After a very busy Summer season (and a little time off for good behaviour), we are delighted to bring you a packed September e-news bulletin in which we can update you on the Cowes Outer Harbour Project (OHP), our new co-opted Harbour Commissioner and the re-introduction of an Advisory Committee plus we take a look behind the scenes with some interesting Harbour facts & stats.

THE COWES OUTER HARBOUR PROJECT (OHP) - AN UPDATE

The consents process to take the Outer Harbour Project forward to its next stage is currently under way following this Summer’s well-attended exhibition held in East Cowes and the detailed presentations made to representatives of all the Cowes yacht clubs, marine/ sailing and major stakeholder organisations.

At the Commission’s latest Board meeting held last week, the application from SEEDA (the South East England Development Agency) for a Harbour Works and Dredge licence was considered and unanimously agreed.

The Commission has received neither objection nor adverse comment in respect to the scheme and has therefore approved the granting of the licence on the issues of navigation. However the granting of the licence is still subject to consideration of advice in respect to compliance with the European Habitats Directive from the agreed lead agency, The Marine Fisheries Agency.

Full details of the application have been advertised on the Harbour Commission’s section of its web site at www.cowes.co.uk.

It is important to stress that the Commission’s powers only extend to issues of safety of navigation and public rights of navigation. The Harbour Works consent is one of three permissions required for the Project, the others being:

• Consent under the Food & Environment Protection Act, issued by the Marine and Fisheries Agency
• Planning Permission from the Isle of Wight Council

Now that the consents process is well underway, SEEDA intends to start the delivery phase with the first element being the procurement of a Development Partner. SEEDA will carry out this process under European regulations in respect to tendering for public work contracts (O.J.E.U). The development partner will be expected to deliver both the harbour infrastructure and the commercial element (i.e. the new marina) of the scheme. SEEDA will include in the tender proposal full details of the ‘Offer’ together with information on the maximum funding assistance from SEEDA and Cowes Harbour Commission towardsthe construction of the harbour infrastructure components; the detached outer breakwater, extension to Shrape Breakwater and dredging of the new eastern channel.

SEEDA have indicated that this process will commence in October and be completed by February 2010.

CO-OPTED COMMISSIONER IS APPOINTED

A new Harbour Commissioner, Jeremy Lear, has been co-opted to the Board at September’s meeting. Under the Harbour Commission’s Constitution Revision Order 2001 the Commission has the power to co-opt up to two additional Commissioners for a period not exceeding 12 months.

The Commissioners invited Jeremy to be co-opted for a period up to 12 months owing to his extensive experience and knowledge of marine developments and funding both from the private and public sector, an extremely valuable resource during the Commission’s dealings with the Outer Harbour Project. Jeremy was a senior partner with Vail Williams Chartered Surveyors but he is now retired and is active in sailing organisations in the Solent.

New Commission appointments take place annually in March and the next vacancies will be advertised in February 2010 in the IOW Country Press and on the CHC website.

ADVISORY COMMITTEE IS UP & RUNNING

One of the communication initiatives agreed by the Commissioners earlier this year was to approach stakeholder organisations to determine the interest in revitalising the Cowes Harbour Advisory Committee.

The background

In 2001 Cowes Harbour Commission (CHC) modernised its constitution as recommended by the government and promoted a Harbour Revision Order.

The main constitutional change was moving from a Representative Board to an Independent Board.

The Commission also introduced an Advisory Board and decided this should comprise representation from the various stakeholder groups from the previous constitution. This Advisory Body convened twice a year and was managed by Cowes Harbour Commission.

Regrettably, this group wasn’t pro-active and after three years the committee members agreed to convene only if there was a major issue raised for consideration by one of its members.

During the last 18 months, the Commission has been aware of attempts by some quarters to promote the interests of lobby groups. The Commissioners have supported the principle of User Groups based on constructive dialogue and consultation.

