- The plans include seaweed farms as big as 140 football pitches
Martin Clunes is leading a host of celebrities including Andrew Lincoln in a campaign against planned seaweed farms in the Port Quin Bay near where the hit show Doc Martin was filmed.
The 61-year-old Doc Martin star from Beaminster, Dorset, has branded the plans for the farms in the north east of Cornwall as ‘nothing short of criminal’.
The actor, famous for his lead role as the grumpy GP in the sleepy fishing village called the project by Biome Algae and Camel Fish Limited ‘a hideous plan’.
The company is planning to build two 50-hectare industrial seaweed farms as big as 140 football pitches in Port Quin Bay much to the disgust of locals.
Now Love Actually star Andrew Lincoln has also thrown his support behind the campaign to preserve the bay as an area’s natural beauty.
Martin Clunes has criticised plans for a 50 hectare seaweed farm near where Doc Martin was filmed as ‘nothing short of criminal’
The campaign against Biome Algae and Camel Fish Ltd’s plans now has the support of Walking dead star Andrew Lincoln who owns a home Tregardock which overlooks the bay
The cove at port Quin (pictured) could become a large seaweed farm as big as 140 football pitches
If approved, the plans would see colossal seaweed farms complete with buoys and navigation lights installed in the bay which has angered locals
He said: ‘It’s a hideous plan, in a beautiful and special area. It was waved through without consultation or proper assessment of its environmental impact. It’s nothing short of criminal.’
The plans presented by Totnes-based Biomes Algae and local fishing firm Camel Fish Ltd for the area between Polzeath and Port Isaac, on the north coast of Cornwall, has angered the local community.
Now Andrew Lincoln, born in London as Andrew Clutterbuck, who shot to fame in Walking Dead and Love Actually, has thrown his weight behind the campaign to preserve the bay as an area of outstanding natural beauty.
The actor, who played the lead role of sheriff Rick Grimes in the zombie apocalypse AMC show as well as Egg in the 1990s cult hit series This Life, has close ties ot the area with a house near Tregardock which overlooks the bay.
A keen surfer, he has been in contact with Save Our Bays campaigner and local resident Barnaby Kay to express his anger.
Mr Kay shared the actor’s message with CornwallLive, the Walking Dead star said: ‘I’m amazed that an idea as dreadful as this has made far enough to make any protest necessary.
‘It’s disguised as some sort of environmental favour to the area and a source of local employment.
‘I’m under no illusion that this is just an elaborate way for a couple of people to make a lot of money at the expense of a pristine coastline of outstanding natural beauty, so they can live comfortably elsewhere.
‘As a surfer I always believed that the sea is free, well apparently not. It can be privatised and commercialised on an industrial scale without even consulting any locals.
‘This is nothing short of a disaster for our coastline, for our communities, and will no doubt have some serious repercussions for tourism.’
In its applications, Biome Algae said: ‘Seaweed has many benefits for the marine environment such as habitat restoration and increased marine life. It is expected that the farm will have a positive economic effect within the region.’
It follows a plan being submitted for a larger seaweed farm off the south coast at Gerrans Bay which was withdrawn after local uproar.
If approved, the plan would see a colossal seaweed farm complete with buoys and navigation lights installed in the bay.