Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Councillor Peter Read (Gwynedd Council), Councillor Mici Plwm (Pwllheli Town Council) and Councillor Ioan Thomas (Cabinet Member - Economic Development).

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 Chairman will propose that the minutes of the meeting of this committee, held on 17 October 2017, be signed as a true record.

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this Committee, held on 17 October 2017, as a true record.

To submit the report of the Maritime and Country Parks Officer.

The Maritime and Country Parks Officer noted that the harbour staff had been busy in terms of work over the winter, with the severe weather being a factor.

The representative from the Pwllheli and District Boat Owners Association thanked the Pwllheli Harbour Manager and the staff for replacing ropes and a buoy on his boat therefore ensuring its safety.

The Pwllheli Marina Berth Holders' Association noted his appreciation of the work of the harbour staff on behalf of the Association.

The Maritime and Country Parks Officer guided the members through the report, drawing attention to the following main points:

·         The report of the Coastguard Agency's inspectors on their thorough inspection of the the current safety arrangements and systems of Gwynedd municipal harbours in order to ensure compliance with the Ports' Safety Code had been included in the agenda. The inspectors noted that the Council complied with the requirements in general but that some aspects relating to recording duties and noting the Duty Holder and Designated Person needed to be amended.

·         That the inspectors had noted that the lack of width in the harbour's navigation channel although it was not technically a part of the inspection.

·         An external company had been commissioned to carry out a full hydro-graphic survey of the navigation channel; the entrance of the inner harbour; and the marina basin including the basin of Plas Heli's pontoon moorings. An electronic copy of the report, along with paper copies, were available to members at the Hafan office.

·         The work of levelling the channel bed would be completed in May and the basin dredging work would be completed during the winter months of 2018/19.

·         Gwynedd Consultancy had been commissioned to undertake detailed design work on the Crib Groyne. Hopefully, the work of restoring the Crib Groyne would be completed before October 2018;

·         The work of dredging the harbour entrance would be undertaken in April. This would be the last campaign before moving the material from the bund to the Carreg y Defaid beach area.

·         High speed zone buoys in the South Beach area and Abererch beach area would be installed in their correct positions before Whitsun.

·         Attention was drawn to the fact that the maintenance work list for the Hafan and the Harbour was included in the agenda. Members were asked to note any further work that should be considered.

·         That the Hafan's mobile crane had deteriorated beyond the point where it was worth investing substantial money to maintain it. As a mobile crane service was available from local companies in Pwllheli, the Service would consider selling the crane and hiring a crane service by local companies as needed. This would be more cost effective.

·         That harbour staff had collaborated with the Sailing Club to clear and tidy the old Sailing Club site.

·         That work had been completed on the day of the meeting to fill the potholes in Glandon Beach car park. Discussions would be held with Plas Heli in relation to a plan to tarmac a section of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To submit the report of the Economy and Community Senior Manager.

Submitted - the report of the Senior Economy and Community Manager giving an update on the intention of the Economy and Community Department to review a management model for the Harbour and Hafan and to seek the Committee's views on the criteria to be used to evaluate the possible models.

It was noted that the Project Board had been established with the membership including the Cabinet Member - Economic Development; Councillors Dylan Bullard, Peter Read, Angela Russell and Hefin Underwood, along with officers. 

It was explained that the first step was to establish whether there was a reason to change.  The delivery objectives sought from the Hafan and Harbour would be established and used as criteria to evaluate the existing model against alternative models.

The Committee was informed that there was an intention to engage with stake-holders to obtain input on the objectives during March and April. The outcome of those discussions would be fed into the final criteria and would provide a basis for evaluating the models.

As a starting point for discussions, the Project Board proposed the following criteria (not in any order of priority):

a)    Reinforcing the economy by being commercially viable and thus support maritime companies and local jobs

b)    An economic trigger by attracting and maximising the use of the harbour 

c)    The ability to promote the Welsh language 

ch) Offering a financial benefit to the Council

d)    The ability to attract investment

dd) A business and sustainable model

e)    A possible model to implement

The Pwllheli Berth Holders' Association Representative noted that the majority of the Association's members would be away during the period when stake-holder engagement was to take place. The Maritime Traders Association Representative added that the period was a busy period for the businesses. In response, the Senior Economy and Community Manager noted that he would discuss the matter with representatives after the meeting.

Members were given an opportunity to offer observations on the draft criteria and the following main points were made:

·         A need to refer to customers in the criteria and the need to retain existing customers and attract new ones.

·         Attention needed to be given to the facilities in the Harbour with a number having been lost in recent years.

·         Criterion b) should be strengthened in terms of use by local people.

·         The need to reinvest should be included in the criteria.

In response to further observations from members, the Senior Economy and Community Manager noted that more detailed work would be completed in Step 2 when an outline business case would be developed.

RESOLVED:

(i)     to note and accept the report

(ii)    to submit the above observations to the Project Board.

To note that the next meeting of the Pwllheli Harbour Consultative Committee will be held on 16 October 2018.

It was noted that the next meeting would be held on 16 October 2018.