2 parties have thrown their hat into the ring to manage Ventnor Harbour over the next 5 years.
The Isle of Wight Council is on the hunt for someone to run the harbour from 1st April 2023, as it looks to take a step back. The authority is also considering selling off the harbour, subject to the necessary permissions.
The £485,775 contract would allow the successful operator, with the permission of the Isle of Wight Council, to make improvements to the harbour which is nearly 30 years old. The management term would run until the end of March 2028.
Speaking at the council’s harbour committee meeting on Wednesday, Sean Newton, strategic manager of commercial services, said the council’s management work would be outsourced.
Mr Newton said 2 submissions had been received from parties wishing to take on the contract but they had not started evaluating the bids yet. The council finished accepting bids on Tuesday 27th September.
That stage would be completed by 13th October, he said, before a paper would go to cabinet in November setting out the options for the management company to be in place by 1st April.
The supplier will be expected to manage all aspects of the harbour including — but not limited to — supervision, berthing income collection, maintenance, statutory returns and the removal of seaweed.
Seaweed removal at Ventnor Harbour currently costs the Isle of Wight Council £103,000 a year but it could be covered by the management company along with other expenditure.
As part of their submission bids, the parties can put forward financial models on how they would manage the harbour and they could devise a new methodology to dispose of the seaweed.
The council says the successful operator would benefit from the income derived from mooring fees but also may be able to implement improvements to generate additional income.
Nearly £2000 per week, clearing seaweed. Our shrewd council, in action.
Does that mean our Council Tax will not go up ?????
Lol probably not surely not almost certainly not……
Some poor cash cow’s have 2 keep their pension pot’s topped up !!!!!
Get Ventnor residents to set up a group to go and collect the seaweed every low time. Save a fortune. Free tea and biscuits provided…
Make this a permanent community hours project for those that pick up community hours that the courts impose.
Sell it and be rid of it, save the council tax payers a bit
And then they get to buy it for a knock down price. And the new owners, mates of the people at the council. IOW council, selling the island off bit by bit to their mates since the 1970’s.
I never understood why the council paid for it anyway, surely it is down to who uses it??? Get them to cough up.
Ventnor Haven was once used by many boat users. recreational & commercial users alike. With visiting yachts on many occasions. A planning howler of the fishery & server lack of maintenance carried out by the first contractor, saw space reduced & a silted up entrance which is far to dangerous to navigate. Interested party’s beware. Boat users berthed on the Eastern pontoon are the only users charged. All other vessels moored in the haven by Cheetah & the fishery, DO NOT PAY. Not one signal Penny for being able to use the safety of the quiet waters, the Haven provides. If the council are to slash its harbours from 3 to 1 are they going to need the senior harbour master, employed to increase the revenue of its once 3 harbours!
A few years ago I stayed in Ventnor for a week’s holiday; fond memories of a charming, easy going place. Outsourcing to a private company is a sure sign of a cost increase somewhere, borne by someone or many; profit an obvious motivation. I would have thought the harbour being a public asset was part of servicing the community not profiting from it.