Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Report for Information

1) Purpose of the Report:

1.1. This report summarises the activities and events on the River from 11 July 2008. Any incidents taking place after this report is distributed will be the subject of a separate Annex to be distributed at the meeti

2) Contextual Information:

2.1. The River has been patrolled daily by the Duty Harbour Master from 11 July 2008 from 0600hrs through to 2200 (2300 and 2359 hours on special occasions).

3) Incidents

4.1 17 July: The office received a call from a farmer in the Upper Hamble reporting that a number of shrink wrapped bails of hay had been rolled into the River by youths. The patrol found three bails floating in the River and a fourth sitting on the bank. The Ranger from Manor Farm Country park assisted with a Range Rover in attempting to return the bails to the field. Three bails split open and a fourth was unable to be returned to the field. There were a number of youths in the area who were moved on by the Ranger.

4.2 24 July: Problems with children on Hamble Jetty. PCSOs attended and gave assistance in removing them.

4.3 25 July: Patrol attended Hamble Jetty because of children jumping from the walkway and interfering with Ferry passengers.

4.4 25 July: Children and youths removed from Fishermen's Jetty.

4.5 26 July: Patrol removed children from Hamble Jetty several times during the day.

4.6 27 July: Patrol rescued a woman from the water by using the Jason Cradle as a climbing ladder. The incident was triggered when the family yacht was coming alongside a sub-let pontoon. She was preparing to jump onto the pontoon with a line but hesitated because of the poor condition of the decking. Her hesitation caused her to fall into the River. She was unable to rescue herself as she was suffering from the effects of a recent operation. The dropped mooring line had also fouled the yacht's propeller. The Harbour Master instructed the owner of the pontoon to immediately repair the decking, which is now being done.

There are a number of lessons to be learnt from this incident and it shows how a peaceful evening can be turned into a nightmare situation.

4.7 28 July: The Patrol was called to Hamble Jetty to remove children who were jumping and swimming in the main channel and in danger of being run down.

4.8 28 July: Removed children from Warsash Jetty as they were acting dangerously in swimming near moving vessels in the main channel.

4.9 30 July: Patrol called to Hamble Jetty where children were throwing themselves in front of boats. The children took little notice of the Patrol's attempts to halt this dangerous practice. One youth attempted to push a Patrol Officer into the River but failed. The Patrol then received a lot of vile verbal abuse from the youths who ran off as the police arrived. Police were unable to catch the youths and children. (Police responded very quickly on this occasion - within 5 minutes)

4.10 30 July: Patrol gave assistance to a motor cruiser that had gone aground in the entrance to the Harbour.

4.11 30 July: Patrol attended Hamble Jetty in an attempt to halt children swimming in front of boats. They had little success and again received abuse from 10 to 12 year olds who continued to swim out in amongst the moving boats.

4.12 31 July: Patrol attended at Hamble Jetty and met with PCSOs who assisted in removing youths and children successfully. Children later returned as soon as PCSOs and patrol had departed.

4.13 1 August: Patrol attend scene of a collision between a trimaran which had collided with a moored vessel in the area of Hamble Jetty. Details taken and recorded. Later patrol contacted owner of moored vessel with relevant information. The trimaran had lost power from the boat's outboard engine and had then laid a kedge anchor which had tangled with mooring tackle and had to be cut away.

4.14 2 August: Patrol called to give assistance to a trimaran (not the same one as above) that had lost power from the boat's outboard engine and had beached on a lee shore at the entrance to the Harbour. Patrol assisted in laying a kedge anchor and confirming crew (two children and two adults) were safe.

4.15 2 August: Patrol towed to safety a RIB with two people aboard that had lost power and beached close to the trimaran above.

4.16 2 August: Patrol towed off the trimaran on the high water.

