MALDON HARBOUR IMPROVEMENT COMMISSIONERS
Printable pdf Minutes of Meeting 13 August 2024
MINUTES – ORDINARY MEETING, Tuesday, 13 August 2024 at 7.00 pm.
PRESENT:
David Patient (Chairman)
Patrick Ellum (Vice Chairman)
Dave Hansford (Treasurer)
Jim Dines
John Dines
A Fluker
N Harrisson
A Wiseman
7 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from C Anderson, N Cardy, M Chapman, C Swann, C Wilson.
8 DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTEREST
There were none, other than those declared during the meeting.
9 MINUTES – ORDINARY MEETING 18 June 2024
The Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on 18 June 2024 were formally received. The Minutes were AGREED.
10 MINUTES – ANNUAL MEETING 18 June 2024
The Minutes of the Annual Meeting held on 18 June 2024 were formally received. The Minutes were AGREED.
11 MATTERS ARISING – ORDINARY MEETING 18 June 2024
Minute 89 – Revival of the Siltation Committee was discussed. D Patient would pursue this.
12 CLERK’S REPORT
Item 1. Non-Commercial Harbour Dues. Payments had been received from Cate Knox Sail Loft, the Gig Club and Landbreach. The deadline was 31 July 2024 except MDC who had been invoiced before the MHIC deadline had been set. The Clerk had followed up. A reminder had been sent out at the end of July.
D Patient reported that C Anderson had opened discussions with Sheena Berney, Vice-Commodore Blackwater Sailing Club. D Patient had followed up with a meeting with Sheena Berney who would recommend to BSC Committee a voluntary contribution of £100 annually to MHIC.
Item 2. LARS updated. Trinity House LARS system had been updated with the restoration of Buoy No 14 light.
Item 3. MHIC Meeting Dates for 2025. Draft meeting dates had been circulated. The dates did not clash with any known MDC meetings. The Maldon Little Ship Club could accommodate MHIC on those dates.
Item 4. Dates for Liaison Meetings with Maldon District Council. The dates had been agreed as Wednesday, 25 September 2024; Tuesday, 17 December 2024 and Wednesday, 12 March 2025.
13 TREASURER’S REPORT
Business account stood at £10,977.84, Community account stood at £4,402.37.
Income for the period included Non-Commercial Harbour Dues and £50 compensation from Barclays Bank. Expenditure included navigation equipment and maintenance and Accountants’ fees.
The Chairman thanked the Treasurer for the time and effort it had taken to sort out the Barclays account.
14 MEETING WITH NICK COOPER (ROYAL HASKONING) AND NEDA ASADFALSAFIZADEH (NATIONAL TRUST)
D Patient reported back from his meeting with N Cooper (RH) and N Asadfalsafizadeh (NT). Funds are in place for 200 barge loads. N Cooper would check with English Heritage that all conditions were met. A Flood Risk Permit was not needed. No dredging on Crown Land. N Asadfalsafizadeh would prepare a contract between National Trust and MHIC.
N Cardy stated that ballast and mud would be needed for the first three barges. A Fluker queried the location of dredging in the Harbour. Jim Dines stated it would only be in the Channel, not the Quay.
15 NATIONAL TRUST – VISIT TO NORTHEY
P Ellum reported. Matt Wilson (NT) showed the group around and where the sea wall was due to be blocked up.
16 VISITORS’ PONTOON
P Ellum pointed out that this was outside the MHIC remit. There had been a problem when a Dutch boat could not get to the Visitors’ Pontoon and ended up on its side. A Fluker clarified that this was Maldon District Council’s responsibility. D Patient emphasised the need for on-going maintenance. A Fluker stated that MHIC must be a consultee.
17 HARBOUR MAINTENANCE AND STATE OF BUOYS
John Dines reported that he and Harley Swann had inspected the undersides of the buoys. The immersed area needed cleaning. He circulated photos at the meeting. The fouling eg barnacles put a strain on the mooring and resulted in failures. He suggested a rolling programme of improvement to moorings.
Buoy No 14 – faulty light had been rectified.
N Harrisson asked when the mooring replacement started. This is recorded in the Buoy Condition Spreadsheet. (Post meeting note. The Buoy report shows replacement as ongoing, The system of allocating permanent unique identification letters to each buoy was instigated in November 2014, enabling the history tracking of individual buoys.)
John Dines reviewed his proposals. The worst buoy is probably No 19. There was discussion as to cost and methodology, including implications of galvanic action. P Ellum asked how much of H Swann’s time this would take. John Dines would do the update in his workshop so H Swann would not need a great deal of time and would invoice for this extra work. D Patient thanked John Dines for his work.
18 TRIATHLON
D Patient and John Dines attended on the MHIC support boat. The event went off smoothly. Ian Varney, Commodore of Maldon Yacht Club had been informed and MYC yachts were co-operative and stayed clear. MYC were happy to have the Triathlon in their area.
19 MHIC EMERGENCY PHONE
C Anderson continued to be the Commissioner on-call.
20 URGENT ITEMS OF BUSINESS
Item a) Instagram. N Harrisson was concerned that it should be kept up to date. The Clerk would email M Chapman with a view to possibly setting up a small group of Commissioners if necessary.
Item b) Web cams would be discussed at the next meeting.
Item c) John Dines and D Hansford would accompany H Swann at the next inspection to assist with cleaning.
Item d) D Hansford reviewed income and outgoings and asked if there were any other improvements wanted eg Noticeboards. This would be discussed next year. There was discussion and the need for a Budget Meeting in 2025 was identified.
Item e) D Patient reviewed the year so far with reference to MHIC’s remit to “Improve”. He identified the instigation of Non-Commercial Harbour Dues and dredging at Northey.
The Chairman closed the meeting at 8.20 pm