CHICHESTER HARBOUR CONSERVANCY Minutes of the meeting held on Monday 1 February 2021 from 2pm held via Zoom. Present Jeremy Hunt (Chairman) Louise Goldsmith Roger Price Ann Briggs Mark Inkster Adrian Moss Keith Martin Alison Wakelin Graeme Barrett Lance Quantrill Pieter Montyn Robert Macdonald Jackie Branson Ken Smith Officers Richard Austin Richard Craven Fiona Morris Edward Carter Rosie Chase (Minutes) In attendance Penny Plant 1. WELCOME AND APOLOGIES 163. The Chairman welcomed members to the meeting. Apologies for absence were received from Mel Belderson. 2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST 164. As harbour dues form part of the discussions, the following members declared an interest as harbour users; Adrian Moss, Mark Inkster, Robert Macdonald, Richard Craven and Keith Martin. 165. Jeremy Hunt declared an interest as the Cabinet Member for Finance for West Sussex County Council 166. Louise Goldsmith declared an interest as the Chairman of Save Our South Coast Alliance (SOSCA). 167. Mark Inkster declared an in interest in the application for dredging licences as an MDL berth holder. The interest was not considered prejudicial and the licences were for noting as they had been approved under the Chairman’s urgent action protocol. 3. MINUTES 168. The minutes of the meeting held on Monday 9 November 2020 were agreed as a true record and approved by the Conservancy. 4. ADVISORY COMMITTEE 169. The Chairman of the Advisory Committee agreed to bring points of note from the Advisory Committee discussion forward at the relevant item during the meeting, 1 5. CHAIRMAN’S UPDATE 170. The Chairman provided and update on his work for the Conservancy since the last meeting. He said he had continued to work with the Director & Harbour Master and John Nelson from the Chichester Harbour Trust to influence the Chichester District Council Local Plan with the objective of ensuring it includes policies to sufficiently protect and safeguard the AONB. 171. He congratulated Fran Davies and Louise Goldsmith on their 20 years’ service and informed members they had received a vase as a gift. He went on to say that he had written to them both thanking them for their efforts towards protecting the AONB. He provided a summary of the work and achievements of both Ms Davies and Cllr Goldsmith. 172. Louise Goldsmith thanked the Conservancy for the award. 6. REPORT FROM THE DIRECTOR & HARBOUR MASTER COVID 19 Harbour activity 173. The Director & Harbour Master informed members that there had been no positive cases of COVID 19 amongst the staff and the team continued to work in COVID secure ways, with most working from home. He said that the harbour team and Rangers continue to carry out duties and he thanked Adrian Karn for his efforts in recovering a Transit Van from the water before any major damage could be done to the harbour environment. Byelaw prosecutions 174. The Director & Harbour Master reported that there was one successful prosecution in December in respect of a speeding incident which took place in June 2020, where a personal watercraft was paced at between 33 and 35 knots. A fine of £250 and costs of £480 were awarded. Three further prosecutions are expected to go ahead in June 2021, delayed because of the court backlog of cases. Baker racing mark 175. The Director & Harbour Master said that Itchenor Sailing Club has requested the establishment of a new racing mark in the Chichester Channel. It is felt by stakeholders that the provision of an additional mark would make sense and was approved by the Chichester Harbour Federation. The mark will be named in honour of Mike Baker who sadly passed away. Mr Baker had been a former Advisory Committee member and was a former Chairman of the Federation. Members were in favour of establishing the new mark. Harbour Office / Jetty Proposals 176. The Director & Harbour Master said that the proposals for the jetty and harbour office have been discussed with local stakeholders. The plans are still being developed and it is anticipated that a business plan will be submitted for scrutiny to the March meeting of the Finance, Risk & Audit Group. Members Training 177. The Director & Harbour Master informed the Conservancy that there were three new members of the Advisory Committee and induction training was being 2 organised for them to attend. Members were also told of some upcoming training opportunities on inclusion, and for duty holders with the Association of British Ports and advised to let the Executive Officer know if they were planning to attend so training records can be updated, or if they needed assistance booking places. Landscapes Review 178. The AONB Manager said that the application to Defra in respect of Statutory Consultee status has stalled. The reason given by a representative of Defra was that the Department had not yet officially responded to the Landscapes Review and it would be more advisable to wait until such time before considering this matter. He said he had approached a Planning Barrister for a legal opinion, but it was not forthcoming. It was hoped that the legal opinion would ascertain if Defra had the authority to delay the request for Statutory Consultee status. The AONB Manager advised Members against getting into a dispute with Defra. 