Archived decisions

Contact: David Evans tel 01489 576387 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 This report summarises achievement against the River Hamble Harbour Authority Business Plan covering the period April 2007 to March 2008.

2. Recommendation

2.1 That this report be noted

3. Achievements

3.1 The River Hamble Harbour Authority Business Plan for the period 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008 was approved by the Harbour Board on 23 March 2007. It contained a total of 16 objectives, covering some 63 individual actions. Comments on the extent to which these actions have been completed are in the Appendix to this report.

4. Impact Assessments

4.1 All the services provided by the River Hamble Harbour Authority have been the subject of an Equalities Impact Assessment.

5. Conclusion

5.1 The period from 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008 has been largely successful for the Harbour Authority. However, two major issues: the implementation of the governance review recommendations and finding an acceptable method of agreeing, measuring and monitoring the carrying capacity of the River, still require further work.

APPENDIX

Comments on Actions

The objectives and actions from the 2007 - 2008 Business Plan are set out below.

Comments are shown in bold italics - actions where there is no comment indicates

that the action has been completed . Paragraph numbers refer to those in the original

Business Plan.

5.1 Governance

The Harbour Authority is committed to governing the River Hamble in compliance with the Department for Transport's `Municipal Ports Review' by:

(i) providing assistance and advice to the independent governance review process, and implementing the recommendations as and when approved by the County Council. The recommendations arising from the Royal Haskoning UK Ltd review of governance have not yet been approved by the County Council. However, a great deal of work has been done throughout the year in terms of agreeing the Management Committee and Harbour Board responses to the review recommendations.

5.2 Navigational Safety

The Harbour Authority is committed to making the Port Marine Safety Code the central pillar of everything which the Harbour Authority and its staff does to ensure the safety of all those who use and work in the harbour by:

(i) maintaining and, where appropriate, updating navigational marks and

lights to facilitate safe navigation in the harbour and its approaches, and safeguard the navigational access to and from the harbour. This action continues, with the Harbour Authority working closely with Trinity House to ensure that navigation marks and lights are up to date and as effective as possible.

(ii) monitoring the activities of all those who use the harbour and ensuring that the law and bye-laws are enforced when appropriate, encouraging people to use the River safely and responsibly;

(iii) conducting regular (bi-annual) independent audits of the safety regime on the River. Both independent audits of the Safety Management System conducted during the year have achieved satisfactory results.

(iv) administering the issue of commercial boat and boatman's licences on behalf of Eastleigh and Fareham Borough Councils;

(v) enhancing the availability and quality of safety information for River users by use of publications, notice boards and signs. The Harbour Authority continues to support the production of the annual Hamble Directory which includes safety information;

(vi) seeking every opportunity to improve and enhance safety by ensuring that all risks are identified and managed to `as low as reasonably practicable'; and

(vii) encouraging the Department for Transport to seek ministerial approval for Bye-Law making powers for the River to be delegated to the Harbour Authority and ensuring that Bye-Laws are up-to-date and fit for purpose. Although this action is not yet complete, the matter is addressed in the recently published draft Marine Navigation Bill, which is a significant step in the right direction.

5.3 Environment

The Harbour Authority is committed to discharge its responsibilities under the Habitats Regulations and all other relevant environmental legislation through conserving the environment and maintaining approved pollution prevention and nature conservation measures by:

(i) managing, maintaining and, where possible, enhancing the environment of the River, in accordance with current environmental legislation;

(ii) continuing statutory tasks for the stewardship and management of the environment;

(iii) maintaining an oil spill response plan and appropriate Tier 1 (immediate response) equipment. A major oil spill response exercise was carried out in September 2007.

(iv) maintaining a port waste management plan and providing the appropriate reception and disposal facilities. The Harbour Authority has embarked on a major re-cycling initiative, undertaken jointly with local authorities, marinas and boatyards and the Green Blue, and;

(v) identifying environmental research opportunities and providing support and funding in appropriate cases. No suitable projects were identified during the year.