4.17 2 August: Patrol was called to slow down a boat that had been reported as causing a wash. It had also been reported as hitting a boat on a mooring upstream from Universal Marina. Patrol halted the motor boat at the visitors pontoon at Warsash as it attempted to exit the Harbour, to take the details and confirm if it had been in a collision. The skipper and crew of the motor boat proved difficult to deal with as they had been drinking. During the period while the boats were on the visitors pontoon another member of the public complained about the wash the motor boat had caused. The member of public was then verbally threatened by the crew of the motor boat. The motor boat left and it appeared was returning to Universal Marina but it attempted to come alongside the boat owned by the family of the person who had complained to the Patrol. The Patrol put their boat between the two boats and called the police. Obscene gestures and words were directed towards the moored family boat along with verbal threats. There were 10 to 12 people aboard the motor boat and it appeared most had been drinking. The police were again called. The motor boat then returned to the marina and two crew got into a RIB and returned to the family boat at Warsash. The patrol put itself between the RIB and the yacht and again called the police. Eventually the crew on the RIB were convinced by the patrol to return to the marina as the patrol had stopped them from getting involved with the family on the moored boat. This incident was reported to the police who attended the Harbour Office the next day and took away copies of the patrol reports. As the police were unable to attend the scene of the incident the condition and competence of those in control of the boat and RIB could not be tested and therefore further action leading to a prosecution was not pursued by the Harbour Master. Universal Marina have been made aware of this incident concerning one of their clients.

4.18 3 August: Patrol took over tow of a vessel from `Sea Venturers' at the entrance to the Harbour and moored it on the visitors pontoon.

4.19 4 August: Patrol carried out a joint patrol with three members of the newly formed UK Border Agency.

4.20 5 August: Patrol attended moorings that had shifted causing two boats to touch. One boat was removed and owner informed and instructed to repair the moorings.

4.21 5 August: Patrol called to a reported collision between a moored yacht and a yacht attempting to moor nearby. Patrol eventually assisted the yacht onto its moorings and details of damage along with contact details were recorded by the patrol.

4.22 7 August: Patrol found a RIB that had lost all power anchored in the entrance to the Harbour in the main channel. The Patrol recovered the RIB to HMJ.

4.23 9 August: Patrol discovered a 5.4 metre RIB on the beach at Hamble Point and with the assistance of the Marine Police recovered it to the HMJ at Warsash. The Marine Police are dealing with the matter.

4.24 10 August: Patrol assisted and recovered a dinghy that had capsized a number of times in the main entrance channel to the Harbour. Patrol recovered the dinghy and two crew to the slipway at Warsash.

4.25 15 August: Patrol attended a dinghy that had capsized in the entrance to the Harbour.

4.26 16 August: Report of a collision between a moored yacht and a yacht manoeuvring after departing from its own mooring. Patrol collected details of both vessels to ensure insurance claim was settled correctly.

4.27 17 August: Patrol gave assistance to a 35 foot motor boat that had lost power from one engine as it manoeuvred through Bursledon Bend at Swanwick.

4.28 18 August: Patrol attended two vessels on the mid-stream moorings that had come adrift owing to parted mooring lines. The incident had caused damage to two other moored vessels. Vessels secured and owners contacted.

4) Port Marine Safety Code Compliance Code:

4.1. The Port Marine Safety Code requires that the Designated Person audits the Harbour Authorities compliance with the Code and provides an independent assurance to the duty holder. Marine Enforcement Limited completed an audit on the 22 July 2008 and the audit report is attached to this report at Annex A.

4.2. The audit team also investigated whether the Harbour Authority correctly discharged its duty to consult as required by the Port Marine Safety Code. An audit was completed which also investigated how the Harbour Authority goes about meeting that duty. The audit team reported that in the context of a Port Marine Safety Code compliance audit the River Hamble Harbour Authority does discharge its duty to consult. A full report is at Annex A.

5) Harbour Master's Charity Pursuit Race:

The Harbour Masters race gets underway with 30 boats taking part

on a sunny blustery day.