179. The Members said there was no timescale on when Defra would respond to the Landscapes Review. The Members encouraged the AONB Manager to continue to seek a legal opinion, and then to decide on the next steps once that was received. If the legal opinion confirmed the response from Defra was tantamount to filibustering, the Members suggested to then contact the local MPs for support, and the relevant Minister (Rebecca Pow MP), in case she was not aware of this case. 180. The AONB Manager went on say that focus of Defra appears to be on setting up a new National Landscapes Service. 181. The Landscapes Review recommended that AONBs should be rebranded as ‘National Landscapes’ with the Cotswolds AONB being the first to voluntarily take that step. The AONB Manager said there were no plans for Chichester Harbour to follow this route at the current time. Harbour Footpaths 182. Members discussed the condition of footpaths at length. A member expressed concern that because of the recent heavy rain and increase of foot traffic, the paths are very muddy, and people are veering off the footpaths onto saltmarsh and farmers’ fields. A member said that if this wear and tear continues there could be a significant impact on bird breeding and the wider environment. Another member said that cyclists are also causing damage to footpaths. The AONB Manager has received several complaints about and from cyclists and that with the most recent lockdown, tensions are running high between different user groups. Members discussed potential solutions to the state of repair of the footpaths and agreed that work was required to identify how these works would be funded. The AONB Manager said that it was disappointing that some landowners have little or no appetite to roll footpaths back or to carry out repairs which would alleviate some of the problems being experienced. Saltern’s Way 183. The AONB Manager said that the planned resurfacing works will take place on the cycleway in the coming weeks. He went on to say that the proposed reroute is on hold for a few months, whilst more species data is gathered. A member welcomed 3 the improvement works and said that some additional signage in specific areas would encourage more people to use it responsibly. Ash die back 184. The AONB Manager said that in the spring the trees in the harbour would be surveyed and a company had been contacted to carry this work out. Members expressed disappointment that ash die back had been identified in trees in the harbour. Partnerships 185. The AONB Manager said that the SCOPAC one-off meeting was excellent and informative. Recommendation 186. The Conservancy noted the report from the AONB Manager and Director & Harbour Master. PORT MARINE SAFETY CODE 187. The Director & Harbour Master presented his report to members. He said that the Port Marine Safety Code was last amended in 2016 and that the 2021 edition was available to view on the Conservancy website and members area. He described how the Conservancy’s Marine Safety Management System and Safety Plan details how the duties and powers (in relation to marine operations in Chichester Harbour) are discharged in accordance with a marine safety management system, based upon formal risk assessment. He reminded members that the Designated Person for the Conservancy is Monty Smedley of ABPmer who oversees the work of the officers to provide assurance that duties are being discharged appropriately. He went on to say that members of the Conservancy are severally and collectively the ‘Duty Holder’ for Chichester Harbour accountable for the discharge of its duties and powers. 188. The Director & Harbour Master said that the powers available to the Conservancy under the Chichester Harbour Conservancy Act 1971 and other legislation enabled by it were subject to a review by Ashfords LLP in 2020. He said that the firm are specialists in Harbour Law. As a result of that review an application for powers of general directions has been made. 189. He said that all risk assessments have been reviewed in respect of harbour operations in light of incidents in the harbour during 2020, including re-assessment of control measures, and wider changes. He said that the 2020 season had been unusual, with a delayed start due to lockdown restrictions but thankfully income had recovered well and was broadly similar to that of the previous season. The harbour saw a large influx of people over a condensed season and the overall number of incidents was 258, 15 fewer than the last year.