5.4 Public Relations and Communication

The Harbour Authority wishes to enhance the public perception of the Harbour Authority through building and maintaining the confidence of river users and other interested parties by informing them of progress and achievements by:

(i) working to improve relations with River user groups, yacht clubs and individuals by participation in meetings, provision of information and personal contact;

(ii) informing River users and other interested parties about the Harbour Authority's aspirations, strategic planning, financial management and business planning by publishing information whenever possible. The Harbour Authority website has been completely updated and now provides access to all relevant information and documents.

(iii) improving the quality and quantity of information available to River users and other members of the public about the activities of the Harbour Authority by means of press releases, input to the River Hamble Directory and greater use of the web-site and the Notices to River Users distribution list; and

(iv) improving the quality and corporate image of signs and notices on the River by a rolling programme of replacement and improvement. All major signs have been updated with a standard corporate image.

5.5 The Crown Estate

The Harbour Authority is committed to maintaining a productive relationship with the Crown Estate and its agents by:

(i) fulfilling the terms of the Management Agreement with the Crown Estate;

(ii) conducting regular formal and informal meetings to monitor performance;

(iii) working with the Crown Estate to ensure appropriate investment in its mooring assets and the River as a whole. A new continuous pontoon on the site of the previous visitor's piles has provided additional moorings for those on the waiting list; and

(iv) working with the Crown Estate to provide and maintain an appropriate range of mooring types and prices.

5.6 Moorings

The Harbour Authority will continue to manage the mid-stream moorings efficiently and fairly, on behalf of the Crown Estate, by:

(i) managing the moorings waiting list on behalf of the Crown Estate;

(ii) managing sub-let moorings on behalf of the Crown Estate;

(iii) renegotiating the Management Agreement with the Crown Estate. This has been successfully renegotiated for a further five year term.

(iv) collecting Mooring Licence fees;

(v) managing mooring holders affected by mooring maintenance work; and

(vi) dealing with customer questions and complaints.

5.7 Climate Change

The Harbour Authority is committed to being pro-active in identifying the impact of climate change on the River by:

(i) conducting routine monitoring of the river for effects attributable to sea level rise. An unusually high tide (0.9 metres over prediction) occurred in March 2008 and provide an interesting indication of the possible effects of future sea level rise; and

(ii) ensuring that all new plans, policies and projects take account of the possible longer-term impacts of climate change.

5.8 Planning and Consents

The Harbour Authority is committed to planning for the future of the River Hamble and providing a clear and effective works consent process as the primary decision-making authority on matters affecting safety and ease of navigation in the harbour by:

(i) ensuring that all eligible developments and structures are subject to the works consent process and dealt with in the stipulated timescale;

(ii) ensuring that applications for works consent are considered in accordance with the Port Marine Safety Code, appropriate environmental legislation and the adopted policies of the Harbour Authority;

(iii) working towards an acceptable method for agreeing, measuring and monitoring the carrying capacity of the River. Work on this action continues but its satisfactory achievement is still some way off;

(iv) heeding the advice and guidance contained in other plans, such as the River Hamble Estuary Management Plan, the Hampshire County Structure Plan (1996-2011) and the `Strategic Principles', ensuring that the latter are up-to-date and fit for purpose;

(v) working with appropriate local authorities to ensure that new Local Development Frameworks take full account of the unique circumstances of River;

(vi) assisting the County Council and other local authorities to develop plans for car and trailer parking adjacent to the River. This action has recently resulted in some relaxations and improvements to the arrangements for trailer parking at Warsash.

(vii) seeking to enhance the Harbour Authority's role and influence in the economic and tourist development of the River, in conjunction with local authorities, Tourism South East and Marine South East;

(viii) encouraging the appropriate protection of archaeological and historic assets of the River Hamble by regular consultation and close co-operation with the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology;

(ix) encouraging, facilitating and supporting the work of the Hamble Estuary Partnership; and

(x) learning more about the needs of local businesses which support River users and rely on the River for their trade, by attending meetings of the River Hamble Marina and Boatyard Operators' Association.

