Meeting Details

The Interim Estates Manager gave an update on operations in the harbour. The winter period had been quiet and largely focussed on maintenance. There were few visiting vessels, although there were still survey vessels in the area. There had been no incidents in the harbour.

Winter works were taking place on the touring site to replace electric heaters with gas due to the costs of running the new showers. New windows were also being installed which would also help to reduce costs. Drainage works were taking place.

The broken North Pier fender was still on the sea bed. The buoy attached to it had sunk as the structure had moved slightly deeper. Divers were still waiting for a weather window to enable them to survey the remaining structure and recover the broken section. Options for replacement, including whether replacement was necessary, were being considered. 

New visitor moorings were being procured, the tender would be issued before the end of February. Mr MacFarlane asked if a licence would be obtained from the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) for this work. Mr Flunder added that the advisory group were concerned about the Harbour Revision Order and whether this would give the MMO more say in the harbour, as under the current Harbour Order MMO licences were not necessary as the Harbourmaster gave permission for work. Mr MacFarlane stated that even if the Harbourmaster gave permission, the MMO could not be ignored as the MMO were the National Authority. Many companies would not do works without MMO permissions. Mr Flunder stated that it was common practise to do works without MMO licences. Mr MacFarlane stated this may be the practise, but the MMO should have been consulted in many instances. Mr Pickles stated he believed that broken structures could be replaced, but new structures had to have permissions. The Chair confirmed he would ask for clarification on this.

The Port Marine Safety Code audit of the Harbour would be carried out in February. 

Work was ongoing to clear the fishermen’s compound. Notices would be issued shortly for a foreshore clear up, this may be combined with the Town Council’s community clear up programme. 

 Core samples were being drilled from the North Wall as part of the work on the promenade north of Southwold Pier. Once this had been done next steps for the North Wall would be considered. 

Several stakeholders had raised concerns over the state of the harbour road. The advisory group had suggested regrading the road with a camber, so water flowed back into the river, and quotes were being sought for this. 

 There were six abandoned boats in the harbour and options for disposing of these were being looked at as appropriate. Mr MacFarlane stated there was a small port who were doing some good work in removing wrecks and may be able to provide best practise here. 

The Chair stated that items 5 and 6 would be taken together.

The Committee received report ES/2249, relating to financial performance from 1 April 2024 to 31 December 2024 and report ES/2250 relating to financial performance from 1 April to 30 August 2024. 

In the Harbour, total income for the first three quarters of 2024/25 was £180,466, exceeding the budget of £158,162 by £22,304. This was mainly due to strong performance in mooring fees and charged. Total expenditure was £204,305, significantly above the budget to date of £145,200 
by £59,105 due to overspends on supplies and services and additional staffing hours during peak season. The Interim Estates Manager confirmed that £54,000 of this overspend related to contract staff for the caravan and campsite, but it was too late to reallocate this. This did not effect net figures as it was all harbour lands, however it would be coded correctly going forward. 

On the Caravan and Campsite, Static Caravan Income was £284,794 against budget of £297,000 which represents a quarter three deficit of £12,207. Touring Pitch income was £254,064.49 against budget £295,000.00 which represents a Q3 deficit of £40,935.51. Other Fees & Charges income was £15,046 against a budget of £9,150 which represented a half year surplus of £5,896.00. There was a combined deficit of £47,246.09. The Interim Estates Manager noted that there was an advance payment of £395,535 for 2025/26 which was disregarded from headline figures as it represented accruals into 2025/26. Overspend on the campsite had been reduced between Q3 and Q4. 

Combined across the harbour and caravan and campsite income was £696,542, trailing the budget of £716,182 by £19,640. Expenditure was £392,636 against the budget of £362,907, an overspend of £29,729. The combined net surplus was £303,906, which was £49,369 behind the budgeted figure of £353,275. 

It was noted that the Q3 overspend had been recognised and changes made to reduce this. Looking forward for 2025/26 there was a deficit showing, and this was forecast to grow. Any surplus was put into harbour reserves. 

Mr Flunder stated that the advisory group had queried the additional staff costs as this seemed very high and needed to be controlled going forward. A good deal of information had been provided and a summary would be useful to help aid understanding. 

