[Alsone]

Hi Guys,

Firstly, forgive me for starting a new thread, the old one was getting a bit long so I thought it best to start afresh.

I'm glad to see you agree with me re the reef. I love Newquay but hate the drunken louts / stag / hen parties that are spoiling the place. A reef would be great and would hopefully help the situation.

With regards to the project, what I've posted is what I've heard round and about (I'm not local, but do visit a lot of surfing sites around the net including ASR's site www.asrltd.co.nz (the company constructing the reef).

ASR reported a Risk Workshop meeting held on 26/27th September in Portsmouth with Currie and Brown re the Newquay Reef.

I can't remember where I saw the update regarding the public consulation, only that I saw it!

So far as the plans for the reef go, I am not aware of any major changes but as I am not close to the planners, I probably wouldn't know anyway. Again as far as I am aware, the only real issue re the siting of the reef is as regards the rowing course. I believe there are no problems anticipated with the fishing boats / harbour, and the fishing boats may even benefit from the extra fish life attracted by the reef..

For those of you who are interested, I attach a link to copy of the feasibility study to this posting. It has been out for quite some while but it would appear that some of you perhaps haven't seen it yet. I can't attach the actual file because at 500kb it is too large for the server.

http://www.asrltd.co.nz/reefASRexecsummary.pdf

Alsone.

[Sad?Old Hippie]

Alsone

U speak wiv wise words my friend n tis very interestin 2 read

So much has been said on t reef, only time will tell if we get it or not. Cant c a problem wiv t rowin crowd, (I'm assumin t gig rowin here), as long as t reef is put in away from t harbour, perhaps sumwhere btween Tolcarne n Lusty beeches

As said, Newquay can only benefit from this in so many ways, fingers crossed t powers that b will finaly c sum sense

1 last thing, u surf urself?

[Alsone]

Hi,

Yes I do surf, well kind of. I'm not very good but as I don't live near the coast I have a slight problem getting the practice. Definite beginner material! I am an experienced windsurfer though.

With regards to the reefs' proposed location, it is envisaged that the reef will be placed off Tolcarne beach with the inshore tail of the reef just below the low tide mark and the outside tail just shorewards of the gig mark. This is subject to adjustment if it is found to be necessary to move it so as to avoid disruption to the gig rowing.

It goes without saying therefore, that with this arrangement, the biggest surf will occur at low tide and the surf will get progressively smaller (in terms of amplification above the mean wave height) as the tide progresses towards high tide.

I attach a photo taken from the Feasibility report showing the proposed reef superimposed on an aerial photograph of Newquay Bay to assist.

Alsone.

[Sad?Old Hippie]

Wow do u kno ur stuff or wot!

Veeerrrryyyyyy interestin thanx, particularly t picture

Next time ur down here ull have 2 give me a shout n catch sum waves

[Dave Walley]

HI FOLKS, This is my very first reply as a new member to the site,so please be gentle with me. I have been reading all the info about this reef thingy for a very long time before I signed up. I have been coming to Newquay for more years than I will ever admit to, and yes I do surf badly!!!!!! both in the water and on the net.

I prefer to be in the South West when the crowds aren,t and I will be down next month,to have a go at drowning meself again. Back to the reef please excuse my ignorance,but apart from pulling more crowds in ? What will it do to benifit the locals.

Hope I haven,t gone on to much for my virgin reply....

[Alsone]

Hi Dave,

The reef will benefit the locals in many ways:

1. Newquay will hopefully have a world class reef with a wave of classification 7 on the ASR world surf rating scale. This compares with a classification of 2 for Tolcarne at the moment and 4 for Fistral! In other words, if all goes to plan Tolcarne should have a break at low tide that is on a par with Jeffries Bay in South Africa or Kirra Point in Australia.

2. If the reef doesn't work as envisaged and can't be satisfactorily adjusted, then there should still be some improvement to the size of existing waves as a result of the wave amplification (upward thrust) that the reef will produce.

Thus as I see it Newquay can't really lose out either way.

3. The locals will benefit from the break even if crowding may result in the reef only being attractive to them during quieter periods. As I mentioned in my other posting, the locals know where to go outside of the main beaches when they are crowded anyway.

Cont....

[Alsone]

4. The locals will benefit also because those coming to Newquay for the reef will be more likely to spend money in the local shops instead of just the nightclubs / pubs. This will mean more money in the pockets of Newquay residents / shop owners and less in the pockets of possibly non-local club owners.

5. The shop owner's extra spending power will in turn benefit other shop holders / tradesmen in Newquay.

6. The surf shops in Newquay will benefit because at least some of the extra money will be spent there meaning more money again in the pockets of locals.

7. More money in the pockets of locals means more money being spent in facilities such as the towns bowling alley and thus the greater the chances of more such facilities being built. (Remember the outcry over the loss of the cinema through lack of use, with more money around there's a chance you might get another.)

8. More surfers in town means less hotel places available for lager tourists.

Alsone

[Alsone]

One last word on crowding, yes the reef may be crowded at first and as stated above the locals will know where else to go, but bear in mind also the fact that other reefs such as Bournemouth are due to be built. If these go ahead, then pressure will be taken off the Newquay reef to an extent as those nearer Bournemouth may choose to travel there instead.

So, basically, I'd say expect overcrowding at first with a tailing off in the crowds as other reefs are built.

Alsone.

[Dave Walley]

WOW.....What can I say to that....you certainly know your stuff.As for me,well I,ll keep watching this space.

Like I said earlier,I,ll be back down to Cornwall for a bit of the surf hopefully a couple of times before Christmas.......I,d like it to be more but this damn work thing keeps gettin in the way.But if I didn,t then I couldn,t.....

Keep surfin...

[Alsone]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the kind comments!

I wish I could claim to be an expert but unfortunately I cannot.

In fairness to the doubters, and to keep some balance, there are some downsides like increased crowds in the sea at the reef location. However, a project like this has to be considered as a whole and I believe for the reasons I've stated and probably some good reasons besides that overall this project will benefit Newquay, and the few downsides that there are to the project can easily be overcome (such as locals re-locating to secret breaks during the busiest times). I wouldn't support the project if I thought otherwise!

The problem is some view the project as just encouraging more bl**dy tourists. This is a blinkered view. More tourists are coming like it or not. The key to tourism fitting in with local life is sustainability / respect for the local town / people.

Surfers are much more likely to do this lager louts.

I say bring on the surfers!

Alsone.