ORGANISERS of a drop-in information event to raise awareness about South West Water’s proposed desalination plant in St Austell Bay were delighted by the attendance.

Around 120 people attended the Desalination Information Group (DIG) open day at St Blazey, including Joanna Kenny, Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for St Austell and Newquay, and Noah Law, the Labour Prospective Parliament Candidate for the constituency.

A DIG spokesperson said: “Many people expressed surprise that a desalination plant should even be considered in Cornwall, one of the wettest counties in the UK, especially after the record-breaking heavy rainfall experienced in February.

“The question, ‘Why don’t they just improve water storage and fix the leaks?’ was raised many times during the event.

“Visitors were surprised to learn that South West Water leaked 112.2 million litres of water per day last year, whilst planning a costly desalination plant that is scheduled to produce 20 million litres of water a day – and only at the times when it’s operational.”

Peter Hazeldean of DIG, commenting on the leakages, said: ‘South West Water told us, ‘Fixing leaks is the least cost-effective way to maintain water security’. These figures don’t make sense, why build an expensive and environmentally damaging desalination plant when so much water simply leaks away?”

Displays at the open day included a mock-up showing the actual diameter of the proposed pipe and a map showing where South West Water is currently intending to lay the pipes and the 13km landline route that crosses farmland, smallholdings and ancient woodlands from the proposed plant near Par Docks to Restormel Treatment Works.

The DIG spokesperson said: “At 900mm in diameter, the pipe is much bigger than most people realised, and the map put the potential impact of the pipeline into context.

“Visitors to the exhibition were interested to learn more about the environmentally sensitive seagrass, the maerl, and the endangered and protected seahorses that make St Austell Bay their home.

One member of the public said: ‘It’s really interesting to understand just how much carbon is stored under the sea by maerl and seagrass. I’m shocked at the thought that this could be permanently destroyed if the desalination plant goes ahead.”

Joanna Kenny said: “From a parliamentary point of view, while St Austell Bay has some protection by being part of the Special Protection Areas (SPA) that stretches from the bay to Falmouth, which is aimed at bird life, the identification of these extensive seagrass beds and the very rare maerl means more protection is necessary.”

Noah Law said that there were still big questions left unanswered by the water company.

South West Water has stated that it wants to “break the cycle of drought in Cornwall”.