s beaches – a testament to the scale of damage to sea-fan colonies. Thank goodness these little fellas are safe in our Marine Conservation Zone. Or are they?

Press Coverage

Below are details and links to press coverage about Dean Quarry in recent months. Please click on the links for further information:

16th April 2015: Daily Mail. Christopher Booker: Lagoon could be Britain’s pottiest green scheme.

19th April 2015: Daily Telegraph. Christopher Booker: Will Welsh eels scupper this craziest ‘green project’ ever.

On 28th April 2015 BBC Radio Cornwall Breaakfast Show featured Dean Quarry. Kurt Larsen of Shire Oak Quarries conceded that transporting rock to Swansea by road is not commercially viable. End of. According to Jonathan Kearsley, Director for Stakeholder Relations his company is passionate about protecting the environment and they don't believe anything they are doing will impact on that. A counter argument from several, more qualified to speak on this issue then followed. Interview starts 2hours 6minutes into the programme. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02p8dm1

BBC Spotlight coverage on 14th May 2015 on the proposed development plans at Dean Quarry within the Manacle Marine Conservation Zone. Thanks to Mike Anselmi from Porthkerris Dive Centre & Jane Morgan, lecturer & underwater photographer at Falmouth University for their input. This feature has been viewed over 15,000 times on the CADS Facebook page.

Thursday 14th May 2015: Scubaverse. Jeff Goodman, Conservation Editor of Scubaverse discusses the impacts on life under the sea if development of Dean Quarry is allowed to go ahead in this Marine Conservation Zone. Scubaverse May 2015.

May 2015 Edition: BBC Wildlife Magazine. Article written by Jo Anselmi from Porthkerris Dive Centre who is currently working with the Marine Conservation Society and Exeter University on a wildlife survey of the Manacles MCZ. Unlike the work done for Shire Oak Quarries environmental impact assessment, she explains this survey will be carried out by divers. BBC Wildlife May 2015

Monday 4th May 2015: THE TIMES Ben Webster, Oceans Correspondent discusses the rarity of the Manacles Marine Conservation Zone & fears of locals under threat by Shire Oak Quarries Ltd and its sister Company Tidal Lagoon Power. Green Energy Plans Threatens Marine Zone.

Thursday 30th April 2015: West Briton. Article reported on the meeting of all parliamentary candidates in the run up to the election. ALL candidates agreed on only one local issue – Candidates Oppose Quarry Plans.

Good coverage about the plight of our Manacles Marine Conservation Zone(MCZ) in this months edition of BBC Wildlife magazine (May 2015). Article written by Jo Anselmi from Porthkerris Dive Centre who is currently working with the Marine Conservation Society and Exeter University on a wildlife survey of the Manacles MCZ. Unlike the survey done for Shire Oak Quarries environmental impact assessment, this one will be carried out by divers.

Other Announcements

Shire Oak announced (or rather CADS found out) that they were holding ‘open days’ at Dean Quarry from Tuesday 21st - Friday 24th April. This coincided with the delivery of two large dumper trucks (sorry dot know size) on Monday 20th April. CADS feels very strongly that this was a deliberate attempt to intimidate our community. Two weeks later these vehicles and their drivers were all off site and off hire! There have been other developments at the Quarry and these are being carefully monitored, photographed and recorded by the CADS team.

If you have any information you wish to share with us please email info@cads2015.com.

Meeting with Derek Thomas

Brief but informative meeting occurred last weekend with Derek Thomas. He appears to remain in support of CADS in preventing the development of the quarry and asserted that our strongest angle is the protection of the MCZ. By the end of our hour long conversation, he was fully up to date on progress from both a legal, evidential, environmental and rock supply angle. This information will be carried back directly to George Eustice and David Cameron. Certainly very impressed by this new MP who seems keen to make a name for himself, but equally listens and engages with his audience. Feeling very positive about the contribution he can offer to our situation. He is going to set up a meeting with IFCA for our resident marine biologist Committee member, Gabriel, to relay key information on the surveys. Similarly the issue was raised as to legislation to actually protect the MCZs into the future via a private members bill. He was left in no doubt as to the potential for Dean Quarry to generate a vast fortune on the back of tax payer investments into Tidal Lagoon and out the back door to Shire Oak Energy Ltd. This could leave a very unpleasant odour several years down the line which may reflect poorly on the judgment of our current government.

Legal Update

At the current time, the first planning application for Dean Quarry, which was decided on 7th April 2015 by Cornwall County Council, is awaiting feed back on a review by the Secretary of State. This should be received shortly having been extended from the deadline of 28th April 2015. This application has not been submitted to judicial review following advice received from Stephens Scown solicitors with particular regard to the likelihood of success versus the financial outlay. It was decided that our funds and energies were best directed at preparing for the larger issue which is the anticipated planning application(s) for the jetty and breakwater in the Marine Conservation Zone.

Several members of the CADS Committee are dedicating their time to analysing all the legislative aspects of the MCZ and the marine life, collating evidence and liaising with stakeholders in the decision making process. We are fortunate to have a trained solicitor, Julie, on our team who has good contacts and is supported by some very legally astute individuals, Sue and others. This will certainly help to ease the initial costs and all members of the legal team are giving their time on a voluntary basis. It is hoped that this knowledge base will make CADS more attractive to legal experts in terms of pro bono work.

Meanwhile, steps are in progress to secure involvement from a top Environmental legal team who have significant experience in this field of work. Further information will be made available as this progresses. We are also receiving assistance and advice from environmental organisations and marine consultants, recommended via the office of the Prince of Wales, who have prior experience in this field of work. Our hope is that some work will be provided on a pro bono basis, but a large proportion of legal fees and associated costs for these experts will still need to be paid by the group.

Fundraising

Need I say more.....it is possible that this will be the first test case of the legal status of an Marine Conservation Zone in the UK and set a precedent for the status of all other MCZ. Unfortunately, as we all know, legal fees don't come cheap! We have set up a donate button on the website and Facebook which links to our paypal account.

This weekend CADS have a stand, raffle and are giving out information at the Fal River Festival. If you are planning to attend and can give a few hours of your time to help man the stall, collect donations and run the raffle, please contact us URGENTLY.

Other fundraising events are planned for the future. Collection pots are being organised for local shops, pubs and restaurants.

We anticipate needing to fundraise at least £20,000.

Key members of our community and beyond have been contacted seeking their financial support, but grass roots support is invaluable.

If you have ideas for an event or would like to help fundraise please contact us on info@cads2015.com.

Marine's The Word!

Please keep vigilant about anything you see or hear about Dean Quarry. Not all information you hear is correct and if you are unsure or concerned, please contact us. Information or enquiries can be sent to us via email at info@cads2015.com.

We are looking for secure locations to display posters about CADS2015, protecting the Marine Conservation Zone and how to get involved. If you would be willing to display a poster in your window, please let us know.

To keep up to date about developments please regularly visit our website www.cads2015.com of follow the links to our social media pages which are updated on almost a daily basis. If you know anyone who is not on the internet but would like to receive a copy of our newsletter or become a member of CADS2015, please let us know and we can ensure that a paper copy of the Newsletter and membership forms are delivered.