Cornish Guardian 02/11/2003
Don't Destroy Important Beach Sites by Phil Boggis, St Austell
As Assistant County Recorder for moths, not the ones you find ating your woollen garments I hasten to add, I feel duty bound o remind people of the ecological importance of Shorthorn Beach, the eastern beach which will unfortunately be built on at some time in the future and referred to in the Ampersand sales literature)
Shorthorn comprises five distinct habitats all in one small locality, surely unique in Cornwall, namely:
- Shingle beach;
- Woodland and scrub;
- Heath;
- Cliff slopes;
- Until recently, marsh.
This was destroyed when the stream was directed into a narrow channel to avoid flooding.
After planning permission was given earlier this year to re-develop the area, many of us working for conservation in Cornwall were appalled that this particular area behind what I have already referred to as Shorthorn Beach, not Crinnis, the site of the Cornish Coliseum, forms part of the planned development. I think I speak for many who welcome seeing the back of the Coliseum, an ugly structure, and feel sure anything is better that what is there at the moment.
Unlike others who are campaigning simply because it is on their own backdoor, although I don’t blame them for trying, I am saying simply this:
- There are 17 nationally notable species of moth found at Shorthorn and Polgaver to which has been added one proposed Red Data Book 3 species.
- Earias Clorana — Cream-bordered Green Pea, a small but beautiful moth is breeding at Shorthorn, the only site in Cornwall where it is most certainly known to do so, the noth being so rare in Cornwall as a whole.
- I have observed an unspeified number and species of bats by virtue of the fact that moths re their favourite food. Further studies to see what species occur at Shorthorn should be made.
- Ornithologists should note hat a Barn Qwl was heard at the each the other evening.
- The one-off ecological surveys that have already been undertaken . have ‘encouragingly suggested that further invertebrate (insect) studies are needed.
- It is my considered opinion that any upset to the ecology of Shorthorn will be disastrous as a whole and an all or nothing approach in granting planning was needed in this instance.
Unfortunately, owing to numerous inadequacies within the current system to designate County Wildlife Sites, the importance of Shorthorn Beach has been overlooked. This is true for all the planning proposals for this site going back many years.
- There is a rapidly increasing trend towards sustainable tourism in Cornwall. This is largely due to the fact that most holiday-makers visit Cornwall because of the quality of its natural environment, and there is concern that certain types of tourism may erode this important natural asset and lead to fewer visitors in the future.
Perhaps Ampersand could re-think their planning along such lines and involve the natural environment instead of bulldozing it.
It should be noted that as part of mitigation, Ampersand do not propose to develop Polgaver beach (furthest east of all three beaches). To offer this as mitigation on the basis that loss in one location can be off-set by avoiding a loss of a habitat nearby, is inadequate especially as Polgaver beach is already of county-wide nature conservation importance!
Is not the Crinnis beach area big enough for Ampersand to develop? To develop Polgaver would lay open the charge that the Local Planning Authority had made a bad decision. Can’t we be content with just developing the. Crinnis/Coliseum phase only? There are surely plenty of jobs available without destroying the environment unduly, Remember Tim Smit’s presentations at the Eden Project about the importance of plants in the food chain and a sustainable environment? In my view what society is doing in general is unsustainable.
One day people will say, “If only we had listened sooner. All beauty and nature is lost and it cannot be recovered in our life time — all in the name of progress and dare I say it money, money, money!’