Harbour Consultative Meeting 28 October 2014
My personal notes on the meeting are as follows:
- Barry Davies (BD) Maritime Officer, Gwynedd Council, addressed the meeting and confirmed that all Harbour and Hafan fees would increase by 1% for the year 2015/16. There would be no change after review in the banding LOA charging for annual berth holders. He did say that the Council may have identified a grant to help with marketing for the Harbour and Hafan.
- BD presented Harbour/Hafan financial and statistical papers which showed the following.
- There was again a drop in the annual berthing occupation for both Harbour and Hafan although the recent years decline appears to be levelling out. There are now 293 occupied berths down from 302 last year. All the reduction is due to the loss of power boats. Sailing boats have increased slightly.
- Despite the low occupancy in the Hafan, it still managed to produce profits for the council of £500K.
- BD expected a dredge of the entrance would be necessary around Easter following the winter gales. Also, there is a possibility for the need to sledge an area opposite the fuel pontoon.
- The PMBHA was asked to provide items for inclusion in the agenda which we did. However, they were not included in the HCC agenda but were produced in a loose form prior to the meeting (they might not feature in the official documentation shown on the Gwynedd website). PMBHA is concerned that its agenda items were not included and will be taking up the matter in due course.
- BD produced, without notice, several papers on the Hafan fuel issue which was discussed at some length. The Chairman of the meeting requested that the PMBHA dropped their concerns and move on. David Dewsbury said that the matter was a safety issue and will continue to resolve matters.
David Dewsbury
Chairman PMBHA