This letter was sent into the press, but they published their own version.
Dear Editor
I am asking
you to publish the following open letter on behalf of the members of North
Queensferry Boat Club, Old Railway Pier North Queensferry Fife. To the following People:
To Fife Councillors.
As chairman of NQBC I request that you (the Councillors)
do not support the granting of a lease to NQCT on the grounds that
there are growing concerns that after investigating both their proposals (one
given to FC, one presented to the public at a pre-emptive meeting) there are
serious irregularities in those proposals that requires further and
more detailed investigations before a lease is granted. I also request
that the NQ Harbour issue is removed from the SWAC agenda until these concerns
are investigated.
To Leaders of the various political parties within Fife.
I submit that it would be helpful to form a
cross party committee to investigate our claims and to ensure no councillor is
subjected to external pressure by those
who wish the transfer to go ahead at all costs.
Background
We (NQBC) have been acting as caretakers for the
harbour at North Queensferry on behalf of FC to their
satisfaction for over 20 years and the club has been in existence for 60
years. We are very active within the community by raising lottery funds to
build 2 rowing skiffs for a community rowing club which we helped form and are
very active with donations to the community, we also held 2 boat festivals with
another planned for next year. Under our care-taking we have seen the return of
nesting shell ducks and a few seals visiting our bay, as a boat club our green
credentials are second to none; we are also committed to protecting our bay
from unethical development and are actively planning to try and have the pier
area declared a mini nature reserve.
When Fife Council decided to pass on the lease,
interested parties were invited to put forward proposals and to this end we
(NQBC) established North Queensferry harbour Trust (NQHT).
We submitted our proposal to a committee comprised
of Fife Councillors and officers but were unanimously turned down by said
committee in favour of a non boating Community Trust (NQCT); this was agreed in
the mid 2000’s, so no matter what NQHT presented we were not to be awarded this
lease.
NQCT which is headed by a QC; (who also chairs the
community council) has no track record of property management.
The NQCT committee's plans are to decimate the
space for the boat club and as at the moment we use every available space (98
members)
It would be a sad day for the boating community if
a club can be threatened in this way. We are not prestigious club
simply a working person’s boat club. The NQCT chairman is a QC and we do not
have the legal expertise to know our rights if the NQCT decide to increase fees to a point where our members
can no longer afford to berth their boats this may cause the disbandment of a
club with skilled men that has lasted for 60 years.
I would appreciate any assistance you can give us
and I am more than happy to meet with you at any time to provide any further
information you require to assist our cause
We
have a long-standing relationship with our neighbours and local dog walkers and
make our toilet facilities available to members of the public since the council
demolished the local toilets without supplying an alternative at the pier.
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