6.1 The annual Harbour Master's Dinghy race took place on Sunday 20 July. The race had previously been cancelled following the terrible weather over the last weekend of Hamble Week. The event was very successful and helped collect £240 for the Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen's Families Association (SSAFA). The Club Shield was won by Hamble River Sailing Club. The Junior Shield was won by Adam and Lisa Kay. The Fast Fleet Shield was won by Martin Hughes and Trevor Bryant. The Slow Fleet Shield was won by Barney and Lizzie Shawcroft. There was an excellent turnout for the race from all the dinghy clubs, Sea Scouts and other dinghy sailors from outside the River.

7) Jason's Cradles

7.1 Following an incident involving a difficult recovery of a person from the water the Harbour Team investigated equipment to solve the problem. There were a number of criteria that had to be taken into account; the person being recovered may well be injured or unconscious and thus unable to assist. The person could be very heavy and a dead weight with water sodden clothing. All these problems had to be overcome with a lone-working patrol officer operating the equipment without any assistance at all. The new version of the Jason's Cradle was trialled and found to be ideal for the job and two have been purchased, one for each patrol boat. The picture shows training with the cradle in operation and one man managing to recover a person on his own.

Staff Training in use of Jason's Cradle

8) Oil Spill Response Exercise

8.1 As a number of fuel spill incidents have occurred within Port Hamble the Harbour Master organised a small training exercise with the staff of MDL. MDL do have a well designed and thought out training programme with clear and concise instructions for the staff to follow. The exercise made these procedures clearer and enabled the problems to be looked at in a practical manner. There have been two instances of bad fuel management by owners who had pumped fuel from a holding tank into a day tank that was already full, allowing fuel to escape through a breather.

8.2 The main aims of the exercise were to:

a. Explain the dockmasters' responsibilities.

b. Explain that calling the Harbour Office early was always the best option.

c. In all cases immediate positive action is required which may mean intervening aboard a vessel that may or may not be manned.

d. Demonstrate the deployment of equipment.

e. Demonstrate methods of dealing with fuel oil by containment and then recovery.

f. Disposal of contaminated waste.

g. Explaining that the Harbour Authority is here to help and by contacting the Authority early it will allow a speedy end to the problem.

8.3 The training records, risk assessments, procedures and logs of all three fuel berths on the River have also been inspected by the Environmental Officer. Advice was also given regarding skippers understanding their responsibilities when fuelling boats. This can be best achieved by establishing how much fuel is required, paying attention during the fuelling operation and knowing where the breather is.

9) UK Border Agency

9.1 During the period 1 to 8 August the Harbour Team has been working with the UK Border Agency. UK Border Agency was formed earlier this year and brought together the work of the Border and Immigration Agency, UK visas and parts of HM Revenue and Customs. Within the UK Border Agency, the UK Border Force has responsibility for the security and control of all former frontline Customs and Immigration issues at all points of entry into the UK, including harbours and marinas.

9.2 If you see or hear of any suspicious activity relating to border security the appropriate numbers below can be used to report your suspicions.

a. UKBA Immigration Control: 0161 261 1640

b. Customs Confidential Hotline: Freephone 0800 595000

10) Lifejackets for Recreational Boaters

10.1 The Maritime and Coastguard Agency in collaboration with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and the Royal Yachting Association have launched a national awareness campaign. The campaign strongly recommends that all recreational boaters should wear a lifejacket that is maintained, correctly worn and fit for purpose whilst at sea.

10.2 A recent review of drowning incidents by a panel of UK experts found that lives might have been saved in 69% of incidents had the person been wearing a suitable lifejacket or personal floatation device.

10.3 The Harbour Master strongly recommends the wearing of a suitable lifejacket when transiting the harbour in small low freeboard tenders. The patrol often encounter a lone person, not wearing a lifejacket, making their way through the moorings in a very low freeboard tender. Should there be an incident it is likely that it would not be witnessed and therefore no assistance to the person would be rendered. The harbour patrols have recently rescued a number of people from the harbour who have not been wearing a lifejacket. On two occasions the arrival of the patrol was very timely and possibly saved lives because the person found in the water was not wearing a lifejacket

11) Safety on Public Jetties

11.1 Owing to a number of incidents that have occurred on Hamble and Warsash Public jetties involving youths and children the Harbour Master has introduced a number of new procedures and reconfirmed others. These procedures are fully explained in the Safety Management System document which is attached to this report at Annex B.

