Now with Added Newhaven

The Sink One 4 Seaford project has widened it's appeal by the inclusion of 'Newhaven' in it's title which has shown as "Sink One 4 Seaford And Newhaven ".

This seems to make a lot of sense as divers wanting to dive a purposely sunk naval vessel off the coast of Seaford are likely to make use of the Port of Newhaven. There has been some concern voiced at public meetings as to quite how far the benefits any economic regeneration from the project would extend. A central issue seems to have been 'how many divers who would stay overnight in the area ?' as day-tripping divers would have less positive economic impact as they would not pay for accommodation and probably purchase less refreshments / meals etc.

Of course an increase in divers using the Port of Newhaven would benefit related businesses in or around the Port, so it does make good sense to recognise Newhaven in the project name.

With the certainty of a recession on the horizon, the owners of the Port of Newhaven and the various developers will likely have got cold feet in respect of the much discussed major developments of the Port. Certainly there were plenty of people, up to a few months ago, confidently predicting that the Port developments would go ahead with visible improvements . I don't think many would bet much on that prospect at the moment.

The future of the Port , for many many years, has been characteised by a 'stop-go-stop-go-stop' round of ideas. Some ideas have materialised , like all the new housing, whereas , other ideas have been stopped mid-way, arguably leaving a deficit. For example, how we all miss the Coral Cabin for our post-dive bacon butties!

Wherever we are on the stop-go cycle the Port & users have to work with what they are left with , constantly adapting to the prevailing circumstances however uncertain. Quite Darwinian in a sort of evolutionary way! I think we will continue new species emerging for some while yet. Evolution is fascinating but it does produce some implausible entities - the duck-billed platypus for example!

[For a critical assessment of the Port click : Here]

SinkOne4Seaford Pair SinkTwo@Newhaven ~ 14th May

(L-R)Tony F & Andy N prepare to dive the Newhaven Harbour West Arm.

Confuscious, he say nothing about diving! But if he did it would probably have been "Well I never!" There was a plan to do a West Beach shore dive on 14th May, four of us thought we had sorted the arrangements but confusion over wind speeds, sea conditions coupled with other pressing commitment rattled the plan and so the infamous four failed to fin! But as the agreed entry time approached so the text screen lit up! Another buddy pair were at the beach asking 'Where is everybody, the waters fine'! Doh! The absent four had been too conservative! They say 'better safe than sorry' but we managed to be 'safe and sorry'! So it was, that Team SinkOne4Seaford made a shore dive on the Newhaven Harbour West Arm. Was it any good? Yes! Six metres of viz! Damn, its 'orrible when a good plan doesn't come off!

SinkOne4Seaford Project ~ Competition

For all you chocolate lovers out there - Sweet Moments, the Belgian chocolate shop located in Broad Street, Seaford are currently running a free competition, in conjunction with the SinkOne4Seaford campaign. The SinkOne4Seaford campaign is ultimately aiming to promote tourism and regeneration for Seaford and Newhaven by sinking a vessel off shore to create an artificial reef which will be a haven for fish and divers in the near future.

For more information on the competition please contact Sweet Moments 01323-873388 www.sweetmomentsuk.co.uk

Sink One for Seaford Blog

I don't know if you are all aware that we also have a blog now -http://www.sinkone4seaford.blogspot.com/
I have just completed some updates and we would welcome your comments. Keep checking out the website www.sinkone4seaford.co.uk as we are regularly updating photos and news (even if we are a bit slow at times)

Thanks for all your support guys (oh! and if anyone wants a T-Shirt, just drop us an email, only £10 and full proceeds to the project :-)

Meridian Divers in Official Guide to Seaford Town!

You can never be too sure where those Meridian Divers will next turn-up! One of our photos from the Gozo Dive Trip (see Blog posting of 30th September in our archives) now graces the pages of the Official Guide to Seaford Town web site. We are only too happy to support diving in the area and the Sink-One-For-Seaford project.

Check-out our Meridian Divers Gozo Dive Team on:-

www.seafordtown.co.uk/Information/Sink_One_4_Seaford

Sink One For Seaford ~ Public Meeting (11)

Meridian Divers 'Staff' at the Sink One For Seaford Public Meeting.

