Hello
I've just received an invoice from Shoreham port for £100 to keep my two boats in the west arm (it was £68 last year). I wondered if we could lobby for a more reasonable increase? Their costs can hardly have gone up that much for maintaining the tidal bit of the harbour. Happy to write letters etc if there is enough support.
Aidan
Agreed - it's an increase many times in excess of inflation. Furthermore I can't see anything which might prevent the port authority from doubling or trebling the charges next year. From various conversations I'd gained the impression that the SYC had some sort of channel of communication with the authority and so was slightly surprised that we hadn't been at least forewarned of the increase via Wavelength or some similar medium. Even better would be a high visibility attempt by the SYC to influence the authority in this area.
Let me know if anyone thinks that writing personal letters would be at all useful - I'm happy to fire one off.
John
I e-mailed Shoreham Port asking why there had been an increase and Julian Seaman, the harbourmaster, phoned back. He said costs had gone up because of increased dredging charges, wreck removal (mostly leisure craft) and more patrols to deal with visitors and personal water craft users. I said a 50% increase was a bit much to levy on small boat owners who had permanent moorings, didn't draw any water, go speeding etc. He acknowledged this and said the existing flat charge on all size boats might be the issue. They would consider a £/m charge next year. He also said y they would review the charges again then. These were set by the Port Board and we could write to them or the Port Chief Executive if we wanted to follow this up.
I think this is worth doing. I know £16 extra isn't much, but it will probably go up again. The extra patrols are good given the increase in jet skis and the like but I think if enough write, it might encourage them to draw a line at this level. Shoreham tidal harbour charges are now about double Chichester's for the average 20'-30' boat.
Aidan
Following your suggestion I've sent a follow-up email to the port authority suggesting that for next year it might be good PR, if nothing else, if the authority was to consult with the SYC before setting the charge. I've also suggested that maybe the users who've possibly created the need for extra patrols - i.e those with personal water craft or large-engined motor boats - should pay their share of the cost. I'd be annoyed if the charge for my 6m Hurley was higher than for one of those 90hp water-sportscar things that burn up and down the river whenever they think they can get away with it.
Regards
John