Minutes of the meeting of the Commissioners held on Monday 13 th March 2017 at 2.00pm in the Royal Lymington Yacht Club, Bath Road, Lymington.

Transcription

1 Minutes of the meeting of the Commissioners held on Monday 13 th March 2017 at 2.00pm in the Royal Lymington Yacht Club, Bath Road, Lymington. Present: Geoff Holmes (Chairman) (GWH), Richard Jenner (Vice Chairman) (RJ), Paul Martin (PMa), Bob Mitchell (BMi), Bill Peach (BP), Tim Harford (TH), Jane Challener (JC) Geoff Stokes (GS), Peter Mills (PM) Officers present: Ryan Willegers (Harbour Master & Chief Executive) (RW), Sarah Maynard (Administrator) (SM) In Attendance: Andrew Wilkes (Chairman LHAG) 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE 1.1 Andrew Richards (AR) 2. DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS 2.1 PMa declared an interest for agenda item MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING 3.1 The minutes of the meeting of the 16 th January 2017 were approved with an amendment to Agenda Item 13.3 which was proposed by PMa and not PM. 4. MATTERS ARISING 4.1 Agenda Item 8.1 (PMSC Interim Review) RW reported that on the 9 th February letters were sent to both Marinas drawing their attention to the new Port Marine Safety Code and the strong recommendation that organisations or facilities which are not a statutory harbour authority should seek to comply with the Code through the adoption of a proportionate safety management system based on risk assessment. Both had agreed to send their persons responsible for safety to meet with RW to discuss the new requirements with a view to ascertain what if any additional actions are required for them to comply. An initial meeting with the representative from Lymington Yacht Haven was held on the 8 th March. RW reported that a Commissioners Port Marine Safety Code briefing would be held on the 5 th April (PMSC) - Mr Nicholson (Designated Person) will attend the workshop day on the 5 th April to provide a short briefing on the Commissioners responsibilities under the PMSC and to answer any questions. Mr Nicholson is scheduled to present at P a g e

2 4.2 Agenda Item 11.1 (Commercial Fishermen Safety Guidance) RW reported that a letter has been sent to commercial fishermen making them aware that the MCA Safety Guidance on all aspects of commercial fishing together with RNLI safety guidance on wearing PFD s was now available on the LHC website. 5. COMMISSIONERS 5.1 At the previous meeting Commissioners were invited to put their names forward for the position of Vice Chairman with effect from the 31 st May The vacancy will arise if, as anticipated, RJ is appointed Chairman on the retirement of GWH. Both appointments will be voted on in the May meeting. PM noted that the appointment of one of the newer Commissioners with a reasonable amount of time left to serve would be preferable. However, in the event that prospective candidates might prefer to have a little more time to get up to speed with Commissioners business, he was prepared to put himself forward to fill the position until his retirement on the 1 st November if it was considered helpful. GWH thanked PM for this helpful suggestion. TH indicated that RJ had asked him if he might be interested. TH indicated that he was flattered to have been asked given the other deserving candidates around the table and confirmed that he would be prepared to put himself forward and dedicate the extra time if the Commissioners were in support. TH also welcomed PM s suggestion to facilitate a bit more time to get up to speed. Appointments to both positions will be made in the May meeting. 6. LYMINGTON HARBOUR ADVISORY GROUP (LHAG) 6.1 AW reported that he had nothing to report other than what was in RW s Board Report. LHAG were due to meet the following day. GWH, RJ and RW would attend at the invitation of LHAG. 6.2 AW asked if it would be in order to brief LHAG members about the Commissioners workshop day and ask them if there were any matters which they felt the Commissioners should be giving consideration too. AW would bring these forward to the meeting. GWH confirmed this was a good idea. 6.3 GWH indicated that if Cllr Michael White was present it may be opportune to talk about the Lymington Local Plan and how that might relate to LHC s proposals to redevelop Town Quay moorings and potentially improve the Quay as a tourist destination. This also related to NFDC s potential redevelopment of the public toilet and shower block. 7. OFFICERS REPORTS 7.1 Harbour Masters Report - Questions were invited on the items within the report that were not listed for consideration as an agenda item. There were no questions arising. 7.2 Operations Manager Report Questions were invited on the items within the report. There were no questions arising. 2 P a g e