The Sink One For Seaford public meeting at Seaford on 2nd November attracted a high number of guests and the presentations from the 'top table' were professional and interesting. After the presentations there was time for questions from the public. There was a balance of those keenly supporting the project and those less convinced that it was exactly what they wanted . Overall there was support for moving towards the next stage, a scoping document. The project now needs to raise the money (total £3-£4k) for the document. Meridian Divers were well represented and were the dive group chosen to assist with the running of the event. Other diving industry people were amongst the audience , including Graham Owen the PADI Regional Manager (who we had the opportunity of chatting with at the last PADI Members Forum).

I was , however, quite surprised that none of the local dive / dive boat businesses raised any questions or voiced public support for the project. Involved ,as we were with running the event, it didn't seem appropriate for Meridian Divers to play the role both of 'staff' and 'guest'. One ex-commercial diver in the audience asked why another wreck was needed when there was no shortage of wrecks in the areas. A fair point ...but... a deliberately sunk wreck would create a huge publicity opportunity for the area and potentially drive regeneration. Of course Seaford is a small town with limited resources whereas the wreck of HMS SCYLLA is near the strategic naval port and city of Plymouth.

Overall a very positive event.

Sink One 4 Seaford Project (10) ~ Meeting Timetable

(click image to enlarge)

Details of the timetable for the SO4S public Meeting being held at the Seaford Baptist Church on Friday 2nd October. Wear your Meridian Divers Polo Shirts for free entry!

Sink One 4 Seaford Project (9) ~ Meridian Divers

It's really good to see the Sink One 4 Seaford project gaining momentum and support. It's a very ambitious project but could generate plenty of opportunities locally. The project web site has expanded and now includes a supporters / sponsors page which contains a link to this blog, check out the link:-

http://www.sinkone4seaford.co.uk/sponsors/sponsors.asp

The S14S project team have asked if Meridian Divers will support their work at the public meeting on 2nd of November at Seaford. They would appreciate a good turn-out and would be particularly keen to see us in our Meridian Divers Polo Shirts as it is important that local divers show support for the project. Let me know by email or adding a comment to this posting if you are able to make it. Bring your cameras as we'll have a snap or two for the blog!

Sink One 4 Seaford Project (8)

A public meeting to discuss the proposals to sink one or more warships off the coast of Seaford is to be held at the Baptist Church , Seaford at 6.30pm on Friday 2nd November. Meridian Divers have been invited to attend. It will no doubt be an opportunity to learn more about this ambitious project and a chance to meet up with other local divers with a similar interest.

The 'Sink One For Seaford' project could spawn a wide range of new developments in the area, for example a new dive centre and a new slipway. The Scylla project took over five years to come to fruition so, as all good divers know, it's not wise to hold your breath. The SOFS project is now seeking £3000 to fund initial research work. This is a very small sum of money and I would imagine that local businesses, who might stand to gain from sinking of a frigate would be quick to put their hands in their pockets! It would be disappointing if that was not the case as the project is very much at the confidence building stage.

As a separate and unrelated development to the above public meeting, the project manager for the Scylla project contacted me after having seen our blog and has very kindly offered to speak to Meridian Divers about his five year involvement in the Scylla project. I am certain he would be able to give us a fascinating insight into the complexities of these projects. They are definately not plain sailing!

Sink One 4 Seaford (7)

DIVER magazine (October 2007, Page 17) carries the story of the Tony Fowler's plan to sink one or more ex-RN Frigates of the coast of Seaford.

The story repeats much that has been reported here but adds that Tony is planning to host a presentation at Seaford by a representative of the Scylla project .

Meridian Divers eagerly awaits details of the date/venue for the presentation!

Sink One 4 Seaford Project (6) ~ The Truth is Out There!

Some media and other reports about the plan to sink a Frigate off the Seaford coast have been confused and misleading (see Frigate Bay Watch 5) but Meridian Divers have now established a more authoritative source on how the plan is progressing. The MD meeting of 29th August was pleased to receive a briefing on the plan and is happy to promote the project by providing the following link to the project website :-

http://www.sinkone4seaford.co.uk/

The website is now live and will provide up to date information directly from 'the horses mouth' so to speak! This will hopefully overcome some of the inaccurate reporting.

Meridian Divers support the existing plans to provide artificial reefs at Seaford as both plans (the sink-a-frigate plan & the create a reef-of-rock plan) offer the potential of greater diving opportunities and many other benefits besides.

Sink One 4 Seaford Project (5) ~ Think of a number!

It's amazing how a simple plan can become so confusing to the media, here are extracts from three reports on the sink-a-frigate proposal :-

"British divers could soon have more modern-warship wrecks to explores, as plans are under way to sink two decommissioned vessels off Sussex".

