Archived decisions

Contact: Richard Exley, tel: 01489 576387

1. Summary

1.1 This report summarises the activities and events on the river from June 2002 to date. The report also briefs Members of progress with various projects being undertaken and introduces additional projects to be initiated before June 2003.

2. Report

2.1 The river has been patrolled daily during daylight hours by the duty staff with a winter routine instigated from 13 September, that is from 0700 to 1830 hours daily, with additional staff available afloat for the popular Hamble River Winter Series every Sunday from 13 October.

2.2 Following the resignation, in September, of the member of staff with responsibility for the allocation and administration of the Crown Estate moorings, the opportunity was taken to re-task existing and replacement staff to achieve more effective deployment of two of the four patrol staff during the winter months, assisting with the allocation and administration of the moorings and management of the waiting list. These changes now also comply fully with a recommendation of the County Council's Audit team with reference to the raising of invoices and receipt of monies.

2.3 Harbour staff have responded to a number of incidents throughout the period, including personal dispute, attempted suicide and engine fires. A constant theme throughout all the `Incident Reports' submitted by the Watch Keepers is one of disrespect and aggression towards the staff, often as a front to ignorance of bye-laws and collision regulations. Staff have raised this on a number of occasions and there is consideration of appropriate `anger-management' training, in addition to courses now being organised for the collection of evidence and enforcement. Also of growing concern is the ongoing conflict on the common use of water space by a number of individuals and organisations, and a stated intolerance of other alternative water-borne activities and sports.

2.4 A table of incidents, required to build an effective and informative database as required by the Port Marine Safety Code, is attached as Appendix 1 for information. Extracts from the November Monthly Update issued by the British Ports Association on Harbour Byelaws and the Queen's Speech is attached as Appendix 2.

2.5 In November the Authority achieved a successful prosecution under the byelaws following the unreported collision and damage of a navigation mark by a sailing vessel. The Skipper was fined the maximum for a first offence under the bye-laws, together with full costs. Costs to repair the mark are being recovered from the plaintiff's insurance company. Two further prosecutions are pending and the results of both hearings will be reported.

3. Current and Proposed Projects or Initiatives

Oil Spill Contingency Plan

3.1 The project to review the location, deployment and mooring of the boom for the Oil Spill Contingency Plan is now complete. Serious consideration was given to the positioning of a boom outside the river to intercept and divert any spillage away from the river entrance. However, as an unproven technique, it was considered prudent to continue to deploy the existing boom, and indeed has been agreed that in the case of significant pollution additional booming may be required by individual Marina Operators, together with the Environment Agency's own plans to boom sensitive marshlands and areas of scientific interest. A spillage from the M27 is still considered to be the most significant risk at this time and an exercise was undertaken earlier this year by the MCA in response to the risk and as a Local Government response training exercise.

3.2 The boom has now been surveyed, measured and maintained from existing budgets. It should be noted that a deployment exercise will be required within the next year and appropriate funds allocated to cover additional Tier 2 contractor costs.

Municipal Ports Review

3.3 As previously reported, this review by the Department for Transport (DfT) was delayed by the redeployment of civil servants in response to the events of 11 September 2001. Staff have now resumed the process of implementing the Trusts Ports Review, and on completion will initiate the Municipal Ports Review. It is hoped that this Review, with the experience gained in developing and implementing the Trusts Ports Review, can be achieved in the next year. Relevant data to support the Review has been collected and collated by the British Ports Association to expedite this report.

3.4 An additional review of the enforcement and future of the bye-laws and other relevant legislation has also been implemented by the DfT. The Designated Person, Captain Capon, has been asked to advise the working group and may wish to brief Members on the terms of reference of this group.

Bursledon, A27 Road Bridge Repairs

3.5 Urgent repairs are now required to the concrete and structure of Bursledon Bridge, with works, mostly to the underside of the bridge, due to commence in February 2003 for some five months. Harbour staff have been closely involved in this project, liasing between the County Council's departments and affected boatyards and users. A full assessment of the works has been undertaken and method statements developed to minimise impact on the river environs and river and road traffic. The two side arches will be scaffolded and screened throughout the period, the centre arch, however, will be undertaken by an underbridge unit where possible. A timetable of tidally-restricted access windows has been agreed and relevant Notices will be posted and advertised in the near future.