12) Use of Hovercraft in the Harbour

12.1 The Environment Agency requested permission to operate a small hovercraft in the harbour to enable the collection of samples from the mud flats. The Harbour Master gave permission for the use of the hovercraft but imposed a number of conditions. These were:

a. A harbour patrol launch to be in attendance to accompany the hovercraft at all times.

b. The hovercraft was to be fitted with a VHF radio and equipment that was suitable to maintain contact over the noise of the engine at all times.

c. The hovercraft was to be in VHF radio contact with the harbour patrol vessel at all times.

d. The survey was to take place during a period of minimal traffic within the harbour.



The hovercraft operating in the harbour collecting samples for the Environment Agency

13) Impact Assessments

13.1 This report provides a position statement only, therefore an impact assessment, in terms of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act, has not been undertaken.

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION:

24 July 2008

Mr A Clatworthy

Harbour Master

River Hamble Harbour Authority

Shore Road

Warsash

Southampton SO31 9FR

Dear Sir

PORT MARINE SAFETY CODE COMPLIANCE AUDIT 22-07-08

The Port Marine Safety Code requires that the Designated Person audits the Harbour Authority's compliance with the Code and provides independent assurance to the duty holder. We report accordingly and ask that this report be presented to the Board.

We enclose a Certificate of Compliance confirming compliance with the Code subject to the contents of this report. This should be filed in Volume 4 under Tab 4 of the Safety Management System. We also enclose a notated Audit Report Form.

1. OBSERVATIONS:

1.1 Close-out of previous observations.

SMS Procedures -Reviews: - All incident and report forms are systematically reviewed and the Harbour Master reports there are no apparent trends. P023 Annex 1 (Minimising the risks from racing in the River) needs to be completed. All the incident report forms are filed by category. They assist the Harbour Master to compile his reports and are available for incident follow up which can include enquiries from insurers and other third parties long after the event.

Risk assessments: - An improved procedure has been established although a new index is required for "Health and Safety General

Operations and Activities" and the Health and Safety risk assessments need an index.

Volume of Records: - Closed out although some volumes of the SMS need splitting down as the files become full.

Incident Report Forms: - Closed out. It is recognised that the software employed by the Harbour Authority which, among other things, records all incidents and reports is very helpful.

Port Waste Management Plan: - Approval by the MCA is still outstanding but the MCA have agreed that the plan should be further developed to incorporate the recent initiatives for recycling. It will then be submitted for approval.

CCTV:- The power supply to the camera at Swanwick bend is still a work in progress as is the integrated recording facility. Although 2 of the cameras work OK and are very useful the implementation of the CCTV system has not been a success, has dragged on for years and is an embarrassment for all involved. Regardless of contractual difficulties this CCTV system should be fully commissioned as soon as possible and any third parties responsible for the failures should be held accountable for any additional costs.

SMS sign-off:- Outstanding, although in hand on the day of this audit, to include the CCTV Code of Practice.

Notices to River Users: - Volume 1 of the SMS should only contain extant Notices. Local Notices to Mariners from other Harbour Authorities and archived Notices to River Users should be appropriately filed separately.

Drills and Exercises: - A Man Over Board recovery was demonstrated to the auditor using the Jason's Cradle. All patrol officers must be trained in the use of this equipment and it must be exercised regularly. An emergency drill (e.g. major fire on a yacht on a mid stream mooring with pollution and involving evacuation of casualties) involving all available staff and external rescue resources should be completed before the next audit.

Equipment: - Given that the Harbour Authority has 2 hand held GPS the fitting of GPS units to the patrol craft is not financially justifiable.

