Thanks very much to Cathy, Freshwater resident, for sending this report in – Ed
A meeting at Sandpipers Hotel in Freshwater Bay was packed to the gunwales last night, with people wanting to hear more about Dick Downes’ Harbour proposal and to decide whether the proposal should be carried forward.
Chaired by Cllr George Cameron, who apparently has no personal interest in the proposal, the meeting remained surprisingly ordered and restrained throughout.
Within a couple of minutes of opening, a demand for a show of hands declared 5 people for and a sea of hands against.
Points for
Support for the proposal was very weak and simply reiterated the points in the main proposal such as providing a safe haven on the south coast during stormy weather, a harbour for commercial fishing vessels, and offering protection against coastal erosion.
Points against
Opinion against the proposals centred around the following main points:
- Destruction of the area’s natural beauty
- Ecological concerns regarding deflection of coastal erosion to cause further damage along the already fragile coastline towards Brook
- That Freshwater Bay would not be a safe haven for vessels, even with a high breakwater That the harbour would fill with weed and need to be pumped out at huge cost, just as in Ventnor
- That the harbour proposal would benefit only a handful of people, while being to the detriment of many
- The harbour would put an end to swimming and surfing in the Bay
Not just surfers against it
It was clear that, despite suggestions that it was only the surfing community (who had done much to publicise the meeting) that would be negatively impacted by the harbour, the majority of the people voting against the proposals were local non-surfers.
Dick Downes voted against own proposal
In the closing minutes of the meeting a framed photo of Freshwater Bay by Paul Blackley, a local surfer & photographer and curator of the WightSurf History project, was presented to Dick Downes, to wild applause. In the final vote Dick Downes voted against his own proposal!
One would presume, with such overwhelming feeling against, that no more will be heard about the Freshwater Bay Harbour, but rumblings were afoot at the end of the meeting that a fresh attempt may be made quietly in the future….
Image: blahflowers under a CC BY-SA 2.0 license
