A NOT-for-profit community interest company set up to protect the native oyster habitat on the Fal Estuary says it is “deliberately being shut down” by Cornwall Council, despite owing over £25,000 in rent.

Cornwall Harbours Board agreed on Thursday (March 19) to terminate its contract with Fal Fishery Cooperative CIC and seek vacant possession of the site. It says the CIC would actually owe £48,180 in rent arrears if the board hadn’t put the account on hold in January 2024.

The fishery cooperative has only paid the initial rent deposit of £2,000.

CIC founding director Chris Ranger, an oyster fisherman, says his “100 per cent belief” was that the debt was going to be written off or he would receive funding to cover the rent because of the “sustainable community science” nature of the fishery.

The Fal Fishery Cooperative CIC was established in 2019 to secure the future of the Fal oyster fishery. It focuses on sustainable sail-and-oar fishing, protects the native oyster habitat and runs the Saving ESTER project to hatch and restock the Fal Estuary with a million native oysters.

Ranger – as he likes to be called – told us: “I think the CIC is deliberately being shut down because it was gaining momentum in the fight against corruption, otherwise surely Cornwall Council would consider a grant to support it, just like the application for £5,000 to do a Pacific oyster survey, which was on the same agenda.”

The agreed rent was £7,000 for year one, rising to £10,000 for year three, with a three-month rent-free period (increased to five months at the request of the CIC) which was granted from the start of the lease order to get Ranger’s infrastructure in place and begin farming oysters.

In a report to Cornwall Council’s harbours board, maritime manager Chris Jones and Vicky Fraser, service director for environment and connectivity, wrote: “At the time of placing the account on hold, in January 2024, the CIC owed £25,620 in rent payments. The CIC overall would owe £48,180 as of Q1 2026 to date had the account not been put on hold.”

The report states: “Truro harbour office have been in regular communication with the CIC but the position remains that they are unable to bring the matter to a close despite suggesting they would surrender the site on a number of occasions.

“It is unclear if the CIC has funds available to clear the site which may lead to the Port of Truro having to undertake clearance itself. The cost of this is likely to be in the region of £30,000 subject to final quotes being received from contractors. This would have to be funded by the Port of Truro reserve account.”

Ranger told us: “Jayne Kirkham motioned it at Cornwall Council when she was a councillor before becoming an MP, saying it was a science project and therefore shouldn’t have the full rent charged.

“Truro harbour didn’t chase me for four years and then in January 2024 said they hadn’t made any money in the previous four years and were backdating my rent. They deny it was that terminology, but that’s what it was.

“We had a last-ditch meeting in January where [the council’s maritime manager Chris Jones] said it will have to go to the Cornwall Harbours Board.”

Ranger added: “The point is we were doing alright raising funds and we managed to get the minimum landing size increased from the data we gathered from that site.

“That debt has pushed us into insolvency. If they said, clear the site and we’ll write the debt off, we would have carried on, but we can’t trade, raise funds or do any grant applications when we’re in financial instability. We don’t have the funds.

“Cornwall Harbours Board is going to ruin the CIC. If they had come to me every quarter saying it had gone up by another two-and-a-half grand, we would have pulled out.

“The 100 per cent belief was that was going to be written off or another fund was going to cover that because it was a sustainable community science project to protect the fishery and the native oysters.

“They haven’t spent a penny or incurred a penny in costs, they haven’t even put a mooring buoy on the site. Now they’re going to have to pay £30,000 to clear the site.

“It’s a really bad move by Cornwall Council. If you’re trying to save costs, why not write off a debt that doesn’t mean you’re going to have to put your hand in your pocket?

“Instead, they’re going to have to spent 30-plus grand on clearing the site and they’ve said everything will go in a skip to the incinerator, including the oysters. There are 30,000 oysters on that site and I don’t want them putting them in a skip and sending them to the incinerator.”

We contacted Mr Jones earlier this week for a response to Ranger’s claims, but he has not replied. However, at Thursday’s meeting, he said: “It is deeply frustrating seeing the Port of Truro reserve potentially funding the clearing of the site and, of course, the writing off of the debt – money that we don’t anticipate receiving. It has also prevented the site from being used for other revenue generators such as moorings or traditional lay-up berths.”

Harbours board chairman Cllr Luke Rogers added: “This is a fairly considerable sum of money especially when it seems like the CIC has received in excess of £100,000 of which none has gone towards their rental payments, which makes it very difficult especially with us representing harbour users across Cornwall who are paying their dues and now we’re using those funds to clear this issue.”

Board member Cllr Peter Channon said: “We don’t want to get dragged into years of wrangling and getting money out of people who haven’t got any money, so if we want an expedient way of finishing this off, this is the best way.”

A recommendation to break clause and clear the site in the most cost-effective manner for the Port of Truro was carried. Ranger says he is now seeking legal advice.