1.2 Under River Pipelines and Cables

Following a near disaster in the North Sea when a ship's anchor dragged over a major gas pipeline the authorities are considering launching a Code that will require all Harbour Authorities to log all pipelines and cables in their jurisdiction and to have plans in place should an emergency occur. This Code (which is presently a draft for discussion) does raise the issue of pipelines and cables that pass under the River. Initial enquiries made by the Harbour Master indicate that there are no definitive records of pipelines or cables under the River although Hampshire Fire and Rescue have confirmed that there are no fuel pipelines under the River. Although anchoring in the lower reaches of the River is prohibited it may be prudent to determine from the power and telecommunications companies where their cables run. The Harbour Master is progressing enquiries.

1.3 Training records

The training records for the seasonal staff are to be completed to reflect the training they have received. The individual responsibilities assigned to each Assistant Harbour Master are to be formally assigned and the records maintained.

1.4 Consultation

The Harbour Authority has been created by statute to serve a public interest. This public interest is wider than that of harbour users and includes the local community and the environment. The Harbour Authority has two duties to consult; one that stems from its statutory duty to serve the public and one that is prescribed in the Port Marine Safety Code. The duty to consult is wide; any consultation process must involve all stakeholders regardless of their interest in the River. For consultation to be meaningful it must be a genuine invitation to give advice and a genuine consideration of that advice. The need for consultation is to ensure that well informed decisions can be made having given due consideration to the views of all stakeholders. How much weight is given to the advice received by the Harbour Authority is a matter for the Harbour Board.

We have carefully considered the need for the Harbour Authority to consult and the way they go about meeting that duty. We find that in the context of a Port Marine Safety Code compliance audit the River Hamble Harbour Authority does discharge its duty to consult. We say this because:-

· All Board meetings are held in public and anybody is welcome to make a deputation to the Board at the beginning of each meeting.

· All agendas, papers and minutes of meetings are publicly available.

· Each member of the Board will accept correspondence or contact from any stakeholder and their personal contact details are freely available and are included on the RHHA website.

· At the last Board meeting it was resolved that a series of "Meet the Harbour Authority" open surgeries would be initiated.

· The Management Committee is formed from a wide spectrum of interested parties and all their individual details are also available on the RHHA web site. They hold their meetings in public and agendas, papers and minutes of minutes are all freely available to the public. The Management Committee will also accept deputations from any stakeholder.

· An open invitation public Forum held annually provides an opportunity for all stakeholders to air their views. The last report on the website ends with; "So, overall, it has been a busy, challenging, rewarding and occasionally frustrating year, but we have made considerable progress on many fronts. However, we are under no illusions - there is still a lot to do and we would welcome your suggestions on how we could do even better".

· Our contact details as Designated Person are available on the web site with this message "Any reasonable concerns regarding safety on the River may, in addition to being reported to the Harbour Master, be brought to the attention of the Designated Person by writing to (the undersigned)" The bi-annual audit reports are presented to the Board at a public meeting and the written audit reports are included in the Board meeting papers.

· The harbour office maintains an open door policy and everybody is welcomed by the Harbour Master and his staff as well as the Marine Director.

· The RHHA website has links on its home page to topical consultation exercises (which will include consultation on Risk Assessments) and stakeholders can respond online. There is also an email link on the site allowing email correspondence together with the standard mail address. Notification of pending Harbour Works Consents are also posted on the website and all stakeholders can request to be included on an email distribution list to receive notification of new applications.

· Relevant email informative correspondence is routinely sent to stakeholders on the "stakeholders contact list". Anybody can request to be included on this list.

A Harbour Authority is required to be open, accountable and fit for purpose. In our view it is "open", it consults as required and the Board is in the position of making well informed decisions.

2. NON-CONFORMITIES:

None and none to close out.

3. REPRESENTATION MADE TO DESIGNATED PERSON

None.

4. CONCLUSION:

The role of the Designated Person is to provide independent assurance to the Harbour Authority that the Safety Management System is working effectively. I can, subject to the comments detailed in this report, confirm this is the case. I also confirm that I have had direct access to the highest level of the Harbour Authority.

