Ian Gibson has made an attempt this year to educate people who have been going too fast and creating too much wash. This has met with some success although he would be the first to admit that because of staff constraints it has been quite limited. It is planned and will be discussed at the forthcoming Board Meeting in September, to have a much higher presence next year. 

I would welcome any feedback any of you have on this subject prior to this discussion.

SHB have been giving out free bottles of phosphate free washing up liquid this month in order to promote a phosphate free Salcombe.

I´d like to develop this in to a longer term campaign to rase awareness both on and around the water, and look to start putting a little group together in September, when sanity returns.

If you´re interested, I ´ve attached a data sheet on whys and what fors...

Thanks

Jonno

The Finding Sanctuary project is encouraging you to tell them which areas of sea around the south-west are important to you. In November this year, the new Marine and Coastal Access Act became law.  Amongst other things, the Act will introduce new protected areas called Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs). These MCZs will aim to protect marine animals, plants, and habitats around the coasts and seas of England, by managing how we use particular parts of the sea.  Boating is one of the activities that could be restricted within MCZs in certain ways, which may in turn affect some activities. Therefore it’s important you have the opportunity to have your say on where MCZs should be located around the south-west region. Exeter-based project, Finding Sanctuary, has been set up to help you to do just this. Through working with local sea users to understand how different groups use the sea, the project will ensure MCZs in the south-west are planned in a way that minimises conflicts with human uses, and at the same time that they meet the conservation goals.

Finding Sanctuary staff are conducting face to face mapping interviews with sea users throughout the region to record your knowledge of your local area, information on which areas of sea you use, and any concerns you may have. By sharing your knowledge and information with Finding Sanctuary, you are ensuring that your interests can be taken into account.

Perhaps you are a sailor/boater yourself and would like to contribute information about your personal use of the sea? Or maybe you are a member of a club or organisation and would like to tell us about the areas that your club uses? Alternatively, you may like to share information about locations of the sea that are important to your business? If you would like to make sure your views are taken into account please get in touch with Beth Henshall. Beth will be happy to meet with you to conduct a short face to face interview. She can also come to your club or organisation to speak to your members in more detail about the work of Finding Sanctuary.  To arrange an interview or a talk please call Beth on 07709 495629, or email her at beth.henshall@southwestfoodanddrink.com. For more information about Finding Sanctuary, visit www.finding-sanctuary.org

There was a meeting yesterday with Sarah Wollaston and a number of parties (or "stakeholders") making representations to prevent the replacement of the Winters Crane with a Travel Hoist to be operated by SHDC.  At this moment I have no particular view, but my first port of call when I heard about it earlier in the week was to look a the SKEA site for background information and opinion.

Several SKEA forum posters were present at the meeting. 

It strikes me that this change will impact on Harbour Users and Marine Employment in the Town, I have no idea whether this will be beneficial or detrimental, so it is more relevant to SKEA then any item on the front page of the forum, yet there was a "last chance saloon" meeting yesterday which SKEA failed to get involved or discuss.

Any thoughts?

Our friends Mike and Barbara Arnold who live in Kingsbridge were on passage from the Azores, eventually back to Salcombe. MCA have reported the Moody 376 sank last night. All four crew were picked up by a chemical tanker on its way to Santander. Rescue co-ordinated by Falmouth with details on MCA website.

The message below was not written by anyone at Reddish Marine !!!!

Who wrote this on my behalf ? I would like to know how this can happy ?

lack of patrols
there´s only a speed limit if you get caught (much like the m5)

Is it true that one now has to take clients interested in buying a boat out to sea to perform a demo ?

I have received this from John Chalmers (South Hams Society) this morning:

Dear Everybody

100 houses on the fields overlooking Shadycombe Creek, Salcombe will damage our beautiful estuary irrevocably and invite further development along its shores. But this is what the District Council proposes.

These fields have been protected against development for 50 years and form the backdrop to many views from the town, the harbour, Snapes Point and East Portlemouth and even Chivelstone. They have been protected against development for 50 years . They are a major reason that Salcombe remains attractive to visitors.

The housing will climb up the hills to the skyline. The damage done will probably not stop there because the access roads provided will invite further development of the fields nearer Batson

You can see the detail on the SHDC website by going to Item 10 of the Agenda for the Council meeting of 17th December.

A group of residents strongly object to this outrageous proposal -

 * it is a green-field site when there are other sites available within the development boundary,
 * it is a significant erosion of the beauty of the harbour which is the town´s main attraction to visitors,
 * it is highly visible from the town, the harbour, Snapes Point and East Portlemouth,
 * the access roads will lead to development of further fields around Batson Creek,
 * it will be an expensive site to develop as much of it slopes at 30 degrees,
 * these fields are a County Wildlife Site and habitats for protected species.

Government guidance that housing sites should first use brown-field sites within the development boundary and be near schools has been ignored. There is insufficient evidence that the planners have adequately considered the effect of this proposal and the use of other sites.

Please come to the Town Council meeting at Cliff House 6.00 p.m. on Wednesday, the 13 January and help us convince the planners that they ought to think again.

Please forward this email to anyone else who may be interested.