It was therefore proposed to encourage the re-formation of an advisory body based on user groups / stakeholder groups being represented on an advisory committee that will meet four times a year. The user groups would be encouraged to have a standing CHC item for discussion on their regular agendas.

The Commissioners agreed that various stakeholder groups would be approached to determine the interest in this group by their members. These included, but wasn’t limited to, the following:

• Cowes River Club Association
• Cowes Joint Clubs and Day boat Class Association
• Cowes Marine Cluster
• Town Councils East / West
• Business Associations / C.B.A
• Newport Harbour Authority
• Red Funnel Group
• Commercial Wharf Operators

The first meeting of the newly formed Advisory Committee was well attended and very positive. The Committee has appointed David Walters, representing Cowes Town Council, to be the Chairman of the new group. The first meeting considered the remit, objectives, and representation and a second working meeting developed a draft constitution for consideration by the Commissioners at their September meeting. Further consultation with the Advisory Committee is taking place in order to agree the constitution before the end of November 2009.

RIVER & HARBOUR HOUSEKEEPING

We thought you might be interested to learn about some of the river and harbour ‘housekeeping’ news with some facts & stats that keep the Harbour and its employees on their toes and very busy: Byelaw Enforcements 69 vessels received verbal warnings in August regarding various byelaw infringements, namely speeding, excessive wash and lack of navigation lights. One vessel was followed up with a written warning.

Trinity Landing and Venture Quays There has recently been another wash incident at Trinity Landing with two vessels sustaining damage. The wash was attributed to an inbound cruise vessel that coincided with a spring low water. Discussions are in place with ABP Southampton and will be discussed at the next Solent Operators Group meeting in early October. During the summer six large vessels utilised the Trinity Landing Pontoons and eight cruise vessels have used the facility as the gateway to Cowes.

Environmental CHC’s three yearly incident management exercise will take place on Wednesday September 30th that will test the Harbour’s Oil Spill Management Plan when responding to a Tier 2 incident and will involve external agencies such as the Environment Agency, Fisheries Agency, Natural England, Isle of Wight Council, Adler and Allan (Tier 2 contractor), MCA, Whittaker Tankers and BP.

Chain Ferry The Isle of Wight Council has applied to CHC for a Harbour Works licence for repair work and modifications to the Chain Ferry slipways and the pontoons/bridges for the launch docking facilities that are utilised when the chain ferry is out of service. Full details of the application have been posted on the Harbour Commission’s website www.cowes.co.uk.

Pilotage 11 vessels required a pilot in July and August, an in-house service provided by CHC’s team of five qualified pilots.

Boatyard news In mid August all Kingston Marine Services (KMS) customers and interested parties were sent details of the winter storage and services provided at the KMS site. The response has been excellent so far with many bookings taken. Shepards Wharf Marina Cowes Week was very successful with excellent feedback given for the Shepards Wharf Marina onshore facilities and setup including the new food outlet / Crew Bar / Evening entertainment and Manuel’s restaurant.

Shepards Wharf Marina was fully booked for Cowes Week and everyone on the waiting list was accommodated throughout the CHC mooring areas. Boat numbers were overall the same as last year but didn’t host as many corporate visitors as in previous years. A number of permanent berths were also utilised by kind permission of the owners.

Booked rallies have continued well through August and September and the Little Britain Challenge Cup weekend was particularly busy with the Marina full throughout the period with other overnight stays being allocated berths at Venture Quays.

Dry Sailing is continuing to be booked through October for the Autumn Series and the turnout is expected to be high for the Etchells National and British Open Championship over two weekends during the month.

Harbour Office The planning and building regulations consents have been granted for the refurbishment and improvements to the Harbour Office. The only modification to the scheme considered by the Commissioners is that the cladding will now be treated stained timber as opposed to the mock timber cladding constructed from concrete. The reason for this change was due to the construction in a conservation area.

Work is scheduled to commence in week commencing Monday 5th October with completion prior to Christmas. It is proposed to continue normal work from the Harbour Office and it is hoped to keep disruption to a minimum.