fishing boats at Southwold Harbour

Row over control of Southwold Harbour

Kathryn Bradley Friday, March 1, 2013
4:12 PM

A row erupted this week over the future of Southwold Harbour amid claims that Waveney District Council had broken a promise to hand over the ownership rights to a charitable trust.

Angry campaigners attended Tuesday’s town council meeting to voice their frustration at Waveney’s continued claim on the harbour lands and assets – which includes the nearby caravan site – and the revenue it generates.

They insisted the town council was the legal owner of the harbour and called for it to come back under its control.

At Tuesday’s meeting, campaigners presented a “letter of undertaking”, signed by Waveney District Council and Southwold Town Council in February 2011, agreeing to put disagreements over ownership to one side and transfer any rights they had to the harbour to a new body called the Southwold Harbour Trust.

Prospective voluntary trustees signed up to the scheme four years ago and have since being working with Waveney to bring the project to fruition to secure the long-term sustainability of the harbour.

But Alan Davies, chairman of the prospective Southwold Harbour Trust, said the process had ground to a halt.

He said: “After four years of effort on our part, and despite a letter of intent being signed by Waveney District Council, we can make no further progress in setting up the trust to which we were appointed.

“Waveney are not going to set up this trust and transfer rights over the harbour lands and assets to a local body.”

Mr Davies said he believed Waveney intended to keep the income from the caravan site and would not take out loans to carry out the “significant and essential capital investment programme”, as the trust would have done.

As a result, he said, the harbour would continue to decay, putting its long-term operational capability at risk.

Mr Davies said Waveney proposed an alternative solution a year ago, to establish a joint management committee, but this had not moved forward and it would not have resolved the problem of the revenue from the harbour not being reinvested in it.

“The only way forward that is now likely to ensure the harbour can be maintained in a fit-for-purpose condition in the future is for Southwold Town council to establish its rightful ownership over the harbour lands and assets and then set up a local trust to govern its operations,” he added.

Graham Hay Davison, chairman of the Southwold Harbour and River Blyth Users Association, echoed Mr Davies’ sentiments and urged the town council to recognise its responsibilities and take action.

Mr Hay Davison said there had long been disagreement over the ownership of the harbour, which was run as a charitable undertaking managed by commissioners and trustees until their duties, obligations and responsibilities were transferred to Southwold Borough Council, now the town council, in 1898.

The 1933 Southwold Harbour Order confirmed the validity of that transfer and confirmed the borough council as the trustee of the charitable undertaking. Its charitable holdings were legally devolved to its successor – the town council – when it was formed under the 1972 Local Government Act.

Mr Hay Davison said the town council claimed to have given the charitable undertaking to Waveney in 1974 but the terms of 1933 Order prevented this, and only an Act of Parliament could relieve it of its responsibilities.

Town councillors debated the issue during Tuesday’s meeting.

Southwold mayor Michael Ladd said the town council had met the leader and chief executive of Waveney three weeks ago and now had to decide a way forward and stick to it.

Simon Tobin suggested a working group of four councillors should look in depth at the town council’s options with the prospective trust members and the harbour users group and report back to the meeting in March.

He said: “We have to be 100pc crystal clear and right on this. If we go into court action with Waveney and we are not right it will cost us a fortune.”

Members voted in favour of the proposal for the working group, which will include Mr Tobin, John Windell, Robin Winter and Ian Bradbury.

A Waveney spokesman said: “Although we understand that a range of views were expressed at the meeting, the town council reached a consensus decision to move this issue forward constructively. They will now form a working group to discuss our ideas further with the trustees.

“Our position remains the same. We are ready and committed to work with the town council and the trustees to manage the future of the harbour in a way that fairly balances the needs of all.”

8 comments

The trouble is, for justice to be done, the lawyers will charge both WDC & STC a fortune, which we all will end up paying for. Maybe WDC should forget their multi-million pound new offices scheme & use the savings to re-imburse Southwold, if the case is as obvious as many commenting here say. Would anyone responsable for any decisions leading to the alledged misuse of funds be held to account? It's interesting to note a comparison with the centuries long dispute betweeen medieval Dunwich & WalberswickBlythbugh. Dunwich denied their claim to the rights to tolls for shipping using the harbour for centuries, until finally documentation was found that proved Dunwich had been in the wrong all the time. Dunwich enjoyed Royal favour on account of the naval support they provided the crown.

