The Harbour Committee discussed the budget for the Tor Bay Harbour Authority, noted the minutes of the recent Harbour Liaison Forums, and approved the proposed Operational Moorings Policy for 2025/2026. The committee recommended that the Cabinet approve a balanced budget of £4,157,000 for 2025/26, which included earmarked funding of £332,000 for several projects in Brixham, Paignton and Torquay.

Harbour Budget

The committee considered the Harbour Authority revenue budget and set the level of fees and charges for the forthcoming year. An average increase of 3.5% to fees and charges, rounded up to the nearest £, was proposed. The Interim Director of Tor Bay Harbour Authority, Matt Reeks, is to complete a full review and inspection of harbour assets and infrastructure in early 2025. This review will be used to inform a costed 10-year maintenance and replacement programme, which will help the committee understand the financial sustainability of the harbour over the longer term.

The 2025/26 budget remains challenging due to increasing costs, particularly in respect of capital, repairs and maintenance as well as pay awards and recent proposals within the Government’s Autumn Budget statement for increases to employer NI contributions.

The proposed budget allocates £100,000 to dredging¹ and earmarked funding of £332,000 was allocated from reserves for several capital projects. These are:

• Brixham Harbour:
  • £100,000 for mooring replacements (increased from £20,000).
  • £160,000 to replace chillers.
  • £29,000 to upgrade meters (increased from £20,000).
  • Concrete pad replacements (cost to be determined).
  • Quay works (cost to be determined).
• Torquay: £30,000 for RIB² repairs.
• Paignton: £12,000 to upgrade leased properties.

Councillor Foster asked for the Deputy Director of Finance to provide a breakdown of the General Fund contribution in future budget monitoring reports.

Harbour Liaison Forums

The minutes of the Harbour Liaison Forums were noted. The Brixham Harbour Liaison Forum met on 21 November 2024. The forum discussed a range of topics including:

• A request by David Saunders to use a Venari unit belonging to SWISCo as a stand-by generator for events. Matt Reeks responded that SWISCo also has a Venari unit, but it is unavailable for use as there is a commitment for it to be available for emergencies.
• Councillor Strang reported issues with the Brixham Trawler Agents turning away vessels due to storage issues, which Sam Walker confirmed he was aware of.
• The ongoing dredging of Brixham Harbour.

The Torquay and Paignton Harbour Liaison Forum met on 22 November 2024. The forum discussed a range of topics including:

• Concerns raised by Bob Penfold about the Royal Torbay Yacht Club's dinghy park being used by visiting cruise ships at short notice. Mr Penfold requested a meeting to discuss options, to which Nick Burns agreed, offering to provide a schedule of the cruise ship visits.

Operational Moorings Policy

The Operational Moorings Policy 2025/2026 was approved. The policy sets out the rules and regulations for the use of moorings, berths, boat park spaces, tender racks and storage lockers within Tor Bay Harbour. No changes were made to the policy from the previous year. There was no discussion of the policy by the committee.

The policy covers a wide range of issues including:

• The allocation of moorings. A waiting list system is used to allocate moorings. Priority is given to residents of Torbay, and the council operates a use it or lose it policy to prevent moorings sitting empty.
• The transfer of moorings. Moorings can only be transferred with the prior written consent of the Harbour Master.
• The use of moorings. Moorings must only be used for the purposes stated in the original application. Vessels using moorings must not be used for residential purposes, and facilities will be withdrawn from those customers who regularly sleep on board.

The full text of the policy is available on the Tor Bay Harbour website.