Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillor House.

All Members who believe they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting must declare that interest and, having regard to Part 3 Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members’ Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code. Furthermore all Members with a Personal Interest in a matter being considered at the meeting should consider, having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 4 of the Code, whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 5 of the Code, consider whether it is appropriate to leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter considered at the meeting they must declare that interest at the time of the relevant debate and, having regard to the circumstances described in Part 3, Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members' Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code. Furthermore Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Non-Pecuniary interest in a matter being considered at the meeting they considered whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 2 of the Code, considered whether it was appropriate to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

David Jobson declared personal interests including memberships of the Royal Southern Yacht Club; RAF Yacht Club; Royal Yachting Association and as a midstream mooring holder. Chris Moody declared a personal interest as a member of Warsash Sailing Club.

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting held on 15 November 2019.

The minutes of the last meeting were reviewed and agreed.

To receive any deputations notified under Standing Order 12.

No deputations were received.

To receive any announcements the Chairman may wish to make.

The Chairman had no announcements to make.

To consider a report of the Director of Culture, Communities and Business Services summarising incidents and events in the Harbour and covering issues currently under consideration by the Marine Director.

The Board received a report from the Director of Culture, Communities and

Business Services summarising incidents and events in the Harbour and covering issues currently under consideration by the Marine Director.

An addendum was distributed at the meeting which outlined those events which had occurred since the publication of the papers. Collision events and the maintenance work conducted on the CCTV cameras was highlighted. It was noted that CCTV was used to take action on speeding.

The Board also heard that the Harbour Master had met with the Chairman of Hamble Parish Council to discuss the issues regarding the availability of showers. It was noted that the showers were subject to a sub-lease from Hamble Life Boat to Hamble Parish Council and liability for meterage, security and maintenance was discussed. The Board agreed that Hamble Life Boat & Hamble Parish Council had a moral obligation to make these facilities available as originally intended.

The Board also heard of work being undertaken on the RAF Yacht Club to safeguard the structural integrity and details of the new Harbour Management self service system introduced for commercial and leisure purposes.

RESOLVED: That the River Hamble Harbour Board supports the contents of the report.

To consider a report of the Director of Culture, Communities and Business Services summarising recent environmental management of the Harbour.

The Board received a report from the Director of Culture, Communities and

Business Services providing an environmental update which included the following items;

·         Oil Spill Preparedness & Response - The Board noted the details of the regular oil spill response and boom deployment exercise, required by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency. The exercise report concluded “a positive ability to respond to a pollution incident and awareness of some of the wider issues surrounding them”.

·         M27 Motorway Bridge Drainage & Pollution Risk - The Board heard that the Environment & Development Manager(EDM) has received confirmation that the work to divert the M27 Bridge deck drainage outlets will be delivered as part of the ‘Smart Motorway Works’ by March 2021.

·         Water Quality – The Board received an update of discussions on improvements that might be made to facilities in the Hamble, including pump-out provision and promotional/educational material to reduce the risk of pollution from discharges of ‘black water’ from vessel toilets.

·         Biodiversity & Enhancement Projects – An update was provided in relation to Biodiversity Projects including; Beneficial Reuse of Dredging Projects, Research by Bournemouth University and a PhD project testing the efficacy of different settlement structures.

Officers also noted that the EDM had joined the project working group of the Solent Forum’s new information hub; ‘Building Biodiversity in the Solent’, with the aim to share information to help meet future net gain requirements.

·         Partnership Working – An overview of partnership working was provided including relevant work with Hampshire County Council’s wider services, Hamble Estuary Partnership and the national Coastal Partnerships conference.

RESOLVED: That the River Hamble Harbour Board notes and supports the contents of this report.

To review a report of the Director of Culture, Communities and Business Services agreeing on adjustments to generate additional income for the Harbour Authority.

The Board received a report from the Director of Culture, Communities and

Business Services setting out options for income adjustments.

The Board noted that the options had all been approved at the previous meeting except for the dry-stacking proposal, for which a £100 flat rate had previously been proposed. It was added that operators did not object to the principle of a flat rate, it was a matter of the amount of the flat rate.

