Agenda and draft minutes

To note any changes in membership of the Committee made in accordance with Part 4B paragraph 5 of the Constitution.

Apologies were received from Cllr R Redrup.

To confirm as a true record the Minutes of the meeting held on 10 January 2024.

RESOLVED:

THAT the minutes of the meeting held 10 January 2024 be approved.

To invite Members to declare any interest they might have in the matters on the agenda.

There were none received at this stage.

Questions may be asked without notice but to guarantee a full reply at the meeting, a question must be put including the name and address of the questioner by delivery in writing or by electronic mail to Democratic Services at democratic.services@iow.gov.uk, no later than two clear working days before the start of the meeting. Therefore the deadline for written questions will be Friday 22 March 2024.

There were no public questions.

To be presented by Designated Person David Foster.

David Foster of Marico shared the Port Marine Safety Code (PMSC) audit results from September 2023 for Newport Harbour with the committee.

The committee was advised that the government had recently made changes to the PMSC, but it was unclear how some of them were to be implemented and what the changes meant for Newport and Ventnor Harbours. David Foster confirmed that he was attending a conference on the changes soon and hoped to have these issues clarified.

It was noted from the audit that the following areas needed to be addressed:

• Two members of the committee had not completed the Duty Holder training as required. It was discussed that other members could complete a refresher training online or in person.
• The webpage for Newport Harbour was part of the main Isle of Wight Council website and was considered to be awkward to use, and the information on it was outdated. It was proposed that a standalone website should be developed.
• The navigation risk assessment was in disarray and not being used correctly. This was now corrected.
• Risk assessments for land-based risks (slips and trips) had not been reviewed recently.
• The Safety Management System was in place, but incidents were being recorded on paper and not electronically. It was also noted that a drill for officers was needed on how to respond in an emergency.
• The Marine Safety Plan was highlighted as needing to be reviewed.
• Exercise Plan events were currently completed on an ad-hoc basis and there was no forward planning involved. It was recommended dates were fixed in the diary and that committee members invited to attend.
• Training for the duty Harbour Master was out of date – this was highlighted as a long-standing issue.

David Foster concluded that whilst Newport Harbour complied with the PMSC, he was disappointed that many items had not been actioned from the previous audit but understood that this was a resource issue.

The committee further discussed the required training of committee members, the need for a workplan to ensure the action points from the audit were completed and if the development of a standalone website was possible. Officers advised that the website would require both financial and human resources to set up and maintain which currently were not available.

RESOLVED:

THAT committee members complete the required PMSC training.

THAT a workplan of the outstanding actions from the audit be drawn up.

THAT the audit results be noted.

David Foster of Marico shared the Port Marine Safety Code (PMSC) audit results from September 2023 for Ventnor Harbour with the committee.

It was shared that at the time of the audit Ventnor Harbour did not comply with PMSC. There was no Navigation Risk Assessment, no Safety Management System, no Port Emergency Plan and no Waste Management Plan. Since the audit was completed, these documents were all drafted and ready for approval. Also, no site survey of the harbour from the end of construction had been found, but this was scheduled for completion in April 2025.

It was reported that the management company had been in charge of Ventnor Harbour for over a year and was going well.

The committee thanked David Foster for his help and support in getting both Newport and Ventnor Harbour PMSC compliant.

RESOLVED:

THAT the audit results be noted.

A finance update to the end of January 2024 was provided to the committee by the Service Director for Communities, Regeneration, and the Economy.

It was noted that against the year-end forecast there was an overspend on expenditure of £2,443 but an uplift of £31,723 on income. This was encouraging and showed that Newport Harbour had recovered well from COVID. The Service Director shared that there were plans in the pipeline to further increase income next year.

RESOLVED:

THAT the finance report be noted.

The committee received a finance update to the end of January 2024 from the Service Director for Communities, Regeneration, and the Economy.

The committee was advised that the financial risk to the Isle of Wight Council was now reduced due to the management company having taken on the lease and was reported to be in a good net position. It was noted that Isle of Wight Council no longer received any income from Ventnor Harbour – this was now taken by the management company. 

The Director for Communities, Regeneration, and the Economy advised the committee that due to the positive year-end forecast for Newport and Ventnor Harbours, some of the budget would be put towards wider Isle of Wight Council savings for next year.

RESOLVED:

THAT the finance report be noted.

The Senior Harbour Master (SHM) highlighted information contained in his report which included:

• Visitor numbers were quieter than expected due to the weather.
• The oil spill exercise completed in January went well.
• Committee House conducted an annual audit – the outcome was positive.
• Harbour staff had power washed the pontoons.
• Whilst the launch was out of the water it was surveyed and repaired.
• One boat sank on the Folly pontoon in January – there was no major pollution risk from this.
• The swing moorings at Folly were repaired and renovated.
• Debris washed down river was cleared.

The committee thanked the SHM for dealing with small issues quickly and effectively.

RESOLVED:

THAT the Senior Harbour Master’s report be noted.

A report was shared by the Senior Harbour Master (SHM) which was created from the regular updates from the Ventnor Harbour management company.

The following key items were reported:

·         Visitor numbers were very low.

·         The seaweed pump was out of commission from mid-November to January. In October the pump was used for 178 hours. In February it was used for 145 hours.

·         The boats that used the Harbour were mainly commercial fishing fleets and the fishermen were vigilant on maintenance and checking on them in bad weather.

The SHM confirmed that he had visited the Harbour at least once a month in person and had completed visual checks and discussed any issues with the management company to ensure that what they reported was correct.

RESOLVED:

THAT the Senior Harbour Master’s report be noted.

A verbal update was given on the progress of the Get Well plan.

The Leisure Facilities Manager confirmed that since the plan was published many of the outstanding actions for Ventnor Harbour had been completed or nearly completed. He confirmed that as Ventnor Harbour was significantly behind on its PMSC compliance, officers had focussed their time on rectifying this. Once completed, officers were starting to work on the outstanding actions for Newport Harbour.

The committee questioned if the surplus income generated by Newport Harbour could be retained to ensure more human and financial resources were available for the future and not re-directed elsewhere in the Council.

RESOLVED:

THAT the report be noted.

To guarantee a reply to a question, a question  must be submitted in writing or by electronic mail to democratic.services@iow.gov.uk no later than 2pm on Monday 25 March 2024. A question may be asked at the meeting without prior notice but in these circumstances there is no guarantee that a full reply will be given at the meeting.

Cllr Medland asked what the role for the Isle of Wight Council was for Ventnor Harbour and what was the situation with Ryde Marina?

It was confirmed by the Director for Communities, Regeneration, and the Economy that Ryde Marina had now fully transferred to the control of Ryde Town Council. As it was not a statutory port, the Isle of Wight Council had not had the same responsibilities for it as for Ventnor Harbour. It was reported that the transfer took a long time but was a success and is now working well under the control of Ryde Town Council.

It was also shared that the legal team was investigating the costs and legalities involved in closing Ventnor as a statutory harbour. A future committee would be presented with the options. David Foster confirmed that under the Marine Act 2013 it was possible to apply for the closure.