Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Director of Culture, Communities and Business Services with an overview of the asset register.

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Culture, Communities and Business Services with an overview of the asset register

The Director noted that this report would be important in deciding future Harbour fares and dues and noted the commitment to having a healthy fund to meeting needs  and upkeep.

The Director noted that assets were healthy and would not require wholesale replacement all at once and noted that in-house upkeep was ongoing and was helping team keep abreast of state of assets.

The Director expressed confidence that assets would be healthy for next 10-15 years.

A member expressed view that asset replacement reserve should be raised from the current £35,000. The Director replied that current rate had worked well for last 10 years and had been set due to need to lower harbour fees. 

Another member expressed regarding raising reserve amount that perhaps a compromise amount should be reached by tying it to inflation, so it would not have to be suddenly increased a significant amount in later years. The Director reaffirmed the need to reassess soon once markets have resettled. The Chairman noted that regarding tying it to inflation an issue existed regarding which inflationary figure would be used.

A concern was raised regarding the current 4 year replacement cycle on engines for motorboats and why it was only 4 years. The Director replied that many modern engines had relatively short lifespans even when high quality, however the towing service they provided more than covered the cost of replacement. The Director expressed view that by setting replacement cycle at 4 years a balance between engine reliability and cost had been reached.

A member noted possibility for leasing engines as opposed to outright buying them. The Director replied that this was not practical, due to limited leasing market and due to heavy nature of work engines were involved in. The Committee noted that due to get money on engines back at end of cycle, the overall difference cost wise is very small.

RESOLVED:

That the River Hamble Harbour Management Committee recommend to the Board that this report be taken into account alongside the annual statutory accounts in setting Harbour Dues for 2021/22 at the June Board meeting.