Suggested mooring fee increases just ‘legalised theft’ to fund airport losses

QE2 marina is a very second-rate marina compared with English south-coast marinas.

Our access is restricted to some two and three-quarter hours either side of high water.

There are no toilet facilities.

There are no dedicated parking spaces for mooring holders.

There is no marina security.

There are no waste bins for the boat owners. It is ridiculous that we have to take all the boat waste home when our cars may be parked a long way away.

You have taken all our water hoses away because of the spurious risk of salmonella poisoning.

Every boat owner now has to provide their own hose reel which they have to find space to store on-board.

The most stupid decision ever was to try to get us to remove our access steps which are essential to board a high-sided vessel. We were told that they were a trip hazard but the only people allowed on the mooring pontoon was the boat owner who was renting space.

We were forced, at great expense, to have our boat insurance cover the risk of people tripping on the steps.

When you recently installed new pontoons there was absolutely no consultation with the boat owners. You provided completely unfendered pontoon fingers which cost all of us hundreds of pounds to fender.

You also provided fingers with fixed mooring cleats rather that the

moveable mooring cleats that we had on the old pontoons. That cost us all hundreds of pounds for new mooring lines.

You really have taken us for granted and treated us very badly.

You should be reducing our mooring fees, not increasing them.

R F Wharton

St Andrew’s

GY6 8XP

Guernsey Ports managing director Ross Coppolo responds:

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your correspondent’s letter, which sets out their views on a wide range of matters.

What your correspondent’s letter clearly acknowledges is the need for further investment in our ageing facilities. Your correspondent also acknowledges that this is already underway, beginning with the recent £1.4m. investment in new pontoon facilities for over 100 mooring holders in the QE2 Marina. This represents an investment of more than £10,000 per mooring holder on these pontoons and the feedback we have received from this project has been overwhelmingly positive.

As we have set out in our consultation on our proposed fees and charges for 2025, we have more than £30m. of planned investment lined up for our harbours and marinas over the next five years.

This includes the multi-million pound replacement of the QE2 marina gates, which cannot be funded through mooring fees alone, the continuation of our pontoon replacement programme, and numerous general improvements for our 1,600 mooring holders wherever possible.

It would not be possible to fund this level of investment while keeping our mooring fees static, or reducing them, as your correspondent suggests in one sentence of their letter, only to call for greater investment in another.

Guernsey Ports has a responsibility to its mooring holders, just as it has to its many other commercial customers, and to Guernsey taxpayers more generally. There is a pressing need to reduce and ultimately eradicate our need for ongoing taxpayer subsidy, which amounts to £33m. over the last five years. This is ever more important considering the financial pressures that the island faces.

Our proposals for 2025 are designed to help Guernsey Ports cover all its operational expenses again by 2026, while also significantly increasing the level of investment to our key infrastructure.

This is being supported through the development of new revenue opportunities and operational efficiencies. Our proposed budget for 2025 includes £600,000 of cost savings, primarily at Guernsey Airport, and £500,000 of new commercial revenue from non-maritime and non-aeronautical opportunities.

Our consultation paper proposes that local mooring holders’ fees will increase by RPI (5.3%) + 3% from April 2025. This is significantly less than previously indicated and reflects our ongoing stakeholder engagement.

It is a lower percentage increase than many of our other commercial tariffs and it is proposed that this revenue will go directly into improving our harbour and marina facilities.

The demand for moorings in Guernsey Ports marinas remains strong, and it is ultimately up to your correspondent to decide whether this represents value for money for them.