Regarding additional employment costs, the Strategic Director confirmed that the whole operation was understaffed and there were issues with lone working with cash on premises and the decision to bring in additional staff was due to safety. Staffing levels had been much higher in the past and proper staffing needed to be put in place in the future. The Interim Estates Manager confirmed they would be looking at how some of the processes were done to keep staff safe, and to ensure a good service was provided. Mr MacFarlane agreed that there could be a reduction in the amount of paperwork and forms visitors had to fill in on site and this could be done beforehand.

The Interim Estates Manager stated that they were looking at options for the thirty vacant plots on the caravan site. The advisory group had suggested putting in seasonal licences for towed caravans etc. to take these plots – these would be better mixed with the static caravan owners rather than using them for touring pitches. The Chair agreed this sounded like a sensible idea, but if this was not successfully taken up and the touring site was fully booked in the summer then these pitches should be offered for touring. The Chair also asked that the shoulder seasons on the touring site should be better promoted and marketed. 

The Interim Estates Manager had raised spoken with the finance department to confirm the status of the reserves on the harbour as £4million figure was shown in the accounts. Finance confirmed that the Ringfenced reserve for the Southwold Harbour stood at £400,000 as at 31 March 2024.  This was an earmarked reserve in the Council’s accounts and at year end the balance on the Harbour revenue account is transferred to the reserve if there is a surplus position, or a transfer out of the reserve if there is a deficit. This is to ensure that all the income and expenditure relating to the Harbour from Harbour lands stays within the Harbour Account.  This reserve is the only available reserve for the Harbour, and it should be noted that the projections over the Medium Term Financial Strategy show this reserve being fully utilised to support the annual Harbour Account as revenue expenditure is exceeding revenue income. The £4million being reference has been picked up from the accounts that are published as part of the Annual Report.  This figure represents the value of capital assets and reserves, with the value of capital assets representing £5million of the figure, less a long-term liability for the repayment of capital investment.  It should also be noted that the accounts prepared for the annual report are presented on a completely different basis to local authority accounting.  The accounts presented to the Harbour Management Committee on quarterly performance, annual budget and outturn is the information that should be used to understand the financial position of the Harbour Account, along with the earmarked reserve for the Harbour held within the Council’s accounts – the £400,000 previously mentioned, and a capital allocation for the Harbour in the Council’s capital programme.

Mr Flunder asked if the position of the reserves since 2019 could be presented. The Chair stated he had raised this with finance, and was similarly raising issues with reporting of accounts to the Department for Transport. The Interim Estates Manager confirmed a return had been submitted for 2023/24 to the Department for Transport.

It was by a majority vote 

RESOLVED

That the Harbour Management Committee: 
1. Reviewed the financial performance of Southwold Harbour and the Caravan and Campsite up to 30 August 2024. 
2. Reviewed the forecast year-end financial position for 2024/25. 
3. Considered any necessary actions to mitigate variances or improve financial performance.
4. Report the financial outcome to the Cabinet.

This item had been discussed under five on the agenda.

It was by a majority vote

RESOLVED

That the Harbour Management Committee: 
1. Reviewed the financial performance of Southwold Harbour and the Caravan and Campsite up to 30 August 2024. 
2. Reviewed the forecast year-end financial position for 2024/25. 
3. Considered any necessary actions to mitigate variances or improve financial performance. 
4. Reported the financial outcome to the Cabinet.

Item 7 was withdrawn from the agenda.

The Chair stated that this had been withdrawn as the strategic group had been unable to agree a full plan going forward. The group agreed that rents on the static site would have to increase to a commercial rate, but even with this the harbour would not be able to afford the infrastructure works in the harbour. The group was also in agreement that the thirty empty pitches had to be put back into use as soon as possible. The harbour was running out of chances to save it due to climate change, and it was important for the right plan to come forward. There was a lot of uncertainty in how much works would cost and how much money could be generated, more time and research was needed on options.

The Chair invited updates from the Committee's working groups.

The Compliance group had been meeting regularly leading up to the Port Marine Safety Code Audit that would be happening in February.

The Strategic Plan task and finish group had also been regularly to discuss the plan for the harbour. They were thoroughly considering all options and report would be bought to the committee at the next meeting.