Agenda and minutes

to approve as a correct record and authorise the Chairman to sign the minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 27 January 2020;

SH.1/20

The minutes of the meeting of the Salcombe Harbour Board held on 27 January 2020 were confirmed as a correct record.

Deputy Monitoring Officer to consider the granting of dispensations for the 2020/21 Municipal Year;

SH.2/20           

The Deputy Monitoring Officer reminded the Board of the implications under the adopted Code of Conduct.  She went on to advise that the payment of harbour dues constituted a contract with the Council, and therefore should be declared by Members as a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (DPI).  In the event of declaring a DPI, a Member would have to update their Register of Interest forms immediately. 

As a number of Board Members were in this position of paying Harbour Dues, the Deputy Monitoring Officer granted a dispensation to all Members to enable them to take part in the meeting, (as stated in Paragraph 8.1 (c) of the Members Code of Conduct) as otherwise the meeting would be inquorate.  This dispensation would be in force until the next Annual Council meeting in May 2021.

Members are invited to declare any personal or disclosable pecuniary interests, including the nature and extent of such interests, they may have in any items to be considered at this meeting

SH.3/20           

Members were invited to declare any interests in the items of business to be considered during the course of the meeting, and the following were made:

Ms Jones, Mr Mackley, Mr Marriage, Mr Plant, Mr Stewart and Mr Taylor each declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in all related agenda items by virtue of paying harbour dues to the Council.  As a result of the Deputy Monitoring Officer granting each Board Member a dispensation, they were all able to take part in the debate and vote on any related matters (Minute SH.3/20 refers).

Mr Taylor declared a personal interest in agenda item 11: ‘Salcombe Project Update’ (Minute SH.8/20 below refers) by virtue of his employment with Dartington Estate and remained in the meeting and took part in the debate thereon.

a period of up to 15 minutes is available to deal with questions from the public. In order to be answered at the meeting, questions should be submitted by email to Democratic.Services@swdevon.gov.uk by Noon on Friday 19 June 2020

SH.4/20          

In accordance with the Public Question Time Procedure Rules, there were no issues raised at this meeting.

to receive verbal reports from Board Members who attend the Harbour Community Forums on behalf of the Board

SH.5/20           

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 advised that the SKECF meeting that had been due to be held on 24 March 2020 had been postponed as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

South Devon & Channel Shellfishermen

The representative advised that the Forum had been relatively quiet.  In discussion, the Board recognised the serious challenges currently facing the Shellfish industry as a result of the Pandemic and it was hoped that this trend would be reversed soon.

Kingsbridge and Salcombe Marine Business Forum

The representative informed that:

-          a number of businesses had successfully been in receipt of Discretionary Grant funding.  In the event of any businesses feeling that they had been unfairly treated, then they were encouraged to contact either the Chairman of the Board or their local Ward Members; and

-        the lifting of some of the Pandemic restrictions could help to result in a number of Businesses returning to the water.

A general discussion followed on the impact on local businesses arising from the Pandemic and the particular reliance of Salcombe on the tourism industry.  In acknowledging the severe difficulties being faced, Members were informed that the Council had been lobbying Central Government and it was recognised that the Harbour Authority was taking every possible step to ensure that the Estuary was accessible for residents and visitors alike.

Kingsbridge Estuary Boat Club (KEBC)

In response to increased instances of crime, the representative made reference to a query from Charleton Parish Council regarding the potential for CCTV provision at Newbridge.  The Harbour Master committed to discussing this matter with the representative outside of this meeting.

East Portlemouth

The representative informed that he had nothing to report to this meeting.

SH.6/20           

Consideration was given to a report that advised the Board of the Harbour’s final trading position in 2019/20 together with brief details of the main variations from the original Budget.  Furthermore, the report also presented a summary of the Harbour Reserves.

During the ensuing discussion, reference was made to:

(a)     the trading surplus of £49,233 being welcomed.  In addition, officers were thanked for the presentation of the accounts that were felt to be concise and more reader friendly than in previous reports, with the addition of Appendix 3 being particularly welcomed;

(b)     visitor yacht income.  With regard to the financial risks to the Harbour associated with the Pandemic, the Harbour Master informed that the biggest cause of concern to the Authority was the potential loss of income from visitor yacht nights.

It was then:

RESOLVED

1.       That the income and expenditure variations for 2019/20 be noted;

2.       That the overall trading surplus of £49,233 be noted; and

3.       That this surplus be allocated to the Harbour’s General Reserve Fund.

- to consider the following resolution to exclude the public and press:-

“That in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business in order to avoid the likely disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act”;

SH.7/20                       

RESOLVED

That, in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business in order to avoid the likely disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act”.

SH.8/20           

The Senior Specialist Engineering provided an exempt project update and, in the ensuing discussion, a number of Members advised that they retained enthusiasm for the continuation of these projects.  Furthermore, the Board asked to be in receipt of regular progress updates on these projects and this request was agreed by the lead officers in attendance.