In accordance with the Notice of Motion received
under Section 4.20 of the Constitution, Councillor Gareth Thomas will propose
as follows:-
“This Council calls on the UK
Government to create legislation to control personal watercraft on the sea in
the same manner as motorcycles on land.
That is, that every personal watercraft has to have a licence and
insurance prior to use on the sea and that every driver is given a test on
his/her ability to manage the vehicle and on his/her knowledge of navigation.”
Decision:
That
the Council calls on the UK Government to create legislation to control
personal watercrafts and powerboats on the sea in the same manner as
motorcycles on land. That is, that every
personal watercraft and power boat has to have a licence and insurance prior to
use on the sea and that every driver is given a test on his/her ability to
manage the vehicle and on his/her knowledge of navigation.
Minutes:
Submitted – the following notice of motion by Councillor Gareth Thomas,
in accordance with Section 4.20 of the Constitution, and it was seconded:
That the Council calls on the UK Government to
create legislation to control personal watercrafts and powerboats on the sea in
the same manner as motorcycles on land.
That is, that every personal watercraft and power boat has to have a
licence and insurance prior to use on the sea and that every driver is given a
test on his/her ability to manage the vehicle and on his/her knowledge of
navigation.
During the discussion on the motion, it was noted:
·
That Britain was the only country,
with the exception of Egypt, that did not have control over personal
watercrafts.
·
That they could compare
driving a personal watercraft to an inexperienced person driving a powerful
motor cycle among people.
·
The sale of watercrafts had
increased this year as a result of Covid and,
therefore, the problem was likely to be even worse next year.
·
It appeared that the police
could not prosecute in cases of irresponsible or aggressive driving of personal
watercrafts.
·
This was a problem along the
Gwynedd coast and there was a real need for legislation to ensure that our
beaches were safe.
It was further noted that individuals were not
required to register or obtain a licence to drive powerboats either, and an
amendment to include powerboats was proposed and seconded.
The proposer of
the original motion agreed to amend the motion on these lines with the
Council’s consent.
During the discussion on the amendment, it was noted:
·
There was no method to
monitor whether or not the driver of a personal watercraft or powerboat had
been drinking alcohol.
·
Lack of control was a common
theme for the three motions that had been submitted to this meeting of the
Council, and the importance of devolving powers for such matters was
emphasised.
·
An app was available to
manage the movements of boats.
·
Everyone should receive
training prior to driving such vehicles.
In response to a member’s question regarding the situation on Council
beaches, the Monitoring Officer explained that there were limited rights in
terms of, for example, controlling speed in specific sections of a beach etc.
which had been indicated in by-laws. However, it was not required to have
insurance or to register in order to use these vehicles and this was the
loophole in the law that was referred to by the motion.
A vote was taken on the amendment and it carried.
As the amendment was accepted, the Monitoring Officer explained that the
original motion had been amended and that a further vote was needed on the
wording of the amendment, rather than the wording of the original. The majority
voted in favour of the motion.
RESOLVED to adopt
the motion, namely:
That the Council calls on the UK Government to
create legislation to control personal watercrafts and powerboats on the sea in
the same manner as motorcycles on land. That is, that every personal watercraft
and power boat has to have a licence and insurance prior to use on the sea and
that every driver is given a test on his/her ability to manage the vehicle and
on his/her knowledge of navigation.