Hampshire County Council River Hamble Harbour Board Meeting

Apologies were received from Councillor Keith House and David Jobson. Councillor Tim Groves attended as a deputy on behalf of Councillor House.

Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter considered at the meeting they must declare that interest at the time of the relevant debate and, having regard to the circumstances described in Part 3, Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members' Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code.  Furthermore Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Personal interest in a matter being considered at the meeting they considered whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 5 of the Code, considered whether it was appropriate to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

It was noted that ‘General Director’ should be ‘General Direction’ within the minutes. The minutes of the meeting held on 7 January 2022 were then agreed as a correct record.

There were no deputations for the meeting.

There were no formal announcements.

The Board received and noted the draft minutes of the River Hamble Harbour Management Committee held on 11 March 2022.

The Board received a report from the Director of Culture, Communities and Business Services which summarised the incidents and events which had taken place in the Harbour and addressed issues currently under consideration by the Harbour Master.

The Harbour Master summarised the report, highlighting repairs that had taken place following Storm Eunice as well as the details within the addendum that had been circulated.

RESOLVED

The River Hamble Harbour Board supported the contents of the report and addendum.

The Board received a report from the Director of Culture, Communities and Business Services which summarised activities relating to the River Hamble Harbour Authority’s (RHHA) environmental management of the Hamble Estuary between mid-November 2021 and mid-February 2022.

The officer summarised the report and highlighted the recommendation from the Management Committee for the Board to pursue the issues with M27 bridge. The Board discussed possible actions and it was agreed that a copy of the previous letter sent to the Secretary of State, along with the reply from Baroness Vere of Norbiton be sent to local MP’s, asking them to expedite the work.

RESOLVED

The River Hamble Harbour Board:

(i) Noted the Management Committee’s recommendation and agreed to write a letter to local MP’s requesting that they expedite work on the M27 bridge.

(ii) Noted and supported the remainder of the report

The Board received a report from the Director of Culture, Communities and Business Services regardingthe condition of essential operational assets and possible associated maintenance expenditure to judge whether the Asset Replacement Reserve is being maintained at an adequate level.

It was agreed by the Board that a gradual increase was more beneficial and doing so now would save larger increases in the medium term. It was confirmed that running costs and fuel increases had been considered but it was no expected to increase Harbour Dues.

RESOLVED

The River Hamble Harbour Board agreed that:

a. The report be taken into account alongside the annual statutory accounts in setting Harbour Dues for 2022/23 at the June Board meeting;

b. A policy to maintain this Reserve at a minimum of £100,000 be adopted to afford improved resilience around 2037;

c. An increase in the contribution from Revenue to the Replacement Reserve from £35,000 to £42,000 be applied for 2022/23 and note be taken of the need for frequency and amount of potential future increases. The amount will come from the revenue surplus of £37,000 in the approved forward budget.

The Forward Plan was noted.