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Sailing club stops operating due to new harbour fees

BBC Photograph of a muddy Minehead harbour at low tide. There are 14 boats dotted about the mud and chained to the harbour bed. In the background is Minehead seafront. On the left of the photo is the edge of the harbour wall.BBC
Harbour users now need to pay an additional fee to access their boats

A local sailing club that has been running for 60 years has stopped operating after new council charges were introduced at a harbour.

Minehead Sailing Club was previously charged a single fee of £120 a year to use the slipway, but that has now increased to £198 per member, per year, with the entrance chained and padlocked unless the fee is paid.

The club said the new fees meant it had lost half of its membership, making its financial position as a charity very difficult.

Somerset Council said the new fees mean it is able to meet its obligations to the Port Marine Safety Code, adding the harbour is run on a "cost neutral basis".

The new charges were introduced in April, with a choice of paying the annual fee or £16 a day for anyone wanting to use the slipway to access the water.

Ian Cobb is on the right of the frame, wearing a cap and a pair of glasses. He is wearing a scarf, a Southampton Football Club rain jacket and blue jeans. Behind him are rows of kayaks and canoes in different colours, and in the background is the Bristol channel.
Ian Cobb is worried about his sailing club's future

The club's commodore Ian Cobb said all their activities are based on using the slipway and the council has taken away the concessionary rate they used to pay.

He added that this has resulted in 25 members leaving the club.

"It costs about £2,500 to run the club each year, what with rent, insurances, electricity, and the maintenance is quite high - it doesn't paint a bright future for us," he said.

Club member Allan Dyer, who has moored his boat in the harbour for 25 years, said the fee increase to £198 for the year to use the slipway came with no warning, and is charged on top of the fee to leave his boat in the marina.

"For 25 years I paid Somerset Council for the mooring... I don't see why I should have to pay such a big sum," he said.

Allan is just off centre in the frame, and to the right of the photograph is the harbour with a few boats moored at low tide. Behind him is the harbour wall. Allan has white short hair and a pair of glasses. He's wearing a black fleece jacket.
Allan Dyer has moored his boat in Minehead for 25 years

The Liberal Democrat MP for Tiverton and Minehead, Rachel Gilmour, said: "It's just depressing, because Minehead is a seaside town, the harbour should be the focus, but it's not... and people can't use it because they're being asked to pay too much money."

In a statement Somerset Council said it is allowed to increase fees in order to maintain and improve the harbour which is run "on a cost neutral basis".

It added: "The charges for using the infrastructure and slipway enable us to meet our requirements under the Port Marine Safety Code."

The council also said it is open to positive engagement and discussion and hoped to meet Mrs Gilmore at the earliest opportunity.

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