Tuesday, 25 March 2014

letter to fife councillors REF: meeting of 25th March

To the Councillors attending the Fife Councils executive meeting
 Of March 25th 2014




Dear Councillors

This is information you need to know before there is any decision taken regarding the lease for North Queensferry Old Railway Pier.

I wish to reiterate our objection to a decision made by a group of three Fife councillors and five council officers held on 2013 July Wednesday 24th 3:30pm at Inverkeithing Civic Centre, awarding the status of preferred bidder to North Community Trust (NQCT) against the North Queensferry harbour Trust (NQHT) the legal entity of North Queensferry Boat Club (NQBC) the latter having been the de facto caretakers of the pier/harbour on behalf of Fife Council for 20 years.

This decision is due to be presented to you for ratification at your executive committee meeting. This decision was taken after one 45 minute meeting with both parties; a small amount of time to dispose of such a high value asset; without proper due diligence being conducted (proper due diligence reports normally take a month at least and are conducted by an impartial outside source)

As shown in our presentation we (NQHT/NQBC) are committed to the development of the old railway pier/harbour area as a marine user’s haven for the west fife community and will encourage other marine leisure pursuits; allowing free use of the pier area to planned community events whilst investing in new facilities, further supporting the estimated tourist influx.

As the present functioning management team of this council asset we also ensured that council fees (approx 20.000 pounds annually in total) are paid by our members. NQBC/NQHT feels that we have proved our ability to be formally recognised as the caretakers by being awarded the lease.

 The other potential trust has no such experience, their business plan is unrealistic; the plan presented to the panel is also full of irregularities some of which are shown below with no sustainable finance for running cost for the initial  2 years shown in said plan.

·         WE were initially informed that there would be no large increase in our fees, they now intend after year one to increase our fees by 28%.
·         They mention other community based trusts none of whom run a harbour.
Quoted community consultations results are based on less than 5% of residents
Community groups have organised at the pier
·         1 raft race per year
·         1 wedding reception in 20 years
·         1 Garden event in  20 years
NQCB have organised
·         2 boat festivals ( mentioned in parliament)
·         The building and Launching of 2 rowing skiffs owned by NQBC (3rd under construction)
·         Supported the revival of NQ vs. SQ rowing race
·         Organised donations to the local schools and the local Gala.
·         Space/ use of our equipment for sail-ability fife to re-furbish a boat gifted to them.





NQCT hope to offer at the pier

·         The use of the area for informal (unsupervised) BBQ’s and children’s activities in an area that could prove unsafe
·         Day long events Festivals, weddings, corporate events, these could take income from local businesses, including the newly planned forth bridge visitor centre in NQ.

Visitor attractions
·         Any village-wide tourism plan will require an expensive infrastructure and experienced management to provide the toilets, parking and catering facilities.
·         There is no infrastructure to accommodate thousands of visitors, cars or buses ( the day of the NQ-SQ rowing event there was grid lock in and around the harbour) the space is not there and cannot be created other than knocking down surrounding private housing and infilling part of the west bay. Perhaps NQCT would be better organising parking at the community centre to accommodate the requirements of the proposed sports centre for which they have forgotten to include in the plans for this proposal.


Marine tourism
·         NQBC has the mooring rights from the Crown and will own these rights  long-term
·         NQCT cannot bring any touring yachts into these moorings.
·         All visitors from cruise ships are landed at SQ this includes transportation from cruise ships, guided tours and local walking tours this  arrangement was  created by the SQ initiative.
·         NQBC has met with members of the  Cross Party Group studying this area of tourism and we have sought advice  on development and harbour usage

Maritime activities
·         NQBC has already funded and built 2 rowing skiffs
·         NQBC already  offers boat maintenance
·         Sailing and Sailing lessons already tried and failed by a trustee of NQCT
·         Canoeing and kayaking  already happens with the help of NQBC, these people do not wish premises on the harbour

NQBC have been told we will not be allowed any more new project boats, yet NQCT wish to encourage boat building/ repairs.
Despite a decrease in hard standing NQCT wish an increase of 22 boats from 78 to 100. The area they wish to allocate for all year round hard standing has not been tested to ensure it can take the weight of the boats that would use it. This area is too small to take the number of boats and trailers that would be required to be stored there without removing trees and reinforcing the embankments.
NQCT wish to appoint a harbour master, despite the fact he/she will have no authority over boats moored in the harbour.

Portacabin providing toilet facilities and office space already exists and owned by NQBC with the disposal of toilet waste being dealt with at NQBC expense.

Work shop building changing to a possible wide range of boat building and group activities despite the fact that NQBC owns the power and equipment that is present in this building.

The new car park, with possible seasonal activities will turn this area that is a small park into a desolate empty unappealing space.

NQCT long term vision of a multipurpose building – there has been no feasibility study as to the suitability of the area for such extensive development ie whether the side pier wall/ embankment could take the weight without collapsing.

NQBC/NQHT is financially stable and can support initial/everyday running costs without any borrowings or grants indefinitely.


NQCT led by a QC has chosen to ignore basic law;

·         The existing tenants must not be disadvantaged by changeover (tenant’s rights)

·         Any heads of terms for any lease are required to secure for NQBC the facilities that NQBC has always had and without which NQBC (the tenant) would otherwise be seriously disadvantaged; i.e. water, electricity, club house/tea cabin, workshop and secure storage of communal club items and property along with sufficient space for boats and boat moving equipment.

·         This should be included in such a way as to secure this for NQBC for as long as the club exists. NQBC should not be disadvantaged or it future threatened by fee/rent increases beyond normal in line increases with inflation; the club cannot be used as a cash cow to fund unrealistic and unfeasible day dreams.


The members of NQBC who number 97 at present have no confidence in NQCTs ability to manage the harbour and fear for the future of a club which will have been established for 60 years. The reason for our lack of confidence is shown partly by the NQCT business plan presented to the panel and more so in the different business plan presented to the community at an open meeting in which our year round space will be decreased by approximately 80%. They have shown no knowledge of boat owner’s needs; their plans are unfeasible.

 We are not a prestigious club but simply a unique well respected workingmen’s boat club with such boat building skills that is the envy of every facility along both sides of the river; we do encourage projects and this year seen the launch of an old navy cutter that was restored by one of our members  with more to be restored and a new build to be launched,  we also secured a lottery grant to build a racing skiff, in fact we built two, helping start up the North Queensferry Community rowing club to whom we lend these skiffs .

The NQCT chairman is a QC and we do not have that legal expertise to know our rights, should 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.




It is also our considered opinion that Councillor Pat Callaghan should recuse himself from this discussion as he was part of the interviewing group for the council. Councillor Mike Shirkie’s bias in favour of NQCT should be noted in view of his current position as a trustee of NQCT

David Ross invited two representatives of NQBC/NQHT to a meeting to discuss our concerns regarding the possible takeover of the lease by NQCT and we were assured an investigation would be undertaken to ensure due diligence was taken in the acceptance of NQCT as preferred bidders. We have had no feedback from Mr Ross and our concerns remain unanswered. The speed with which this has come before this committee could lead to the assumption that no such investigation has taken place.


Should you require further information, wish to meet or visit us at the Old railway Pier please contact the writer in the following manner

Emails


Websites

northqueensferryboatclub.co.uk
northqueensferryharbourtrust.co.uk

Blog
nqbc123

North Queensferry Boat club
Old Railway Pier
North Queensferry
Fife
KY11 1HW

Yours


David Stewart



CEO NQHT
Chairman NQBC





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