Agenda item

·      To set out the current position for the Harbour Revenue Budgets for Weymouth, Bridport and Lyme Regis Harbours at the end of August 2019.

·      To set out the predicted position of the Harbour Reserves for 2019/20.

The approved 2019/20 budgets are given at the Appendices with predictions based on data until the end of August 2019.

The Weymouth Harbour Master introduced the Budget Monitoring Report and outlined the format and the revenue budget break down.

He referred to the Asset Management Plan and the programme of works for 2019/20, this was an extract of the 25 year rolling plan, looking forward it was hoped to continue to put some money into the harbour reserve each year and spend annually as required from the operational budget and the reserve.

The current budget for Weymouth harbour was set last December with the knowledge that there was a predicted shortfall of £116,932.

The Asset Management Plan was taking some time to settle as there was a lot of expensive projects to be dealt with in the first years.

There had been fewer visits from Commercial Vessels than expected which contributed to a reduction in income. The Waverley and some tall ships had cancelled this year, however the income from leisure vessels was up.

Charges for services such as electricity and water continued to be refined.

The outcome of the Budget Monitoring Report was £5,000 adverse.  Discussions were ongoing in relation to income and expenditure of sites which were part of the HRO but not previously included in the harbour budget.  This included a commitment to the demolition of the Terminal Building of £250,000 and £100,000 for the Quayside Regeneration which had not been included in this Report.

An update on revenue, capital requests and budget would come to the next Harbours Committee meeting.

In response to a question regarding repairs to Harbour walls F & G the Harbour Master and the Engineering Projects Manager advised that walls C & D were the current priority and the money for those would most likely be covered by the allocated engineering budget.  Going forward it was suggested that Cabinet would be approached via the Asset Management Group for funding.

It was requested that the Harbour Master circulated maps of the harbour walls definitions prior to the forthcoming tour of the harbour.

It was expected that going forward additional income streams would be achieved with more visitors.  The Peninsular Regeneration Project would give more wharf space, but it was not possible to say at this stage what capacity due to boats rafting each other, but there would be more pontoon space which may reduce rafting and consequently encourage more boats.

In response to a question regarding the commercial relationship between the

harbour authority and quayside fuel company, the Harbour Master was unable to discuss the proprietor’s business but there were clear working agreements and guidelines in relation to where he was able to fuel vessels.  The harbour did not receive income directly from the fuel company but the fuel prices were low and did encourage visiting boats to the harbour.

The Harbour Master for West Bay who was also Interim Harbour Master for Lyme Regis presented the two Budget Monitoring Reports for Bridport and Lyme Regis.

In relation to Bridport the Harbour Master highlighted the favourable employees figure of £8,852, there had been a lot of repairs required for the Harbour’s JCB over the last couple of years which had resulted in an adverse Transport figure of £5,000.

With regard to supplies and services, £60,000 of the overspend was due to the outer harbour dredging, In previous years the Environment Agency had covered the cost of dredging the outer harbour but the funding had stopped with the coastal defence and beach reprofiling work that had been done at West Bay.  The dredging cost for the current year was £85,000 of which £60,000 was covered by the dredging reserve.  There had also been a further £18,000 spent on unexpected slipway repairs.  The revenue budget, however was anticipated to be favourable by £20,000 overall, this was due to the increase in visitor numbers and income from other sources, such as the shop, boat repairs, maintenance and boat lifting.

Focusing on the Lyme Regis Harbour Budget Monitoring Report Summary, there was a favourable figure of £13,308 in staffing costs, an overspend prediction on the transport budget due to unexpected repairs and maintenance costs to the harbour’s JCB, the committee would need to consider options for replacement over the next year or so, he explained that wear and tear was increased due to where the JCB was stored and the effect of sand on the vehicle.

Based on recent independent advice from marine lawyers it was necessary for Lyme Regis to have a Harbour Revision Order in place to update legislation for the harbour.  The cost was in the region of £30,000 which was to be split over two years.

Decision: that members noted the predicted year end figures for the Harbour’s Budgets and the predicted year end position of the Harbour Reserves.