If you can´t come please write to Salcombe Town Council and the District Councillors Paul Coulson and John Carter. Addresses will be found on the Town Council and District Council websites

John Chalmers

We have not had substantial turnouts for the meetings, however, on the upside, 75 people each month are looking at the forum (many more ´visits´ than that, but 75 distinct people on average)

My proposal is that we only hold meetings when then is real demand for one, so we will get the harbour board agenda, put it online, and, if someone feels there is a case for a meeting, they propose it and if we get plenty of ´thumbs up´ for a meeting we have one, similarly if there is an issue occuring outside the context of the harbour board.

I am adding tools to the forum so that everyone can be kept up to date by email if major issues arise.

Thoughts?

Please find atached draft minutes from the Board

Unfortunately the SYB is booked out for Thursday evening.  Please could you let me know, asap, if you can attend and how many people you have managed to contact, so that we can find a suitable alternative venue.

The SHB is meeting on February 1st and there are quite a few issues around at the moment.

Although the E forum is a very useful tool, I think it would b a great shame if our meetings were to fade away.  It is important for Mike O´B to be updated on SKEA´s views so that he can report back to the SHB and also keep us updated on their plans etc.

So will there be a meeting this week and if so will there be an agenda?  Also, don´t we have to have an AGM in March?

In response to a desire by the Harbour Board to garner as broad a spectrum of opinion on the subject, we are organising a public meeting to discuss the future of Whitestrand pontoon, both its structure and rules of operation.

Ian Gibson will be along to answer questions around the thinking to date and to hear your views.

The date is 24th November, venue to be confirmed, but provisionally the Yacht Club chart room.

All welcome, please ask everyone you think may have a view.

Last week 3 Boston Whalers were taken from their moorings and beached at Goodshelter on an evening new moon spring.  Three engines, worth approx £50k, were stolen.

Given that there are only a very few evening new moon springs in the year where there are many boats still on the water, and it is dark, I should like to suggest that in future Harbour Security recognise that such ´windows´ are going to be high risk times.

Thoughts?

as prime movers in raising the debate on the pontoon renewal both SKEA and The South Hams Society would wish to congratulate and thank, The Harbour Board and the Harbour Master on their decision to use Greenheart Piles.

Undoubtedly this has helped to reduce the visual impact and would seem to suit the setting very well

Please see the agenda for the HB (link follows)

It looks as though there are subjects which warrant a SKEA meeting, I should like to suggest this Weds/Thurs evening (if Weds we´ll need a substitute chairman as I am away).

http://www.southhams.gov.uk/administration/committee_agendas/salcombe_harbour_board/02Nov09/agenda.htm

At the HB meeting it was decided to form a committee to report back to the HB on what would be best for all, both those who access the water and those that don´t. It was stressed at the meeting that the initial stages were to solicit views from all sides to see whether a consensus can be built.

The HB recognizes that the Whitestrand Issue has been extremely contentious in the past and does not want to repeat that mistake.

However, we think it is also fair to say that the current arrangement has outlived its effectiveness and whilst the easiest solution is to simply renew the current system as its coming up to the end of its life, the bolder approach would be to see if we could come up with a better solution that will last for many years.

To that end, any views you wish to express either on this site or privately would be gratefully received.

I would also like to stress, at this stage there is no preferred option, just a willingness to try and see what people would like.

A very brief summary:

The Board recommended to the council an increase in harbour charges at in general 2%, with the freeze on visiting yachts continued.  this compares with a 6% increse budgetted in the 5 year plan, with no decrease in  the contributions to reserves.

There were also ´tidying up´ measures.  All this is as outlined in the proposal in the agenda posted onthe SHDC site, though the detail charges sheet was amended slightly before the meeting.

The other topics in the agenda were all passed with general agreement.

In March the Harbour Board (SHB) directed the HM to look into the possibility of a water-ski area, in the harbour.  The HM put together a good plan to eveluate this ie Trial, collate facts and evidence, put to public debate, present results to SHB for their 2nd Nov. meeting.  A thoroughly professional approach to a very controversial and important issue.  On Monday the SHB threw out this plan because they "already know the answer".  So why did they instruct the HM to look into it back in March?!

The SHB know that Starehole Bay is a very high risk area (see topical issues in Agenda papers) so why have they made matters far worse by extending the outer limits of the harbour boundary to a line from Starehole Bay ie it will be illigal ( criminal offence) to exceed 8 knots in the Range and Bar Lodge area which has always been available to water-skiers.

If there is an accident in Starehole Bay because of the enforced increase in traffic, then I think the Personal Injury Lawyers will have a field-day - at our expense if they win!!

How did this "boundary" change happen without anybody realising it?

How effective is this ´e-forum´ in canvassing public opinion and how many people actually use it?  As a test of this please tick either "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" ( no abstentions please !!!).

I AM NOT IN FAVOUR OF THE 8 KNOT SPEED LIMIT BEING EXTENDED TO A LINE FROM STAREHOLE BAY (ie seaward of the bar)

See chart in 2009 Harbour Guide.  I don´t know how the HM will be able to police this extension when it is difficult enough to control the speeders north of Wolf Rock!

It is the Harbour Board meeting next week,

we do not yet have a copy of the agenda, though I understand there is nothing contentious on it...   Apparently dues will be rising by less than the rate projected in the business plan.

If anyone would like to have a SKEA meeting this Thursday, please reply to that effect here.