3 7.3 Treasurers Report Questions were invited on the items within the report. GWH noted that on the casual revenue report YTD income between 2014/15 and 2016/17 had grown significantly (22.4%) when compared with the other visitor locations and wondered what conclusions could be drawn from this. RW indicated this reinforced the conclusions of previous analysis which showed that where bookable walk ashore capacity (Dan Bran & HM Pontoon) was available to coincide with demand then there was a strong trend of volume and revenue growth. RW observed that although the Town Quay pontoon was in the best location and consequently had the highest utilisation rates, because it was often capacity constrained during higher demand periods the opportunities for volume growth were limited. The Town Quay buoys had shown a long term trend of slow decline albeit interspersed with the occasion better year coinciding with prolonged good weather. A further factor in the overall improvement in visitor numbers and revenue was the better summer weather in 2015 and GWH observed that the slipway revenues at circa 30k per annum were higher than he had recollected. PM observed that although revenues overall were up during July and August, they were likely to have been lower than they could have been because of the lack of car parking available due to the success of Lymington Sea Water Baths. RW agreed and said this had previously been identified. GWH asked if it was possible to guess how much business had been lost. RW indicated it was not. While it was possible to analyse year on year variations for day tickets separately from the annual permits, it was only possible to identify sales, not missed sales. GWH asked when works to replace the slipway concrete were due to take place. RW indicated that within the 5 year budget approved by the Commissioners at their October meeting a budget provision had been made for 2021/22. This was two years after the forecast timeline for the Town Quay proposals should they proceed. GWH noted that after 2014/15, temporary mooring income had fallen in each of the subsequent years and in 2016/17 was circa 20k down over 2014/15 levels due to the impact of reduced berth availability because of the larger winter dredging programmes. TH asked whether there was capacity utilisation information available and asked whether the Commissioners could be confident that the explanation was lower berth availability. RW indicated that there was a high degree of certainty. In 2014/15 the East Bank area was dredged which meant that up to 55 small boats needed relocating. In 2015/16 with the Dan Bran area this increased to 86 large boats and in 2016/17 the Fortuna Area meant that up to 193 medium sized boats were displaced. When looking at temporary mooring revenue on a monthly basis it was readily apparent that there is a direct correlation between dredging campaign size and winter revenues. A further indicator of this is that for the six summer months (when there was no dredging influence) there had been a year on year increase overall. RW explained that there were other factors that had an influence such as mooring compatibility, the number of resident boats taken out of the water, and the number of temporary mooring applications but the principle driver in winter is the size of the dredging campaign. RW also explained that in relation to visitor mooring utilisation rates, analysis was available in the Baseline Document that supported the strategic plan and this gets updated periodically. RJ asked what the status was with annual invoices being paid and noted that in the Treasurers report there were 31 invoices outstanding at the 7 th March SM indicated that from a conversation she had overheard between the Operations Manager and Treasurer earlier in the day she understood the number to be lower than that. RW confirmed that the agreed debt collection processes were being followed and that persons who had not made payment would receive a letter notifying them that their 3 P a g e

4 mooring licence would not be renewed from the 1 st April. PM indicated it would be interesting to understand if any of those who are still outstanding are persistent offenders. 8.0 SAFETY & PORT MARINE SAFETY CODE (PMSC) 8.1 LHC Safety Meeting - A scheduled four monthly safety review meeting was held on the 27 th January Questions were invited on the minute of the meeting and incident review report for GWH noted that incident levels remained low and on a par with GWH noted that the Safety Committee had declined a request from the RLymYC to vary their sailing instructions to allow XOD s to race across the channel on peak dates and commented on the safety rationale behind LHC s decision. RW explained that for the reasons set out in the Safety Committee minutes the proposals were considered to increase risk and were therefore declined. RLymYC had accepted the reasons behind the decision. GWH indicated that there was a perception amongst some members of the sailing community that the Commissioners wanted to ban racing in the river and nothing could be further from the truth. It was therefore important to ensure that where decisions are made, a proper explanation is given for the setting out the safety grounds behind it as was the case on this occasion. 8.2 River Users Safety Meeting RW reported that a River Users Safety meeting was scheduled for the 17 th March. Representatives from Lymington Harbour Commissioners, Lymington Harbour Advisory Group, Lymington Town Sailing Club, Royal Lymington Yacht Club, Lymington Amateur Rowing Club and Wightlink will be in attendance. 8.3 PMSC Compliance Audit RW reported that a formal external audit of LHC s Safety Management System will be undertaken by the Designated Person on the 19 th April in order to verify and report to the Commissioners on LHC s compliance with the Port Marine Safety Code. 8.4 Trinity House Inspection of Aids to Navigation RW reported that on the 6 th February an Inspector from Trinity House inspected the local aids to navigation under the management of Lymington Harbour Commissioners. The audit found them to be in good and efficient order and in accordance with the charted locations and characteristics approved by Trinity House. 9. AOB 9.1 Vandalism of Town Quay Showers - RW drew attention to his Board report setting out details on a spate of vandalism (4 occasions) in recent weeks culminating in the closure of the facility on safety grounds on the morning of Sunday 5 th March 2017 pending repair works being undertaken. All instances had been reported to the Police and confirmation had been received that they are following a possible lead captured on NFDC CCTV surveillance. The Police had also advised that the Town Quay would be incorporated into their evening patrols where possible. RW indicated that there was evidence of the door being forced to gain entry and that an additional locking mechanism had subsequently been fitted. RW advised that he was progressing the installation of CCTV to directly cover the entrance to help aid the identification of culprits in the event of future occurrences. RW indicated that he was confident this could be achieved within the existing 2017/18 budget provision to install CCTV to monitor the Town Quay and Dan Bran visitor mooring areas. The showers were reopened after three days following repairs being completed. 4 P a g e

5 GWH asked if it had happened before. RW indicated that there had been the occasional experience where a lower level of damage had been found but not on the same scale. PM asked if it was just LHC s showers which had been vandalised or whether the public toilets were also affected. RW was unaware of the extent of damage caused elsewhere but understood that the disabled toilet facility door had been damaged. PM asked whether insurance would cover the damage. RW advised that NFDC was responsible for insuring the building fabric but the internal fixtures and fittings within the shower area were LHC s responsibility. RW did not yet have a cost for effecting the internal repairs but it was likely to be below LHC s insurance deductible. JC indicated that an acquaintance of hers who lives nearby had told her there were often youths hanging around within the baby change facility. BP highlighted that while it was right to take preventative and deterrent actions, it was important not to make too much of the recent problem as adverse PR may affect wrongly people s perception of the attractiveness and safety of the Town Quay as a destination. 10. AOB 10.1 There was no other business. 11. DATE OF NEXT MEETING 11.1 The next meeting is scheduled for Monday 15 th May 2017 at the Lymington Town Sailing Club 5 P a g e