AMID calls from environmentalists and local campaigners to halt the dumping of dredged materials from the River Tamar in Whitsand Bay, South East Cornwall MP Colin Breed has discovered that even more could be destined for the area. On Wednesday the Shadow Fisheries Minister, Own Paterson MP, was at Rame Head, meeting local campaigners who want the dumping stopped. In Mr Breed's correspondence with Elliot Morley, Government Minister from the Environment and Agri-Environment, it has been revealed that the current licence held by the Royal Naval Dockyard at Devonport allows for the dumping of only 50,533 tonnes of material which expires on February 17, this year. It has been revealed that DEFRA is now considering an application for the disposal of a further 201,527 tonnes of dredged material during the rest of 2005, nearly four times the amount currently allowed. 'This area is already overfull from previous dredgings which have contaminated the area and killed off much of the marine wildlife,' said Mr Breed. 'We need some kind of explanation from DEFRA for this dramatic increase and I shall be pressing the Minister on this immediately.' A group of residents, anglers and divers explained the damage which is being done to the sea bed and marine life at Whitsand Bay to the Shadow Minister who expressed deep concern at what he heard, and from the pictures he was shown taken by local diver Dave Peake. His visit to the area had been arranged by Rame County and District Councillor, Sheryll Murray. The MP was accompanied by SE Cornwall Tory Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, Ashley Gray who described Mr Peake's pictures, plus a film he had taken as 'a video nasty I won't forget'. Mr Gray said the concerns of the fishermen and environmentalists have been proved right. 'I am very pleased the Shadow Minister has been able to talk to local people about this environmental catastrophe. The dumping must now stop to allow the bay to regenerate.' Cllr Murray said the Shadow Minister was shocked by the destruction he saw on film to such a beautiful area. 'Generations to come will not forgive us unless action is taken now,' she said. According to local knowledge the dumping of silt in Whitsand Bay from the Tamar has been going on for at least a century, but it intensified after the introduction of the RAFT project (Remote Ammunition Facility Tamar) when a licence was given by MAFF, followed by DEFRA, for the dumping of 500,000 tonnes of silt. The project, which cost £25million, has since been abandoned. However, the dumping is still continuing under licence. Mr Peake, a former Torpoint police sergeant, and police diver for 14 years, has been diving in Whitsand Bay for 45 years and says he has witnessed a definite deterioration on the sea bed in his lifetime. He says it is littered with other rubbish dredged up with the silt for dumping, plus waste materials dumped there from the Dockyard going back years, before the licence was brought into play. He said bits and pieces from the dumpings were regularly washed up at Polhawn Cover at the eastern end of Whitsand and at Queener Point near Rame. 'I have been trying to bring my concerns before different organisations such as the Environment Agency and others, but all roads always lead me back to DEFRA,' said Mr Peake. 'Because my hobby is underwater photography and I have the time to do it now I am retired, I have the proof on film of the damage that is being done. It is incredulous that this is going on right next to the World Heritage Site around the sunken Scylla and the Egan Lane.' Mr Peake took pictures of the bacteria known as beggiatoa, in November, just 15ft off the shore in five metres of water. It only grows where there is little or no oxygen. He said the visibility in the water is very poor when the sea is choppy, and when the weather is calm and the silt settles, the sea bed is covered. 'I am not against the dredging if it is necessary for the Navy's operations in the river, but the authorities have got it all wrong. They are not thinking carefully enough about where to dump the silt. Bureaucrats in London are making decisions without any knowledge of the area. They should consult with local people.'
