Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Clive Moore (Cricieth RNLI Representative), Councillor Gareth Thomas (Cabinet Member for Economic Development) and Arthur Francis Jones (Senior Harbours Officer).

To receive any declaration of personal interest.

No declarations of personal interest were received from any members present.

To consider any items which are urgent matters in the opinion of the Chairman.

No urgent items were received.

The Chairman will propose that the minutes of the meeting of this committee, held on 5^th October, 2021, be signed as a true record.

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee that was held on 5 October, 2021 as a true record.

To submit a report by the Senior Harbours Officer.

To note and accept the report.

The following reports were presented, and members were invited to give feedback on safety matters and harbour operational matters.

(1) The Senior Harbours Officer's report, giving a brief update to the committee on harbour   matters for the year ending at the end of March 2022.

The Maritime Manager noted:-

·         It had been beneficial to have virtual meetings of the committee over the last period, but having the presence of people around the table and the naturally occurring discussions before and after meetings was missed. It was not yet known what the future arrangements would be, but it was noted that the virtual arrangements had worked great, and everyone was thanked for facilitating this.

·         The committee wished David Eastwood (Harbour Interests Representative) well as he had recently resigned from the committee. It was noted that he had been a very loyal member of the committee and had supported the staff over the years, and that he would be greatly missed. The Maritime Manager added that he would contact those with commercial interests in the harbour to highlight that a seat was available on the committee.

·         He also wished to thank Councillor Selwyn Griffiths on behalf of the Maritime Service for his guidance and support as Chair of this committee, and also as the local member for Porthmadog West.  The Chair noted that he was also very grateful to the harbour staff for their work.

·         Many elements of the report were currently missing due to sickness absence, but it was intended to circulate information regarding fees and budgets to members following this meeting.

·         As a result of contacting all customers in the harbour, a number of mooring applications had been received.  It was intended to conduct an underwater inspection of the harbour moorings before Easter, and the importance of carrying out that work was emphasised as weak or defective moorings could cause significant damage.  It was added that although the February storms had hit at high tide, not a single boat had broken free, which attested the strength of the moorings to hold all of the weight.

·         Due to the success of the online Powerboat and Personal Watercraft registration system last year, it was intended to proceed with the same system for the coming year, and this would re-open on 31 March for the season to come.

·         The service regularly monitored and reassessed the Port Marine Safety Code, adding and modifying risk assessments as required.  It was also noted that the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) had published a complete list in the past two weeks of harbours that complied with the Code, and that Porthmadog Harbour had been included on that list.  Councillor Gareth Thomas (Cabinet Member for Economic Development) was the Duty Holder for this, and he was aware that the MCA had approved the Safety Code.

·         Marking the navigation channel and maintaining the navigation aids was challenging as the channel was constantly changing.  The channel had been shifting towards Cricieth, but in the last two weeks it had moved  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To note that the next meeting of the Porthmadog Harbour Consultative Committee will be held on 11^th October, 2022, subject to confirmation by the Full Council.

It was noted that the next meeting would be held on 11 October, 2022.