Yours faithfully

Capt. Mark Capon

Managing Director

Enc:

Annex B to the

Harbour Master Report to the Harbour Board

Dated: 19 September 2008

RIVER HAMBLE HARBOUR AUTHORITY SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Dealing with Extreme Behaviour from Children and Youths

Following a number of incidents when the safety of Patrol Officers has been compromised I am adding the following to the Harbour Safety Management System and issuing the following instructions to the Harbour Office Team. These instructions are intended to ensure all members of the Team fully understand the procedures to be taken when responding to incidents involving children/youths. To make the situation clear to other interested parties and agencies I am distributing these instructions to Eastleigh and Fareham Borough Councils, the local police, chairmen of the Harbour Board and Management Committee.

1. Introduction and background

In the last week of July two patrol officers were threatened, one Coxswain was nearly thrown into the water, stones have been thrown at the patrol boats and the team have received other verbal abuse and threats. All members of the team have experienced disgusting language and threats from the children who are aged from 8 years up to 15/16 year olds.

It is well understood that the Job Description of the Patrol Team does not include having to deal with threatening behaviour such as we have all experienced over the last few weeks. Nevertheless the safety of many River users has been threatened by the actions of the children/youths and the team wishes to reduce or halt the threat of such accidents,

mainly because that is what we do and we are dedicated to making the Harbour a safe place for all who use it.

Support from the police has been very limited, in fact the Team have hardly received any support whatsoever as most calls to the police telephone exchange have very rarely produced a police officer on the ground. The action of the PCSO's when available, has been very successful in calming difficult situations and removing children from dangerous situations. The PCSO's have dealt with the verbal abuse and threats extremely well. Even so the Team as a whole has not been very successful and the children and youths feel they have won the battle. There are strong indications that the local senior police officers on both sides of the River, having limited resources, appear to be unwilling to withdraw their officers from other priorities

There remains a threat of injury or death to the children and there are safety implications towards River Users therefore the Patrol Team are unable to ignore these problems. The Patrol Team will therefore endeavour to continue to ensure that the public jetties are safe for River Users and will continue to inform, educate and remove those causing what could be termed as offences against public order regardless of the police being present or not.

2. Recorded Incidents

a. Jumping into the path of passing vessels causing a danger of injury from the hull, injury from the propellers or drowning.

b. Jumping in the way of boats coming alongside the jetties causing danger of crushing between hull and jetty.

c. Jumping into the path of the ferry while departing or coming alongside causing a danger to passengers and injury by crushing or injuries from the propeller.

d. Swimming in waters with many boat movements and being out of the vision of the helm. Causing a great danger of being run-down resulting in drowning or injury.

e. Jumping from the full height of the walkway/bridge with a danger of injury in shallow water.

f. Gathering in large groups on the jetty making it dangerous for vessels to come alongside.

g. Large gatherings of children causing a danger and nuisance to ferry passengers. One some occasions the ferry operator has been forced to withdraw the service for the safety of his staff and the passengers

h. Children leaving piles of cloths and bicycles on the jetty making it dangerous for visiting crews to jump ashore without fear of injury.

i. Visiting boats coming alongside jetties and receiving verbal abuse from children and youths.

j. Children swinging on 240 volt electricity cables fixed under the bridge walkway. Damaging the fixing and causing a very strong danger of electrocution.

k. Vandalism to signage, lights, cabling and decking.

3. Procedures Currently in Place

a. Signage.

a. At the entrance to the jetty and on the jetty stating:~

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE ONLY PERMITTED TO USE THE JETTY, WALKWAY AND FACILITIES FOR ACCESS TO BOATS AND THE FERRY

Owing to the extremely dangerous currents and

undertows diving and swimming from the jetty is not allowed

Bicycles are only permitted to be brought onto

the jetty by ferry passengers

Fishing is only allowed at the discretion of the Harbour Master

b. Patrol Officer may only approach children or youths in the company of another member of the Team.

c. Members of the Team are to ensure no physical contact takes places unless required in self defence.

d. All verbal communication must be clear and precise ensuring instructions are given in a clear and concise manner and officers are not drawn into arguments or affected by foul language.

e. Should situations develop and become threatening, either verbally or physical the Team are to withdraw and call for assistance either from the police or others from the Harbour Authority.

f. Where appropriate hand held cameras and CCTV may be used to record incidents. When they are used a full record must be made in the patrol log.

