The port used to be a centre of heavy industry and the home of two iron foundries (those of
Harvey's of Hayle and the
Cornish Copper Company) that were established in the early 18th century, around which Hayle's two distinct population centres at Foundry and
Copperhouse primarily grew. In 1939,
Imperial Chemical Industries and the Associated Ethyl Company (later called
Octel) built a plant at North Quay to extract
bromine from seawater. In 1972, it was announced the plant would close, due to rising costs and limited capacity, with the loss of 70 jobs. At the time, the Hayle Chamber of Commerce stated that it expected that all the businesses at North Quay would go out of business within five to ten years. From 2002 there have been many plans drawn up as regards the development of the harbour.
2000s In June 2002, Hayle Harbour Company spent over £300,000 on a series of preparatory surveys and ecological studies of the location. The next month,
Penwith District Council set out plans for the creation of
Apertura, a "centre of excellence in photography". Penwith District Council refused to buy the site and, in August 2003, it was reported that development firm London and Amsterdam Ltd was in negotiations over the harbour's purchase. and it acquired the site in October 2004.
2010s Archaeological assessment on the South Quay in August 2010 found buried quay walls,
revetments and a
slipway. In August 2011, ING agreed to reinstate
sluicing as an alternative to
dredging in order to keep channels in the harbour clear after campaigners warned that further dredging would destroy
Hayle Beach. Sluicing was re-introduced to the harbour in 2017. The first phase of South Quay's redevelopment, predicted to cost £30 million, began in December 2013 despite opposition from
English Heritage and
ICOMOS. The redevelopment won one of
RIBA's Regional Awards in 2015. In 2016, to celebrate ten years of the World Heritage Site status, the port hosted heritage and cultural events, including a being a stop on the tour of the
Man Engine (named after the
man engine), the largest mechanical puppet ever made in Britain. In 2017 it was announced by architects
Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, that the plans for the second phase of the development on South Quay had been "significantly reworked" after a review by
UNESCO. Responses from local politicians to the new plans were generally positive, with
Cornwall Councillor John Pollard saying that people in Hayle "wanted to see the improvement ... completed" and
Loveday Jenkin saying that developers had "worked hard" with ICOMOS to alleviate their concerns, and the proposed retail unit and apartments were approved unanimously by the council's planning committee. The proposals for 27 flats and houses were deferred due to the quay's
listed walls. In May 2019, the first phase of development for the harbour's North Quay was deferred 11 votes to 3 by Cornwall Council's planning committee, mainly due to the multi-storey buildings proposed to be built on the edge of the quay. ICOMOS had also filed a report saying it was concerned about the height of the buildings and that the development would have a detrimental effect on the area's World Heritage status.
2020s The first residents moved into Cannery Row, the first part of phase one development on North Quay, in autumn 2020. In February 2021,
Devon and Cornwall Police objected to the second phase of development at North Quay, saying that it would cause an "unacceptable burden on police infrastructure". The police force asked that the proposals for 375 new homes, a hotel, shops and other amenities not be given planning approval until developers had agreed to pay contributions towards local infrastructure associated with the development. ICOMOS also objected to the proposals, saying that they would have "unacceptable impacts on the Outstanding Universal Value of the Hayle Harbour", and that the applicants had misrepresented their comments in a report they had submitted to the council. The planning committee voted 12 to one to defer the application, Although the site included working parts of Hayle harbour, the administrators confirmed that they would remain operational. ==References==