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Falkland Islands: Weekly Penguin News Update

<i>Concordia Bay</i> arrived at Stanley<br><i>Picture: M Ford</i>

Headlines: Bay begins her work; 'Government cannot subsidise BAS'; Close eye kept on MoD range; Scheme for school leavers; Wind farm set to grow.

Bay begins her workTHE new ferry and coastal shipping vessel Concordia Baysailed into Stanley Harbour on Friday morning with a colourful array of flags fluttering the length of the ship. Following work to make her ready for her scheduled coastal voyages, ferry works and crew familiarisation, Concordia Baywas due to leave for Port Howard at 5am this morning. With more than 50 passengers booked on two voyages on Saturday and Sunday, the early start will allow time for the ramp at Port Howard to be checked out as well as the south breakwater at New Haven, which is to be used until digging out of the approach area to the terminal is completed. The forecast for Saturday is good with little wind while Sunday is set to be rough, giving the passengers and crew varied conditions to experience during the inaugural voyage. Workboat Services Manager Adam Cockwell advised passengers to wear stout walking shoes as the departure point at New Haven is not what was initially envisaged and the surface could be slippery. Meanwhile Tamar FIhas completed her final tasks and is laid up at the FIC jetty while negotiations for her sale are ongoing. FIDC's Tim Cotter said they were expecting an offer in the next few days with several other parties having shown an interest. "We're focusing on this one bid at the moment," he said adding that an early sale would be preferred as it was not in the vessel's best interests to be laid up for long periods of time. 'Government cannot subsidise BAS'COUNCILLORS have said that as much as they would like the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) to continue to operate out of Stanley Airport, "we cannot subsidise their work programme," a view which Cllr Summers said was generally accepted by the British Government. As reported by Penguin Newslast week, BAS is now looking to base its aircraft operations in Punta Arenas, Chile. The move is a result of the application to the Falklands of the Overseas Territories Air Regulations (OTARs) put together by the British Government, the outcome of which is that Category 2 RFFS is required for FIGAS aircraft to operate. The BAS Twin Otter aircraft require a category 3 RFFS and then there is a huge leap requiring major investment to Category 5 for the Dash 7 used by BAS, Councillor John Birmingham said. Councillor Summers said the capital cost of upgrading Stanley airport to Category 5 would be in the region of half a million pounds with an additional operating expenditure in the order of £90 - 100,000 per annum, adding that BAS landing fees paid to the government only amounted to around £10,000 per annum. "The levels of aircraft activity over the last three years are such that there would have to be something major to make FIG decide to make that kind of investment," Cllr Birmingham said, adding that there had been a reduction in activity over a number of years. Last year there were 40 movements (20 landings) of BAS aircraft at Stanley Airport - so far in 2008 there have been 10. "To suggest that they are withdrawing just because FIG has made some 'dog in the manger' decision about Category 2 at Stanley Airports a very small part of the picture," said Cllr Summers. BAS had been advised of the introduction of OTARs and that they would need to make arrangements to ensure that they could still use the facilities here, he said. "There may be further possibilities for them to negotiate with the UK regulators as to whether they can use MPA and Stanley as a diversion now and I don't know what the implications of that are - it's open for them to have discussions with the regulator and as far as I know they haven't done that." Spokesperson for BAS, Linda Capper told Penguin News BAS had had discussions at technical level with Stanley Airport management: "We've had no 'requirements' as such. BAS would simply wish to continue to use Stanley Airport as it has done for nearly 20 years with the Dash-7 and over 25 years with the Twin Otters." More on page 3 Close eye kept on MoD rangePLANNING permission has been granted for the sitting of a missile firing range at Port Harriet but only on a one-off basis. Rapier and high velocity missiles will be fired during a training exercise at the range in October on dates to be agreed with the Environmental Planning Officer (EPO), Tom Eggeling. In addition, an Environmental Impact Assessment will be prepared by the Ministry of Defence as part of any future application for live firing at the range. Although the range has actually been in use since 2005, no planning permission had ever been sought until now. More than twenty letters of objection to the siting of the range were considered by the Planning and Building Committee this week, with correspondents' concerns focusing on the impact upon wildlife in the area, particularly gentoo and king penguins breeding at Bluff Cove Lagoon, a popular destination for cruise ship passengers. Mr Eggeling recommended that planning permission be granted on a one-off basis only and that an Environmental Impact Assessment be prepared. This, he said, would take into account the impacts upon wildlife, to establish whether the nearby penguin and seal colonies at Bluff Cove, East Island and other surrounding areas would suffer any adverse effects. Mr Eggeling told the Environmental Committee on Tuesday that the military's planning application showed that they were firing away from East Island and Bluff Cove and that the missiles were exploding eight kilometers away at sea, however there was little indication what happened when missiles or drone targets malfunctioned. The next round of missile firing at the range would be closely observed, he said: "We can't be certain of the impacts without having observers on the site." As for "mock attacks" which had been carried out in the past, in which Tornado F3 bombers had practiced attacking the range, Mr Eggeling said these were to no longer take place in the area. Scheme for school leaversA ONE year pilot project 'entry to employment scheme' is to be run, to assist young people in their transition from statutory schooling into the workplace. The scheme is to be operated by the Training Department and the total cost of £8,000 is to be met from the Training Department budget. Wind farm set to growTHE second phase of the Sand Bay Wind Farm is to go ahead. The project entails the purchase of a further three turbines and two flywheel energy storage units with a payback time of around seven years, although increasing fuel prices could reduce this period. It is anticipated that the project will be completed during the 2009/10 financial year. Councillor Andrea Clausen described Phase One of the wind farm as "highly successful" with an average fuel displacement of 20% to date - displacement of up to 23% is anticipated for 2008/09. She commented: "The impact of Phase One of the project resulted in government being able to increase electricity prices to a lesser extent than would have been the case in the absence of the wind farm - by two pence rather than five pence for 2008/09 - as well as enabling it to contribute significantly to meeting a number of national and international environmental targets." The Planning and Building Committee granted planning permission in principle for the second phase when they met yesterday. Environmental Planning Officer Tom Eggeling said any concerns about the distance of the new turbines from the MPA Road (less than 100 meters) were off set by the environmental advantages the wind farm presented.