5.9 Consultation

The Harbour Authority is committed to listening to ideas and suggestions put forward by River users and other interested parties and to consulting with them when appropriate, by:

(i) arranging an Annual Forum at which River users and other interested parties can express their views and opinions;

(ii) accepting deputations, in person or in writing, at meetings of the Harbour Board and Management Committee which are held in public;

(iii) ensuring that Members of the Harbour Board and Management Committee are readily accessible to the public; and

(iv) welcoming personal visits and telephone calls to the Harbour Office to discuss specific issues and concerns.

5.10 Visitors

The Harbour Authority will encourage the provision of appropriate facilities for visiting yachtsmen, both afloat and ashore, and manage them as efficiently as possible.

(i) encouraging visiting yachtsmen into the River and providing safe, fairly priced berthing facilities for them by publicising through leaflets, on the internet and through Sail South East;

(ii) providing assistance and local information to visitors and collecting appropriate visitor fees; and

(iii) investigating the options for enhancing visitor facilities at Hamble. Some progress has been made in conjunction with Hamble Parish Council.

5.11 Policy

The Harbour Authority will ensure whenever possible that its views are taken into account when future Government policies on ports, harbours and the marine environment are under consideration, by:

(i) responding to all relevant Government consultations. The Harbour Authority has responded to consultations on the Marine Bill.

(ii) attending appropriate conferences, working groups and meetings at the regional and national level. The Marine Director, Harbour Master and Assistant Harbour Master (Environment) have attended a number of events and meetings during the year, covering matters such as the Water Framework Directive, the PUSH Green Infrastructure initiative and various aspects of marine legislation. The Marine Director and Harbour Master attend relevant working groups administered by the British Ports Association.

5.12 Future Trends

The Harbour Authority will respond appropriately to new trends in recreational boating, for example: larger boats, RIBs, jet-skis and dry-sailing by:

(i) monitoring and reporting on trends in recreational boating, and proposing appropriate mechanisms to respond to them.

5.13 Financial

The Harbour Authority is committed to maintaining and managing the harbour cost-effectively and within the available resources by:

(i) operating within the agreed annual budget, controlling expenditure to ensure that it remains within income generation capacity;

(ii) managing and maintaining and, where necessary, replacing the Harbour Authority's existing estate, assets and facilities;

(iii) refining procedures to ensure that appropriate Harbour Dues are collected from all appropriate waterborne River users;

(iv) monitoring and controlling the 2007/08 budget and planning the 2008/09 budget;

(v) taking all reasonable steps to generate income and protect revenue; and

(vi) identifying and exploiting alternative sources for revenue generation, in order to ease the burden on Harbour Dues payers. Charges have been introduced for services rendered by the Harbour Authority.

5.14 Staff

The Harbour Authority wishes to employ and retain a well-motivated, properly trained staff and provide regular training for Harbour Board and Management Committee Members by:

(i) providing and encouraging training and personal development for all staff through the Individual Performance Planning (IPP) process;

(ii) adhering to the principles of Investors in People (IiP);

(iii) ensuring that available manpower is employed in the most cost-effective manner possible;

(iv) organising training events and opportunities for Harbour Board and Management Committee Members. The Harbour Board has held two training workshops during the year. Members of both committees attended the annual boat trip on the River which is largely used as training opportunity.

(v) ensuring that new Pay and Benefits arrangements are implemented in accordance with County Council policies.

5.15 Equalities and Accessibility

The Harbour Authority is committed to ensure that it complies with all equalities and accessibility legislation by:

(i) ensuring that equalities and accessibility are taken into account in all activities and decisions of the Harbour Authority.

5.16 Review

The Harbour Authority is committed to reviewing plans, policies and procedures at intervals of five years or less, by:

(i) establishing a five-year rolling programme to ensure that all plans, policies and procedures are up-to-date and fit for purpose; and

(ii) scoping and setting objectives for a review of the capacity of the River Hamble. The Marine Director is a member of the recreation sub-group of the Solent Forum which is examining this issue on a Solent-wide basis with a view to commissioning appropriate research.