4. Previous Initiatives

The Harbour Authority has attempted to improve the situation on the jetties with a number of initiatives. Some of these are:

· Signs indicating `no swimming' and `no diving'.

· Signs warning of the danger and advising of restricted access to the jetties.

· Protecting electrical systems to reduce the risk from electrocution.

· Applying anti-vandal paint to the structure to discourage climbing.

· Fixing metal surrounds to make sitting on the edge of the jetty uncomfortable.

· Constant visits by patrol staff.

· Liaison with the local police and PCSOs (advice at a senior level was that dealing with this problem was not covered by government imposed policing targets).

· Meetings with the local parish councils and residents associations.

· Liaison with the marine police unit.

· Requests to talk with children in the local schools (but the schools have not been willing to set aside time for these meetings).

· Approaches to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

The jetties are public facilities and must be available to the public for 24 hours every day. This allows vessels to berth on them and crews to have access at all times. Passengers must have access to the ferry operation and because of those requirements fitting a lockable or key-pad controlled gate is impractical.

5. The reality of the situation

· That diving and swimming from public jetties is very dangerous.

· Parents appear unwilling to control their children.

· The Harbour Authority does not have any legal powers to deal with the situation.

· The Harbour Authority only has the powers to seek Bye-Laws affecting activities on the water - it does not have the powers to seek approval for Bye-Laws to control activity out of the water (such as to control youngsters congregating on public jetties).

· A Bye-Law would not solve the problem because the successful prosecution of a youngster would be almost impossible and the punishment would be so trivial that it would have little, if any, deterrent effect.

· The Police are reluctant to devote scarce resources to deal with the problem.

· The presence of the Harbour Patrol, Police or PCSO's does not have any deterrent effect as they just return once any authority has departed.

6. Possible Procedures That Could Be Adopted

a. At the main entrance to the bridge at Hamble jetty install a full height gate with mesh wiring. The gate will not be capable of being locked but will swing closed on a spring. The gate will be wide enough not to disrupt the passage of wheelchairs or trolleys. On the gate will be a large sign stating.

This jetty has been provided

to gain access to the ferry and boats only.

Danger

No Swimming or Diving

or

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE ONLY PERMITTED TO USE THE JETTY, WALKWAY AND FACILITIES FOR ACCESS TO BOATS AND THE FERRY

Owing to the extremely dangerous currents and

undertows diving and swimming from the jetty is not allowed

Bicycles are only permitted to be brought onto

the jetty by ferry passengers

Fishing is only allowed at the discretion of the Harbour Master

Note:

`The gate is not intended as a physical barrier but will act more as a psychological

barrier and will be available as a point of reference when asking people to leave the jetty. "The sign on the gate clearly indicates that you should not be here"

b. Vandal paint to be applied to the top of the bridge and fix warning signs informing members of the public of its presence.

c. Fix new warning signs on both piles to be in plain view drawing the public's attention to the no swimming or diving rule owing to the dangers involved.

7. Long Term Possible Aims

As Harbour Master I would like to see the following actions taken:

· Alternative swimming locations and safety cover organised.

· Access to schools so that an education programme can take place.

· Letters to parents setting out the dangers and their parental responsibilities.

8. Chichester Harbour Experience

After witnessing a child jumping from a pontoon the harbour patrol staff gave him instructions to stop jumping as it was dangerous. The child continued to jump and then injured himself. Following legal advice the parents are suing the harbour authority for negligence and lack of signage. It is impossible to win.

Tony Clatworthy

Harbour Master

Copy to:

The River Hamble Harbour Board

Chairman River Hamble Management Committee

Marine Enforcement Limited

Police Inspector Park Gate

Police Inspector Hedge End

Sgt Marine Police

Leader Eastleigh Borough Council

Leader Fareham Borough Council

Chairman Hamble Parish Council