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By Bill Heaney
Are fees going to be introduced for the owners of “leisure vessels” on the River Clyde?
Transport Scotland has been in talks with Peel Ports about the possibility of this happening.
Cabinet Secretary for Transport Fiona Hyslop says that although some of Scotland’s ports are publicly owned or owned by communities, most are owned by commercial entities such as Peel Ports.
And she has advised objectors to the proposal to introduce fees should have “all hands on deck” to give evidence to any forthcoming inquiry.
She told MSPs this week: “It is for port owners to determine how best to manage their assets and utilise their resources, within the boundaries of any statutory requirements or limitations.
“In relation to fees and dues, how, when and what to charge forms part of that consideration. However, I am aware that the proposal has raised a number of concerns from vessel owners across Scotland who access the Clyde estuary.”
She says she has written to Peel Ports, who have succeeded the Clyde Port Authority, on 18 December regarding the issue.
However, Stuart McMillan, the MSP for Greenock, said it was “helpful” that Ms Hyslop “is very much aware of the concerns of the boating community”.
The SNP MSP added: “She will also be aware of the work that I have undertaken, alongside Kenneth Gibson and Clare Adamson, through the cross-party group on recreational boating and marine tourism, which I convene.
“Will the cabinet secretary confirm whether she is prepared to meet members of the boating community in order to listen to their serious concerns about the proposal? What powers does the Scottish Government have to prevent such a fee from being imposed?”
Fiona Hyslop replied: “Ship, passenger and goods dues are charges that can be levied under the Harbours Act 1964. The levels at which such dues are set is, in essence, a commercial matter for the relevant port authority.
“Section 31 of the act provides that Scottish ministers have a right of objection to the imposition of such charges if certain criteria are met, but that right has never been used in the past 25 years.
“Therefore, any person who is considering making a formal objection should take independent legal advice. Given that ministers might have an adjudication role, it might not be appropriate for me to meet directly with anyone who seeks to make such a legal objection.
“I understand that Peel Ports has committed to conducting a consultation before considering introducing any new charges, so I encourage members of the boating community to engage with that.”
Labour MSP Paul Sweeney said: “As Peel Ports has jurisdiction from the River Clyde at Glasgow Green right down to the Firth of Clyde, it has a significant impact on about 450 square miles of inshore waters.
“It has claimed that the imposition of conservancy fees for leisure vessels is common practice on the part of other statutory harbour authorities.
“I asked the Scottish Government whether it could provide data on that, but it does not hold such data, which I find alarming. Does the cabinet secretary understand why that is the case?
“Will she look to gather data on other statutory harbour authorities’ charging of leisure vessel conservancy fees? Will she also examine the oversight and regulation of port authorities in Scotland more generally?”
This might at last deliver an answer to which public body has responsibility for the wrecks on the River Leven and where the Leven begins and the Clyde ends.
There were a number of legal cases about 50 years ago about ownership of the towpath which runs from Dumbarton to Balloch.
The Sweeney family from Balloch were involved in a court action which they eventuially won over how far they could extend their leisure boat boat business on the Leven.
The case was extremely complicated and involved research dating back many centuries.
This was illustrated by the fact that one of the QCs used the expression “bureaucratic bumbledom” to describe the council’s pleadings.
Fiona Hyslop told MSPs on Thursday: “I set out the oversight and governance aspects in my previous answer. I must point out, though, that the vast majority of port authorities are commercial operators, and we do not hold information about commercial entities across a variety of areas.
“However, given the current concerns, I will see whether it is possible to identify whether other commercial port authorities would be prepared to share their information to enable us to gain a better understanding.
“I understand that other such authorities charge in a way that has not been done for some of the vessels that we are discussing.”
Peel Ports Authority. Absolute joke.
Peel Holdings is predominately a foreign registered property developer with offshore holdings in what are commonly described as tax havens.
Clyde port along with huge swathes of land were privatised under Thatcher to be thereafter scooped up by Peel.
Hiving off the family silver the poor donkeys lost the ports that they owned. But hey, the lumpen poor wouldn’t have it any other way.
Think electricity and gas, profits extracted, swingeing prices paid, cold homes and fuel poverty and one gets the picture.
No doubt with the roll out of Sir Keir Starmer’s proposals to introduce greater NHS privatisation it’ll all be different.
Anyway, back to the river. Does anyone really care. The river, like the seas, are just assets to be commercially exploited, There’s something much bigger behind this.