Agenda, decisions and minutes

To elect a Chair for 2023/24

Councillor Hefin Underwood was elected as Chair of Pwllheli Harbour Consultative Committee for the year 2023/24.

Councillor Hefin Underwood was elected as Chair of Pwllheli Harbour Consultative Committee for the year 2023/24.

To elect a Vice-Chair for 2023/24

Councillor Elin Hywel was elected as Vice-chair of Pwllheli Harbour Consultative Committee for the year 2023/24.

Councillor Elin Hywel was elected as Vice-chair of Pwllheli Harbour Consultative Committee for the year 2023/24.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Councillor Michael Sol Owen (Representing Plas Heli, Pwllheli), Alwyn Roberts and Andy Vowell (Representing the Pwllheli RNLI)

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.

The Chair took the opportunity to enquire whether it was possible to have a meeting around a table in March 2024? He noted that many members wished to have a face-to-face meeting and several members of the public had enquired why the meeting was not face-to-face? The Chair agreed to write a letter on behalf of the Committee to this end. In addition, it was asked whether it was possible to consider having a meeting during the day rather than in the evening? The Cabinet Member asked whether they had a hybrid meeting in mind, and it was noted that the more people that could be had around the table, the better it would be.

The Chairman will propose that the minutes of the meeting of this committee, held on 14^th March, 2023, be signed as a true record.

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this Committee, held on 14 March 2023, as a true record. 

To submit the report of the Hafan Pwllheli and Harbour Commercial Manager

To note and accept the report.

Reference was made to the report produced by the Commercial Manager of Hafan Pwllheli and the Harbour, and it was reported as follows:

1.1           Port Marine Safety Code

It was confirmed that it continued to be a priority for the Senior Harbours Officer, together with the new Maritime Service Manager, Bryn Pritchard Jones, to update the Safety Code for each harbour in Gwynedd. Once more, everyone was reminded to contact the service if there were any issues.

1.2           Dredging the Channel

It was reported that dredging the channel remained a challenge although there had been collaboration with YGC to undertake an appraisal.  The full option would be to maintain the basin, channel and the Harbour mouth. It was noted that YGC had been unsuccessful in securing their grant this year for the Cerrig y Defaid beach nourishment work.

It was noted that one option was to empty the stilling lagoon, however a cost of £1M had been given via a tender for the work.  Discussions were ongoing with the company to see if there was a better solution. It was confirmed that the tender to dredge the marina basin would be out soon, however, the main issue was where to dispose of the sediment. For information, it was reported that the Leader and Cabinet Member had requested a report regarding the situation.

Concern was raised that YGC had failed to secure the grant this year for Cerrig y Defaid beach nourishment work, which meant that the sand in the harbour mouth was to be sold as a whole. It was confirmed that they had been unsuccessful this year and were looking at the long-term Flood Plan, and that emptying the Harbour mouth was an annual matter and currently cost-neutral for the Hafan.

The concern regarding the mouth of the Harbour was further questioned and it was asked whether anyone had looked at the situation creatively? Such as blowing the sand with a pump along a beach e.g., Glandon Beach? The advantage of this would be the cost, as it would only need to be removed once.

The Commercial Manager of Hafan Pwllheli and Harbour reminded members that Glandon Beach was under the control of Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and they had rejected the sand as it was not up to biodiversity standards, and there was already joint-working on the Flood Risk Plan.
 

The Chair reminded everyone that a meeting had been arranged in the Town Council Chamber with Natural Resources Wales and an invitation was extended to the Commercial Manager of Hafan Pwllheli and Harbour and any member of the Committee to attend the meeting on 22/11/23.

It was noted that the dredging situation was frustrating, and the basin was in dire need of dredging and it was asked what were the prospects for carrying out the dredging work?

The Commercial Manager of Hafan  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Matters to be considered at the request of members of the Consultative Committee

For information, the Committee was informed that seven events had taken place already from Plas Heli and a full list of future events had been planned.

To note that the next meeting will be held on 5^th March, 2024

It was noted that the next meeting will take place on 5 March 2024 at 6.00pm.