Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

All Members were present and no apologies were noted.

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 Personal interest in a matter being considered at the meeting they considered whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 5 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 as a member of the RAF YA, as a midstream mooring holder and a member of the Royal Yachting Association.

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting of the Board held on 12 January.

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 January were agreed as a correct record.

To receive any deputations notified under Standing Order 12.

There were no deputations.

To receive any announcements the Chairman may wish to make.

The Chairman referred to the resignation in March of Sean Woodward as a county councillor and Board members joined him in passing on their thanks for his services as Chairman of the Harbour Board from 2021.  The County Council in May was expected to update the Harbour Board’s membership.

He confirmed that he had met with the Harbour Master and received a handover of the Duty Holder role.

He noted that, as set out in its draft minutes, the Management Committee was also passing on its thanks to Hugh Lumby as its Chairman from 2021 and to Sean Woodward for many years’ service before that.

To receive the draft minutes of the meeting of the River Hamble Harbour Management Committee held on 22 March.

The Board received and noted the draft minutes of the River Hamble Harbour Management Committee held on 22 March.

To record formally RHHA patrol operations and inform the Duty Holder of significant events and trends having a bearing on the Marine Safety Management System.

The Board received a report summarising the incidents and events which have taken place in the Harbour and addresses any issues currently under consideration by the Harbour Master.  The supplementary report detailing incidents and events up to the end of March.  There were no matters to raise concerning the exceptional spring tide this week.

The Harbour Master highlighted the recent successful inspection by Trinity House and clarified a point around the categorisation of incidents in the figures in the report which was due to re-attendance. There was not considered to be a significant reduction in the amount of speeding on the river. David Jobson reflected that the incident log was an indicator of the unseen effort and activity of the harbour management. 

Nikki Hiorns referenced an ongoing incident relating to potentially unauthorised development on the Eastleigh side of the river.

David Jobson referred to the incident in late March in the Supplementary report and expressed concern about the risk assessments applied by private contractors. 

It was noted that the Harbour Board sought regular assurances that risk assessments were in place but did not routinely review the content.  It was agreed that in the interests of transparency the incident would be reviewed and reported on as necessary individually.

The River Hamble Harbour Board supported the contents of the report.

To summarise activities relating to the River Hamble Harbour Authority’s (RHHA) environmental management of the Hamble Estuary between December 2023 and February 2024.

The Board received a report summarising activities relating to the River Hamble Harbour Authority’s (RHHA) environmental management of the Hamble Estuary between December 2023 and February 2024.

Alison Fowler highlighted the recent purchase of new oil containment booms; training was provided on dealing with oil spills every three years.

There continued to be concern about he level of sewage discharge into the river and the RHHA signposted the public to the Environment Agency and Southern Water’s website for information.  The RHHMC was aiming to have a presentation from Southern Water at its 14 June meeting.  There were thought to be around a dozen house boats across two locations on the river with varying arrangements for sewage treatment and discharge.

There had been a good meeting of the Hamble Estuary Partnership in February and the RHHB continued to support the Local Nature Recovery Strategy.

The River Hamble Harbour Board noted and supported the report.

To convey the condition of essential operational assets, indicate levels of associated maintenance expenditure and judge whether the Asset Replacement Reserve (ARR) is being maintained at an adequate level.

The Board received a report to convey the condition of essential operational assets, indicate levels of associated maintenance expenditure and judge whether the Asset Replacement Reserve (ARR) is being maintained at an adequate level.

It was noted that the overall aim was for the Harbour Board to accumulate balances from harbour dues to enable it to plan to replace assets over time and respond to unexpected events.  The planning took account of the effect of inflation.  It was observed that the projected balance dropped to close to the minimum (which itself should be index-linked) nine years out. 

The Harbour Master undertook to bring a further paper to the Board in the autumn setting out longer term projections through to 2050.

The River Hamble Harbour Board approved:

a. That the report be taken into account alongside the annual statutory

accounts in setting Harbour Dues for 2024/25 at the June Board meeting;

b. The contribution from Revenue to the Replacement Reserve should

remain as planned at £42,000 in 2024/25 and continued note be taken of the

need for frequency and amount of potential future increases.

To set out the key issues which it is anticipated will appear on the River Hamble Harbour Management Committee and Harbour Board agendas in the forthcoming months.

The Board reviewed and approved the Forward Plan 2024.

Two additions arose from the meeting:

·         March 2024 incident report

·         Asset register review to 2050