"Anthony Fowler, owner of the Tudor Manor Hotel in Seaford, has come up with a plan to sink 12 ex-naval warships after he was inspired by a similar scheme in Plymouth".

"A navy warship will be sunk to make an underwater attraction for divers if a businessman gets his plans approved".

C'mon you reporters, is it one , two or twelve warship(s) to be sunk? Must be very frustrating trying to get a message across Tony!

Sink One 4 Seaford Project (4) ~ Naval Big Gun Out!

Former First Sea Lord , Admiral Sir Jock Slater, who captained HMS Illustrious during the Falklands conflict has entered the fray and firmly nailed his colours to the mast . The Admiral said: 'A ship has a character and a history and I think it's rather sad to see one sunk '.

But the Royal Navy takes a different line when spokesman Anton Hanney said: 'Any credible approach about a way of using or disposing of a warship that is out of service we would consider.'Ships enter service, they do the job we want of them and they come to the end of their life. They don't go on forever.'

Methinks this Frigate may be a Battle Ship yet! To sink a Frigate you need to weigh it down with a lot of money!

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/latest?articleid=3103161

Sink One 4 Seaford Project (3) ~ Show me the money!

I thought Tony's idea was to sink a Frigate to provide diving opportunities, but it may be that his plan has more linkage with another Meridian Divers guest, Jim Skinner. Jim visited us some while ago to speak on the subject of an artificial reef but his plan was to place an arc of rocks near Seaford beach. I thought Tony's idea was about creating a local HMS Scylla but it seems from his comments below that he is also thinking about protecting the shoreline, in other words 'two birds with one stone'

Tony said 'I have lived in Seaford all my life and Seaford used to have a fantastic beach with all the families down there.'I read up about artificial reefing and found out about an example of this.' The Navy has to stop pushing these ships off to different countries to get them scrapped so they have got to look at greener ways of disposing of them. All the toxins and scrap are taken out and you get an environmentally friendly way of getting rid of them which also protects the seafront.' As an artificial reef it is going to stop waves bashing against the beach and enable us to develop our seafront.' There is nowhere around here for diving like this. It could put Newhaven and Seaford on the map.'

The Leader of Seaford Town Council Jon Freeman has admitted that 'It would not be something Seaford Town Council could finance so we have looked to the Environment Agency and NCDA in the hope someone could give us a lead about how we could secure the money to do it.' While it seems like a novel, creative and imaginative plan we have to get the funding from somewhere.'

Looks like it's definately a "Show me the money!" moment at the Council . Tony has got his work cut-out! He may also finding himself competing for the same money that Jim is chasing.

Good luck guys!

Sink One 4 Seaford Project (2)

The BBC reports today (10th August) "A scheme to sink a retired Royal Navy frigate off Sussex to create an artificial reef gets a cautious welcome. " And that Seaford Town Council agreed on Thursday to refer the scheme to the Environment Agency and Newhaven Economic Partnership for their views.

The Town Council said it could not afford to fund the feasibility study, which would cost between £50,000 and £70,000 but said other agencies may wish to become involved.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/6940675.stm

Some interesting views also expressed in the The Argus :-

http://www.theargus.co.uk/mostpopular.var.1601839.mostviewed.warships_to_be_sunk_as_sussex_attraction.php

Sink One 4 Seaford Project (1)

BBC South East Today news (9th August) carried the story of Tony Fowler's plans to sink a Frigate off the coast of Seaford. It's a fascinating idea and it's very encouraging to see Tony making the 'headlines' , when he spoke about it over a drink at the end of the Meridian Divers back in June he was very upbeat and it's great to see he has attracted some attention for the plan.

Seaford Town Council, meeting this evening (9th Aug) will be discussing the idea . Their Agenda Item No.9 states "To consider a request from a Seaford resident to create an artificial reef in Seaford Bay by the scuttling of ex naval warships" (Report No 46/07).

The BBC reported that the Town Council will looking for a local group to pursue the idea. I am fairly sure (but stand to be corrected) that a decision to sink a vessel off Seaford is not within the authority of a Town Council, but it does generate interest! It is certainly an ambitious plan that no doubt a lot of divers will be watching and because that's the case it will be a project that the blog will monitor.

A sunken Frigate would be a major attraction in the area and there are already indications that divers who usually only get wet in warmer regions would make an exception and be tempted to dip a toe into UK waters. Of course with no current shortage of wrecks locally we might wonder what these divers are waiting for ...but what the heck ... the more the merrier!

Best wishes to Tony and fingers crossed for early progress with the Council.