What has happened to the plan to dredge in Falmouth? This was the question put to the  Chancellor of the Exchequer by The Packet's shipping expert as he visited Falmouth this week.

After previous statements that the dredging of Falmouth Harbour could begin in early 2013, George Osborne was asked why the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) was taking years to make the important decision

With claims the long term future of the port remains up in the air, shipping correspondent David Barnicoat says that the region is losing out on millions of pounds of lost revenue from the cruise industry and from larger ships coming in for repair at Falmouth.

Responding to the question George Osborne said: "I have had several meetings during the last couple of years over the dredging. Dredging provides the potential for not hundreds, but thousands of jobs, securing the future of jobs, which would otherwise be lost and work would defer to other parts of this country or the world.”

“I am still putting pressure on all parts of government involved with this matter. Sarah (Newton) has been a champion for Falmouth and bringing it to the attention of all departments of the government.”

“Are we going to allow environmentalist delays and concerns about the environment that will be easily dealt with to hold us up? We as a country have got to take real decisions about what kind of economy we want.”

Mr Osborne mentioned possible government support for the dredging project.

“If the government can provide financial support I want to look at it and see if we can assist.”

Obviously referring to the MMO’s involvement he said: “They have had long enough to talk about it, now is time to do it."