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Frank

Sunday, March 3, 2013
I recall in October 2003 there was a meeting in St Edmunds Church in Southwold and a speaker told of the way that WDC had illegally usurped control over Southwold Harbour in 1974. There have been numerous reports in WDC and Southwold Town Council (STC) minutes and agendas since, all of which refused to address the fundamental issue at stake; the Ownership of the Harbour at Southwold. According to the Southwold Harbour Order of 1933, which is still the governing legal instrument, the Ownership remains with STC. For almost 10 years STC have known this and have done nothing to correct matters. Worse still, WDC have removed millions of pounds from the Harbour, all illegally and in contravention of the 1933 Order which states that All Revenues must be retained within Southwold Harbour for the use in, and the maintenance and upkeep of, the Harbour. In 2005 WDC had their accounts held up by the Audit Commission over Southwold Harbour, the conclusion of which was that if WDC were to repay the illegally removed funds, this would tip WDC over the edge, financially. It is not surprising that WDC are clinging on to Southwold Harbour, as the longer they delay acknowledging the true legal position, that STC are the Corporation and Trustees of Southwold Harbour in accordance with the 1933 Order, the longer WDC delay the inevitable demand to return the revenues illegally removed over the last 39 years, which amount to many millions. Of course, had WDC acknowledged the true legal position in 2003, instead of insisting on 'putting the ownership issue to one side' the size of the mess they are now in would have been much smaller. Shame on WDC for wasting public funds and trying to cover up their failings. Shame on STC for trying to wash their hands of their legal duty, responsibility and liability. Double shame on the Councillors who sit in both camps, manipulating behind the scenes.

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1933 Order Expert

Saturday, March 2, 2013
For many years I operated a commercial fishing vessel from Southwold (my home town), and have experience of the times before 1974, when Waveney were given this "cash cow", and after. For several reasons, mainly the baneful presence of WDC, and lack of progress in Southwold regaining control of its Harbour, I gave this business up a few years ago. Waveney were intent on ramping up the rents for sheds and stages, which were already high, plus providing jobs for their various functionaries - at our expense. Their favouritism, and unscrupulous behaviour, was also considerable. For some time I kept asking the various Southwold and WDC councillors (some are both, and are also trustees of the Trust supposed to take over the Harbour) when the changeover was likely to happen. I was given many different excuses for the delay, including the need for the North Wall to be repaired before the town took it on. All along, it seemed to me that the excuses were feeble, and that there was more interest in sitting on committees, and holding titles and nominal trusteeships, than actually getting the Harbour back; and that WDC weren't to be trusted, as they increased their stranglehold on the Harbour. At the end, when I sold up, I discovered that WDC had invented (i.e.not in their Charges Book) a fee for giving me permission to sell my own property, which cost me £940 for shed and stage berth! After about 55 years of having a boat of some kind in the river, I was glad to be shot of the place. This latest shenanigans comes as no surprise, as WDC are intrinsically dishonest, and the "takers over" appear to be completely naive and a pushover.

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T Doff

Saturday, March 2, 2013
And the moral of this story ?. Never trust a council or councillors.

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"V"

Friday, March 1, 2013
Which harbour assets have NCC given away? I didn't think NCC owned any harbours to give away.

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Tea&Biscuits

Friday, March 1, 2013
What is needed is a working group to co-ordinate the two working groups and then just toss a coin, heads tails and it is all sorted. No legal fees. If left to WDC to act you may be waiting a long time. They're too busy dreaming about their new £13.6m offices.

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Dave01

Friday, March 1, 2013
Only to their friends

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DocOhNo

Friday, March 1, 2013
Are these people confused? They must be thinking of NCC, which freely gives away publicly-owned harbour assets.

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Mr Cameron Isaliar

Friday, March 1, 2013