Minutes of the AGM held at
Hallhill Healthy Living Centre, Dunbar
Thursday 15 th November 2007
• Welcome and Apologies
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the 8 th AGM of the Dunbar Harbour Trust.
• Minutes of previous AGM
The minutes of last year's AGM were approved by JB and seconded by JSB.
3 . Chairman's Report and Resume of sixth year
You will all have been given a copy of the Trust’s accounts for the year to 31st January 2007 which provide you with a fairly detailed overview of the Trust’s activities during the review period and up to the present time and, as a consequence, I propose to keep my report short and concentrate on the highlights of the period and bring you up to date on where we are now and where we plan to go in the future.
From the Trust’s point of view, the one project which is occupying the majority of our time at the moment is the restoration and renovation of McArthur’s store. Difficulties associated with obtaining the necessary title deeds for purposes of securing lenders’ funding have delayed the project by several months and, while we knew this time last year that the project timetable was reasonably tight, the delays now mean that there is a real risk that funders will withdraw if the project does not start early next month. George McNeill, the project organiser, has been working flat out over the last few weeks trying to ensure the success of the project and there is a Trust Board meeting immediately after this AGM at which the Board will decide whether of not to authorise the awarding of the contract. I’m sure George will present us with a very convincing case in favour of the project but this is certainly not where we thought we be this time last year.
On a happier note, you may have noticed a couple of major improvements to the harbour in the form of a new maintenance hard standing and a new slipway. A facility for the fishermen to be able to access there boats at low tide for maintenance purposes has been high on the fishermen’s priorities for some time and, thanks to some very hard work by Ian McKane and money made available from SEERAD, such a facility was completed and commissioned a couple of months ago and has been in regular use ever since. In the case of the new slipway, it is thanks to John Band’s hard work and the assistance of a platoon of Royal Engineers and support from Lafarge that the Dunbar inshore lifeboat can now be launched safely into the harbour and we hope that it will also attract many new small boat owners to the harbour who need safe and easy launching facilities to enjoy the pleasures of Dunbar’s coastline. I would also like to draw your attention to the new interpretative board which has been installed on the quay thanks to Elaine O’Brien’s efforts, which gives some interesting information about the history of the harbour in a very attractive way.
On the matter of the harbour bridge, we are all aware that it is now a year since the old bridge was removed and we are still waiting for completion of the work required to make the bridge fully operational. I can tell you that, thanks to some very persuasive behind the scenes activity by Elaine O’Brien, we were informed by Councillor Hampshire yesterday that the outstanding electricity supply will be installed by the Council within the next to weeks, the control gear will be installed within the next four weeks and that the bridge will be fully operational thereafter. On behalf of the Trust, I can only apologise for the fact that access to the north side of the harbour has been denied to all of us for so long.
As you are no doubt aware by now, East Lothian Council has been responsible for the repair and, as a consequence, the Trust has had little or no say in how or when it was done. With the backing of Councillor Hampshire, I sincerely hope that we are now on the last lap and that the bridge will be fully operational before Christmas, this year!
Looking forward, we expect some new ladders to be installed around the harbour within the next few weeks, thanks again to Ian McKane, we are still hopeful of obtaining some funding for the erection of an amenities facility at the harbour which Rodney Thomas is working hard on, we are looking into what might be possible with regard to development of the battery on Lamer Island into a more interesting visitor attraction and my thanks to Andre Coner for his assistance on this and, in the longer term, Brian Cleator is looking into the possibility of a major project involving the creation of a breakwater outside the harbour entrance and the development of a number of interesting possibilities for the improvement to the harbour facilities which this might allow.
You will have noticed that I have made a point of referring to the members of the Trust who have been involved with the projects I have mentioned. Every member of the Trust is a volunteer and I cannot thank all of them enough for the huge amount of time and effort which they put in to the activities of the Trust and, through the Trust, for the benefit of the harbour users, visitors to the harbour and the Dunbar community as a whole. Without them, none of what I have described this evening would have been possible.
My thanks also to the harbour master, Rodney Thomas and the other members of the Harbour Management Committee for all their hard work keeping the harbour running smoothly and to Becky Donald and John Blyth for all their work and support in getting the new fuelling facility up and running and, of course, in Becky’s case for looking after the books. Thanks also to Thelma Band for preparing excellent minutes of our meetings and to Dave Johnston, a recent recruit to the Board, for his contribution towards the improvement in our communication. Last and by no means least, my thanks to Jim Dixon who keeps us abreast of what’s going on in North Berwick and on whom I can always rely to keep my feet, and those of the rest of the Board, well and truly on the ground.
Thank you again for coming along this evening. I would now like to hand over to our Financial Director Becky Donald who will provide you with a brief overview of the financial statements for the period under review. If you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them at the end of the meeting.
CMcW
15.11.07
4. Annual Financial Statement
Becky Donald - Finance Director, presented the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 st January 2007. No questions were asked and the accounts were approved .
5. Questions from the floor
There were no questions from the floor.
6. Plans for the year ahead.
Most of the plans were covered by the Chariman's report above.
6. Any other Competent Business
None
The Chairman thanked all those present for attending and brought the meeting to a close.