The Board noted the extent of the work that had been conducted into this issue to ensure that prices are comparable with those on the Solent. The Board also agreed that the approach needed to be understandable and so wanted to avoid multi-tiered calculations for the dry-stack charge.

Discussion was held over the amount of dry-stacking space available. It was noted that various methods might be applied to Harbour Dues calculation and that any method chosen would need to be simple and consistently applied.

The Board heard that work conducted by jointly by the Harbour Master and the Association of Marina and Boatyard Operators had suggested that around 4000 launches had been conducted over the past year.  With a launch fee of £6 and around 380 dry stack spaces, this suggested that a figure of £65 per slot might be appropriate.  The Board decided that this method was overly complex and further discussed selection of a charging option related to an average boat length of 6m, recognising that both larger and smaller vessels occupy stack spaces. It was agreed that any charge should be made annually and in advance to sustain the flexibility of the customer offer.

The recommendation of a charge of £65 per dry stack slot, less 10% was proposed. A vote was held with the following outcome;

For                  1

Against          5

The recommendation of a charge of the six metre rate per dry stack slot, less 10% was proposed. A vote was held with the following outcome;

For                  3

Against          2

Abstain          1

RESOLVED: That the River Hamble Harbour Board agrees that the following options are incorporated into next year’s budget:

(i) To apply a flat rate charge for Harbour Dues in respect of all dry-stacked vessel berths for each berth per annum, enabling a flexible launching regime and ensuring that Harbour Dues are paid in respect of launches which are not currently captured. This figure will be the six metre rate, less 10%.

(ii) To apply the following annual Harbour Authority mooring rates for permanently moored fishing vessels at Warsash:

• <8m - £1000
• >8m - <9.5m - £1100
• >9.5m - £1200

(iii) To increase daily launching charges, payable according to length overall and power as follows: 

• Under 6m and under 10hp – free;
• Under 6m and over 10hp - £5 (formerly £4);
• Over 6m and over 10hp - £8 (formerly £6).

And to increase Visitors’ Rates to the following:

• Warsash Jetty
  • Short stay (up to 4 hours):

To consider a report of the Director of Culture, Communities and Business Services to review the fees and charges for the Harbour Authority.

The Board received a report from the Director of Culture, Communities and

Business Services providing a review of fees and charges applicable to the River Hamble. It did not cover Harbour Dues for privately owned leisure vessels as that had been reviewed separately and increased by 5%.

RESOLVED: That the River Hamble Harbour Board approve the fees and charges set out within the report and to advertise them on the River Hamble website.

To consider a report of the Directors of Corporate Resources – Corporate Services and Culture, Communities and Business Services outlining the forecast outturn for 2019/20 and the forward budget for 2020/21.

The Board received a report from the Director of Culture, Communities and

Business Services setting out the River Hamble 2019/20 forecast outturn and 2020/21 forward budget.

The detailed revised budget for 2019/20, the 2019/20 outturn forecast and the proposed 2020/21 forward budget were included as appendices 1 & 2 to the report, with the reserve balance shown in appendix 3.

It was noted that the £35,000 Asset Replacement Reserve (ARR) annual transfer had been met as agreed by the Board in 2007. This was made up of the £16,000 surplus, the £16,170 balance of the Revenue Reserve along with £2,830 from the Asset Enhancement Reserve.

RESOLVED:

• That the revised budget for the 2019/20 financial year is approved by the River Hamble Harbour Board.
• That the projected outturn for the 2019/20 financial year is noted.
• That the proposed forward budget is approved by the River Hamble Harbour Board.
• That the impact of the triennial actuarial pension valuation in removing the past service payments from 2020/21, and that this could change at the next valuation, is noted.
• That the balances held within the reserves and the impact of anticipated cost pressures on the general reserve balance are noted.

To consider a report of the Director of Culture, Communities and Business Services anticipating future business items for the Committee and Harbour Board.

The Board considered the report of the Director of Culture, Communities and

Business Services with regard to the future business items for the Committee

and Harbour Board agendas.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.