DfT annouces £8 Million for Harbour Works

The Department of Transport has issued a press release (here)  confirming that it is contributing £8 million towards harbour improvements for St Mary’s Harbour and Penzance Harbour   Work can go ahead subject to final clearances and the securing of European funding.

The press release said simply that the work involves dredging at Penzance and pier widening and improved freight handling facilities at St Mary’s.  



Comment.

From a Penzance perspective this was the minimum required to keep the service running in the short to medium term. The dredging is understood to include the Albert Pier which means that marine leisure businesses will benefit from this investment as well as the IOSSCO.

The improvements announced are necessary and welcome.  They do not change the customer experience at the Penzance end of the link (bleak in anything other than fine weather) but the improvements sustain the current service and improve facilities at the St Mary's end.

The improvements do not remove uncertainty about the longer term future of the ferry service but they ease constraints on the type of vessel that could operate the service and that is helpful for the operator of the link.