MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF
THE SALCOMBE HARBOUR BOARD
HELD AT CLIFF HOUSE, SALCOMBE, ON MONDAY, 13 NOVEMBER 2023
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Members in attendance * Denotes attendance Ø Denotes apology for absence |
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Cllr L Bonham |
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Ms K Allen |
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Cllr S Dennis |
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Mr P Brown |
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Cllr M Long (Chairman) |
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Mr A Owens |
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Cllr J McKay |
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Mr C Plant |
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Mr I Shipperley |
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Mr I Stewart |
Other Members in attendance and participating:
None
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Item No |
Minute Ref No below refers |
Officers in attendance and participating |
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All agenda items |
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Director of Place & Enterprise; Salcombe Harbour Master; Head of Finance; Deputy Harbour Masters; and Democratic Services Manager |
SH.14/23 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
It was noted that apologies for absence for this Board Meeting had been received from Mr Plant.
SH.15/23 MINUTES
The minutes of the Salcombe Harbour Board meeting held on 18 September 2023 were confirmed as a true and correct record, subject to the following amendment being made to Minute SH.2/23: ‘Apologies for Absence’ whereby Mr Brown had submitted an apology for absence (and not Mr Owens) as had been indicated in the published draft version.
SH.16/23 URGENT BUSINESS
There were no items of urgent business raised at this meeting.
SH.17/23 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Members were invited to declare any interests in the items of business to be considered during the course of the meeting, and the following was made:
Cllrs Bonham and Dennis and Ms Allen, Mr Owens and Mr Stewart each declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in all related agenda items by virtue of paying harbour duties. As set out at the previous Board meeting (Minute SH.3/23 refers), the Monitoring Officer had granted each of these Members a dispensation and they were therefore able to take part in the debate and vote on any related matters.
SH.18/23 PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
In accordance with the Public Question Time Procedure Rules, there was no questions raised at this Meeting.
SH.19/23 FEEDBACK FROM HARBOUR COMMUNITY FORUMS
The Board received verbal update reports from those Members who attended the Harbour Community Forums. The updates were given as follows:
Salcombe Kingsbridge Estuary Conservation Forum (SKECF)
The representative did not provide a direct update to the Board but highlighted the relevance of the presentation on Water Quality Monitoring that was to follow this agenda item (Minute SH.20/23 below refers).
South Devon & Channel Shellfishermen
The representative advised that the Shellfishermen were generally content and the industry had experienced a good summer season.
Kingsbridge and Salcombe Marine Business Forum
The Board was informed that the Business Forum was currently assessing the performance over the summer season and would then look to establish its plans and preparation work for future years.
Since the representative had only recently been appointed to the role, she committed to providing further performance intelligence to future Board meetings and commented that it was already her impression that several local businesses were working very collaboratively with one another.
Kingsbridge Estuary Boat Club (KEBC)
It was noted that the Club and Harbour Authority continued to liaise on an almost daily basis and working relationships between the two remained very positive.
East Portlemouth Parish Council
In light of the views expressed at the last Board meeting (Minute SH.8/23), the Chairman informed that correspondence had been sent to all of the town and parish councils that adjoin the Estuary. This communication had highlighted the agenda for this Board meeting and specifically referenced the ability for members of the public to both attend and ask questions at Board meetings. It was intended that this practice would continue before future Board meetings and it was therefore felt that East Portlemouth Parish Council no longer needed to be a recognised standalone Harbour Community Forum.
SH.20/23 PRESENTATION ON WATER QUALITY MONITORING
The Chairman introduced Mr Nigel Mortimer (Estuaries Officer) and Ms Emma Magee (Environment Agency Officer) who conducted a presentation to the Board on Water Quality Monitoring in the Estuary.
In so doing, both speakers concluded that, whilst the Estuary was in relatively good health, there was plenty of room for improvements to be made.
Having been informed that there were some measures that could be taken by the Harbour Authority to further improve water quality (e.g. communications with resident harbour users, buoying off channels, vessels not anchoring in certain areas etc), it was agreed that a Working Group of Members should be appointed and tasked with considering the merits of each of these measures before reporting back to a future Board meeting.
It was then:
RESOLVED
That a Working Group (comprising of Cllrs Long and McKay and Messrs Owens and Shipperley) be established to consider potential measures that can be taken by the Harbour Authority to improve water quality, with the findings of the Group being reported back to a future Board meeting.
SH.21/23 REVENUE BUDGET MONITORING 2023/24
The Board considered a report that updated it on income and expenditure variations against the approved budget and forecasts the year end position.
In discussion, thanks were expressed to both the Harbour Master and the Head of Finance for producing such a comprehensive report.
It was then:
That the forecast income and expenditure variations for the 2023/24 Financial Year and the projected surplus of £33,400 be noted.
SH.22/23 FEES AND CHARGES 2024/25
The Board considered a report that proposed the Fees and Charges for 2024/25 to ensure that the Harbour achieved a balanced revenue budget.
In discussion, particular reference was made to:-
(a) the effectiveness of the recent Board Workshop. A number of Members commented on how useful the recent Workshop had been and recognised that the conclusions from this session had been reflected in the published agenda report;
(b) the proposed increases to resident mooring charges. Whilst accepting the justification for the proposed increases that were set out in the published agenda report, a Member highlighted his slight reservations that residents would see larger proportionate increases in comparison to visitors;
(c) the development of a Communications Strategy to underpin the revised Fees and Charges schedule. Having been informed that officers were intending to produce an ‘end of season’ newsletter for all berth holders that would include reference to the revised Fees and Charges, it was agreed that Ms Allen would contact the Harbour Master outside of this meeting to provide support in the production of this document.
It was then:
RECOMMENDED
That the Board RECOMMEND that the Executive RECOMMEND to Full Council that the proposed fees and charges (as set out at Appendix 1 of the published agenda report) be approved for implementation from 1 April 2024 in order to meet the 2024/25 Budget gap of £77,000.
SH.23/23 HARBOUR MASTER’S VERBAL REPORT
The Harbour Master presented a verbal update that made particular reference to:
- Brady Construction Services Limited having recently entered liquidation. Since the company had been responsible for the construction of the Harbour Depot, officers were currently in dialogue with the liquidators, however, at the time of this meeting, there was no further update that could be provided to Members. Nonetheless, since the project was so near to completion, officers were confident that it could be finalised by using in-house resources and expertise. As a general point, the Harbour Master was incredibly proud of the Depot and he looked forward to being in a position to be able to conduct a Board Member site visit of the final operating facility. In recognition of the many difficulties that had been experienced from the offset of this project, Members wished to put on record their thanks for the tireless work of lead officers in reaching this point;
- the lifting team and engineers having done a magnificent job in completing their winter storage works;
- contract divers currently being on-site to undertake vital work on the maintenance of the deep water moorings;
- a member of the team having expressed an interest in studying for the Harbour Master’s Diploma accreditation. The Harbour Master stated his support for continual staff development and growing in-house talent and was fully committed to supporting the team member in his studies;
- an upcoming prosecution against an individual for their behaviour on the Harbour. Whilst the details could not be disclosed at a public meeting, Members hoped that this action would be seen as a deterrent and the Harbour Master committed to providing an update on the outcome of the court case at a future Board meeting.
(Meeting commenced at 2:30 pm and concluded at 4.15 pm)
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Chairman