3.6 The opportunity has also been taken to address, in conjunction with the Police, the problems of youths diving from the structure, and it is proposed to erect substantial palisade fences on either side of the river to deter swimming and prevent access to and from the water. Drawings of the proposals will be displayed before the meeting for Members' information.

Dredging Plan

3.7 Full funding has now been agreed in principle with the majority of marinas and boatyards on the river, and a comprehensive Dredging Plan initiated, as set out in the report of the Harbour Master to the last meeting. This report will also consider the potential hydraulic effects on the river of a number of future options for moorings' layouts, as set out in the objectives for the Strategic Mooring Plan, taking into account the considered anticipated planning application by a number of operators to redevelop or replace existing pontoon systems.

Administration for the Crown Estate

3.8 The Harbour Authority continues to administer the 600 moorings licensed to individuals, and is currently collecting fees for the Mooring Year 2003 and allocating moorings as they are surrendered and become available. The revised Waiting List is proving effective to administer, but as a result of the Moorings Consultation at the Boat Show, the list has increased now from some 463 to 633, although it should be noted that only some 45% have indicated a requirement for early allocation in 2003. This list will be reviewed in the new year as a result of the pending renewal phase.

3.9 The Crown Estate has now advertised its proposed charges for the next three years with a 5% annual uplift in mooring lease costs.

Closed Circuit Television

3.10 Following an extended period of trials of both cameras and communication equipment, a tender for the procurement, installation, training and maintenance is now being compiled, with the assistance of the County Council's specialist staff, and will be advertised in the near future.

Recommendation

That the report be noted.

7634/RE

APPENDIX 2

The following are extracts from the November Monthly Update issued by the British Ports Association which Members may find informative.

British

Ports

Association

29 November 2002

Cyclo BPA/242/02

To: All Members

2. HARBOUR BYELAWS

Those members who have lodged harbour byelaws with the DfT for approval and have heard little or nothing subsequently may be able to take some comfort from a meeting we held with the DfT on 12 November. This looked at the question of offences in harbour waters and the means available to deal with them. One of the first conclusions of the meeting was that powers potentially available under a combination of the Collision Regulations and General Powers of Direction (the latter only available to some ports) could reduce the need for more extensive byelaws because of possible overlap. One of the first tasks therefore will be to take one or two examples to test out this approach. Then there is the related question of the extent of General Direction Powers - some of these are quite old and they all seem to vary in scope. The DfT have been wanting to grant such powers to all ports through new legislation for some time, but a crowded legislative agenda has ruled this out.

The meeting also considered prosecution policies, not only in connection with who does what in terms of mounting prosecutions - for example, the respective roles of the police, the MCA and the harbour authority - but also about the way in which prosecutions can best succeed. There seem to be widely varying approaches between ports, with some expecting to bring about a certain number of prosecutions each year and others having a virtual "no prosecution" policy. It was agreed that the DfT and the MCA should look at the possibility of providing guidance and training for harbour authorities on prosecution techniques.

The DfT acknowledged that byelaws generally cause ports a great deal of work which in turn puts everybody off keeping them up to date; that DfT is getting seriously behind with harbour byelaws confirmations and this represents a burden on their casework section (the same section which is trying to deal with trust port HROs); and that harbour authorities find prosecuting byelaws in the main frustrating work - often with little support from the courts - and the whole situation now needs a shake up.

The next stages will be a further paper from the DfT and a follow up meeting at the end of January. Those members with draft byelaws lodged with the DfT might like to wait for the results of this exercise before taking things further - they might also like to conduct an internal review of the extent to which their General Direction Powers (if available) and the Collision Regulations might impact on their own byelaws.

6. QUEEN'S SPEECH

This year's Queen's Speech is most notable for what it does not contain. Firstly, the "Corporate Killing" legislation, on which we have been working with PSS, has been dropped but there is no sign of any long promised changes to the 1987 Pilotage Act or, most importantly, any change which would introduce defences into the Water Resources Act of the type contained in the Merchant Shipping Regulations. This relates to the grounding of the Sea Empress and the subsequent prosecution under the Act. The government's policy is that the Water Resources Act should be amended but clearly it is not high on the government's overall legislative agenda. Separately, we believe that regulations on alcohol level in ships' crews will be introduced, as will measures on speeding up planning consents, but no details on this are available yet.