St Austell Bay desalination plant plans refused - for now

300 people opposed to plans by SWW to build a desalination plant in St Austell Bay protested at Par beach in June 2024
-Credit:Maxine Denton / CornwallLive


Residents and campaigners opposed to plans by utility giant South West Water (SWW) to build a desalination plant in St Austell Bay are celebrating after it was turned down.

In November 2023 SWW announced it was looking to build a desalination plant in St Austell Bay to turn seawater into drinking water as a way to to break the cycle of drought in Cornwall. Desalination plants take water out of the sea and remove the salt. The water is then further treated to become drinking water. The brine left, which is highly concentrated in salt, is usually pumped back into the sea.

Since then local residents have been mounting a campaign against the project over fears that the plant would cause irremediable damage to the local flora and fauna.

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Residents in and around Par, where the plant would be built, are worried that both construction and operation of the plant will damage local wildlife including rare seagrass and maerl. Now bore hole drilling and test trenches work has started on private land where pipes could be laid by the utility company to collect water from the sea, up to the desalination plant at Par Docks then up to its network where it will be distributed where it is needed.

Many fear the plant could cause environmental damage to an area of Cornwall rich in wildlife including seagrass, maerl beds and rare sea horses. There are six sewage overflow outlays in St Austell Bay, including one less than a kilometre from where the proposed desalination plant would be located if approved, which many in the area fear would mean contaminated water being pumped out of the sea to be desalinated.

SWW said the plant is one solution against climate change and future dry summers when Cornwall sees its water consumption, fuelled by tourism, go through the roof. The company has carried out survey work on land where its pipes would have been laid and in the bay.

The drill test sites off Par in St Austell Bay that South West Water is hoping to receive approval for from the MMO
The drill test sites off Par in St Austell Bay that South West Water is hoping to receive approval for from the MMO

The water company filed a planning application (MLA/2024/00129) for marine geotechnical investigations - test drilling - to be carried out in the bay to inform any future infrastructure design and planning of the proposed desalination plant.

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The Marine Management Organisation (MMO), the executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) which licenses and regulates marine activities in the seas around England and Wales, handed the desalination project a blow - for now - after it turned the application down.

In a letter to Christopher Bradford, from SWW, Daniel Fantarrow, from the MMO, said the information received by the utility company was inadequate for the scheme to go ahead.

He added: "The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) received the application on March 8, 2024. After undertaking consultation, a further information request was issued via the Marine Case Management System (MCMS) on September 11, 2024. The information you have provided to date has not been adequate enough to enable a determination on your marine licence application to be made.

"As we have explained to you in our MCMS notification of December 12, 2024, (Minded to Refuse to Proceed with the Application (Reject) 14 day warning), we do not have sufficient information before us to enable us to determine your marine licence application in accordance with s69 of the Act.

"As indicated in our MCMS notification of January 2, 2025, (Minded to Refuse to Proceed with the Application (Reject) 7 day warning), we have now made a decision to refuse to proceed with your application under s67(6)(b) of the Act. This will effectively bring this application to an end."

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The news has been welcomed by local campaigners. On the Desalination Information Group on Facebook, Charlotte Cooper summed up the mood among opponents to the desalination plant. She said: "Well done everyone for your hard work and diligence."

Jenny Tagney, one of the leading campaigners against the plant, said it was one victory but the battle goes on. In response to a question about whether this is it for good for the SWW project, she said: "Not yet. But it will be a further delay I reckon."

She told us: "We’re really pleased with the decision from the MMO to refuse a license for SWW to carry out test drilling in St Austell Bay. However, it was refused because SWW failed to provide sufficient information rather than a judgement on the actual proposal.

"SWW have consistently failed to provide detailed information about any of this whole desalination project, which is why the Desalination Information Group was formed. We’ve been asking SWW for an update since last November. At a public meeting in Fowey in December, representatives declared that they had underestimated the complexity of the project. They realised they needed more expert input and were undertaking a full technical review. It would be very good to have an update from them in light of this decision.

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"We are still anticipating an application for planning approval for Phase One but if they cannot progress to Phase Two, is there any point in them proceeding?"

Eileen Rix also sensed that SWW will not give up so easily. She said: "They will come back again. So let's keep going with research, etc."

Michelle Schneider O'Shea agreed: "It’s excellent news. But we may have to brace ourselves for the next version they come up with though."

Local campaigner Deborah Hazeldean told CornwallLive: "Naturally we’re absolutely delighted with this outcome. Currently the MMO has refused a licence for the test drilling, which is an essential precursor to laying any pipes in St Austell Bay – without the initial test drilling they cannot proceed further with their original plans for desalination.

"The Marine Management Organisation have also said that the desalination scheme needs a full Environmental Impact Assessment – not just for the marine element but for the entire project. Bizarrely Cornwall Council deemed that an Environmental Impact Assessment was not required.

"The MMO have said they received an unprecedented number of objections to SWW’s licence application and we are very proud that we encouraged so many people to voice their opinion, which has contributed to this hugely successful result. Fingers crossed this will be the end of this scheme and South West Water can concentrate on fixing leaks and better collection and storage of rainwater to ensure improved water security."

St Austell and Newquay MP Noah Law also welcomed the decision by the MMO to turn the current application down. He said: "Before my election, I stood side by side with local residents against the proposal for the desalination plant at Par, who were concerned about the impacts on the environment and even local businesses affected by the construction.

"I have since met South West Water on a number of occasions to stress the importance of understanding the environmental impact and exploring alternative means of ensuring our water security.

"I am relieved to see that the MMO has chosen not to allow this proposal to progress further."

While the decision will please anti-desalination plant campaigners this might not be the fatal blow to the project they hope. In his letter to SWW, Mr Fantarrow said SWW could still re-apply providing it amends its application and re-file it with the MMO.

He said: "However, this application and supporting information will remain within your account on MCMS and you have the option to edit and update it with the additional information detailed above. Once ready, we invite you to resubmit your application for validation."

South West Water has announced that it has every intention to build a desalination plant in St Austell Bay despite a recent set back.

A spokesperson said: "We applied to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) for a marine licence to carry out essential survey work supporting our desalination plans.

"As part of this process, we are reviewing recent survey findings to ensure our plans are fully informed. The MMO has asked for additional information and have invited us to apply again, which we will do once our review is complete.

"We remain committed to progressing our application and will resubmit it as soon as the necessary details are ready.”

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