Agenda and minutes

SH.01/21        

Apologies had been received from Cllr D Brown.  The Chairman welcomed the two new co-opted Members, and gave thanks to Professor Malcolm Mackley for his service to the Board; he had served with distinction and would be remembered for a great many things, particularly the Jubilee Pier.

to approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 15 March 2021

SH.02/21        

The minutes of the meeting of the Salcombe Harbour Board held on 15 March 2021 were confirmed as a correct record.

brought forward at the discretion of the Chairman

SH.03/21        

The Chair referred to the late paper on ‘Water Quality’ which had been prepared by the Vice Chairman and sent to the Board Members.  The Chairman requested that this item be added to the agenda for the next Board meeting on 20 September 2021, when the Estuaries Officer would also be asked to give an update.

Deputy Monitoring Officer to consider the granting of dispensations for the 2021/22 Municipal Year;

SH.04/21        

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). 

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 2022.

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.05/21                                                                                                                                      

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 Marriage, Mr Owens, Mr Plant, and Mr Stewart 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.04/21 above refers).

a period of up to 15 minutes is available to deal with questions from the public

SH.06/21        

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.07/21

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 March 2021 meeting had been held remotely via zoom where concerns had been expressed over the increase in visitors expected this summer and the ongoing issue of speeding.  There had been an instance of paint pollution at the head of the Estuary, but following a letter from the Department of Environment to local businesses, this had ceased, with no residual impact.

Higher Education students were looking at the potential benefits from sea grasses and would be planting sea grasses in areas where there were none, to see if transplanting would work.

South Devon & Channel Shellfishermen

The Board was informed that the price of crab was currently favourable, with no issues transporting shellfish into Europe.  However, with the reduction in flights to the Far East due to Covid-19, there were issues with transporting fresh crabs to China.  The Harbour team was helping to resolve this issue.

The representative had held a discussion with the local MP, Mr Anthony Mangnall, who had highlighted a potential fishing fund of £100 million, some of which might be accessible to Dartmouth and Salcombe.  Following a discussion, it was agreed to invite Mr Mangnall to the Annual Harbour Inspection and Board meeting to be held on 20September 2021.

Kingsbridge and Salcombe Marine Business Forum

The representative informed the Board that businesses along White Strand were now working well together, and that level of business was such that it already felt like high season.

Kingsbridge Estuary Boat Club (KEBC)

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

East Portlemouth Parish Council

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

SH.08/21        

Consideration was given to a report that advised the Board of the Harbour’s final trading position in 2020/21 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, it was noted that:

·          Ending the year with a surplus during what had been a very difficult year, was acknowledged as an excellent achievement by the Harbour Team.

·          A Member asked that resolution 2) be amended to state had ‘welcomed and…’ added.  When put to the vote, this was subsequently agreed by the Board.

·          A Member was unhappy with the proposal to use the General Fund Reserve to fund this year’s on-call payments.

·          Thanks were given to the Finance Team for the inclusion of Appendix 3 to the presented agenda report.

·          It was felt prudent to review the outstanding loan to South Hams District Council, but it was acknowledged that the interest rate charged on this loan was very low.  However, although there was sufficient funds in the General Reserve to repay this loan, the monies within the General Reserve were earmarked for future one-off expenditure, including looking at electric ferries in the future.  This issue would be discussed at the relevant Member workshop when the 5 year plan would be reviewed, and the possibility of a rolling 5 year plan being adopted.

It was then:

RESOLVED

1.       That the income and expenditure variations for the 2020/21 financial year and the overall trading surplus of £55,234 be noted and the surplus be allocated to the Harbour’s General (Revenue Account) Reserve; and

2.       That the proposed payment of merit pay to the Harbour staff of up to £6,000 (to be funded from the Harbour’s General (Revenue Account) Reserve) be welcomed and supported.

SH.09/21

The Harbour Master then presented his report to the Board, during which he highlighted the following:

·           The request for three Member workshops to be arranged: one for review of fees and charges; one to look at Harbour Security; and one to consider the Strategic 5 Year Business Plan. 

·           The increasing instances of Covid-19 in the Harbour team.  The Harbour Master thanked the Board for its continued support.

·           The crane had passed its lifting inspection by Allianz on the 15^th June 2021, with the first tranche of staff training to be held next week, and the second tranche booked in for October.

·           Although staff training had been impacted by Covid, one staff member had excelled on his hydraulics course, and engineering tickets and welding courses booked.

·           Trinity House had performed an audit and had returned a clean bill of health for the Harbour.

·           Now that the build contract had been signed, the commercial units and workshops were on schedule for a completion date of Easter 2022.  It was confirmed that units would be rented through a formal tendering process.

During the ensuing discussions, the following points were made:

·           The fees and charges workshop would be held on 16^th August.

·           The morning of 15^th November 2021 would be used for one of the two remaining workshops.

·           The Strategic 5 Year Business Plan should be a rolling document reviewed and updated annually

·           Before the Harbour Security workshop, the Harbour Master would compare harbour crime statistics with similar harbours, eg Fowey and Dartmouth.

·           The Harbour Security workshop would be attended by Ms Jones, Messrs Owen, Plant, Shipperley, and Stewart.

·           The Chairman, the Harbour Master, and the Director of Place and Enterprise for South Hams District Council would meet to discuss the reporting of safety Performance Indicators and would bring options to the next Board meeting to be held on 20 September 2021.

It was then

RESOLVED

1.      That the content of the Harbour Master’s report be noted and endorsed;

2.      That the payment of on-call payments to the Harbour Master and Assistant Harbour Masters from 1 April 2021 be supported, with the proposed on-call payments being funded from the General (Revenue Account) Reserve in 2021/22 and built into the base budget for 2022/23 onwards.

3.      That a Working Group be formed to prepare for the Harbour Security procurement.

4.      That a separate workshop session be held to form the basis of the next 5-year Strategic Business Plan.

5.      That the proposed Fees and Charges workshop be scheduled to be held on Monday, 16 August 2021.