Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Mr Ifor Hughes.

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 12^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 12 October, 2021 as a true record. 

To submit a report by the Maritime Officer and Pwllheli Harbour Manager

Income Inflation 2022-2023

Maritime Fees DRAFT 2022-2023

Maritime Committee Situation 28-2-22

To note and accept the report

Everyone was welcomed and pride was expressed that so many were able to attend the meeting.  It was noted that the arrangement of meeting virtually had worked great, and had been of assistance to those who were not local to be able to attend meetings with greater ease.  Despite this, it was confirmed it would be nice to meet face-to-face when this was allowed.

Reference was made to the report created jointly by the Maritime Service Manager and the Hafan Manager, and it was reported as follows:

Port Marine Safety Code

Although Councillor Gareth Thomas was the Safety Code Duty Holder, it was extremely important to receive input from all the Committee Members on the code.  It was confirmed that two inspections had been held by the Coastguard Agency, which confirmed full required compliance with the Code. The report on the Accident on the Menai Straights was mentioned as grounds of the importance for everyone to look at their Code and consider the importance of the Code and individuals’ responsibilities in order to ensure compliance.

Dredging the Channel

it was confirmed that the work done by the 'Royal Smalls' company had been very successful, with around 20,000 fewer cubes of silt in the inner harbour this year. It was reported that most of the silt had been emptied into the stilling lagoon and now the lagoon was full and there was a need to plan to empty the stilling lagoon soon. It was noted that the next step was dredging the Hafan basin but first the work on testing the siltthat had settled at the bottom the marina needed to be completed. Unfortunately, the timetable for 2022 did not allow further dredging work to be done in the basin and therefore it would be programmed for 2023/24.Reference was made to the meeting held with 'Royal Smalls' to discuss the options in terms of what to do with the lagoon, as the original lagoon was full, in considering how, when and what the cost would be to empty the stilling lagoon.  The Committee was reminded that in the past, the silt had been transported to Harlech the first time, and left on neighbouring land the second time, but by now levels had reached heights where it was not possible to do this again. It was anticipated that 20,000 cubes needed disposing from the stilling lagoon.  Reference was also made to other options such as mixing sand and silt for commercial use, but of course this came with its own challenges.  At the meeting with 'Royal Smalls' the option of locating bags on the land, processing it and drying it on the site then disposing of it were also discussed. Further discussions would follow on the matter.

The mouth of the Harbour

The Committee was reminded that the work of dredging the mouth of the Harbour took place every year, around March and April. This year, the Service had decided that May would be a much more effective month to undertake the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To note that the next meeting of the Pwllheli Harbour Consultative Committee will be held on 18th October, 2022.

It was noted that the next meeting will take place on 18 October, 2022 at 6.00pm.