Picture of Dunbar Harbour
Welcome to Dunbar

SeagullMinutes of the AGM held at Hallhill Healthy Living Centre, Dunbar Friday 23rd January 2009

Welcome and Apologies

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the 9th AGM of the Dunbar Harbour Trust

2. Minutes of previous AGM

The minutes of last year’s AGM were approved as read

3. Chairman’s Report and Resume of eight year

George MacNeil did a presentation on the Macarthur’s Store project

The project has gone well with no cash flow issues. The project was predicted to end

before Christmas but archaeological discoveries and extreme frost have held up the work.

The building should be complete by the end of February and the overall project should be

complete by Mid March/Mid April.

Internally the building has proved more interesting than expected with the discovery of the biggest collection of recycled ships timbers in Scotland and a fully paved floor under the wooden floor. The 1720 building has been built on to a 17th century building. Externally we unearthed the outline of the old cobbled surface of ‘Holey Quay’ and the original stone cut steps to the old harbour. These original surfaces will be retained where possible. The interpretative material will include information on the archaeology discovered during the project. It is planned to hold open days to allow the public to view the building The Chairman expressed the thanks of the Board for all the hard work George has done on this project.

Colin McWhannell delivered the Chairman’s report. (A copy is attached in the appendices) He thanked the members of the DHT and HMC for all their hard work and mentioned that both bodies need new members.

The Chairman introduced the Finance Director’s report and thank Becky Donald and John Norman the Auditor for all the work on the preparation of the Annual Accounts

4. Annual Financial Statement Becky Donald – Finance Director, presented the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31st January 2008. No questions were asked and the accounts were approved.

 

5. Questions from the floor

Will the AGM move back to November in future? Yes the delay was due to our first Audited Charity accounts under new legislation

Is there a plan to finish the HM Office? The external work is complete and the internal work has been held up by the discovery of asbestos – we are in the process of obtaining funding for this work

Will the old tidal mechanism be a feature following the upgrade? Yes this will be investigated and renovated

Will the damage caused by the lorries at the entrance to Custom House Square be repaired? The tarmac in front of the gable end will be repaired under the THI by ELC in the next six weeks and the rest of the tarmac should be re-instated by summer. Will there be signs suggesting where cars can park to avoid them being abandoned blocking the square? Residents should speak to the site agents Hunter Clark if they have a particular problem but the street is accessible to the public

Are the mooring and hard standing costs ready to be sent out with the application forms to ensure all moorings are allocated for the start of the season? This issue is still to be discussed but there were no plans at this time to increase fees by any more than inflation. The application forms should be going out next month.

Are DHT or ELC responsible for repairing the broken road surface at the harbour? ELC is responsible for this

Why is the Bridge constantly left in the ‘up’ position? The Chairman stated that the policy of DHT is to have the Bridge up at all times during the Winter and down all summer

When will the allocation of Stores for MacArthurs Store be available and will the pricing remain the same? GMcN will sent the plans to CMcW who will put them on the Notice Board and thata management sub committee had been set up which wouldbe reviewing the costs of running the building but that there was no change as yet to the original calculation.

Are there any plans to upgrade the moorings? The main chains are the responsibility of the DHT and the risers are the responsibility of the boat owners. The main chains are inspected annually which is a requirement of our Insurance

6. Plans for the year ahead

Most of the Plans were covered by the Chairman’s report which is attached

7. Any other Competent Business

None

Chairman thanked all for attending and brought the meeting to a close.

Appendices 1 Chairman’s Report

DUNBAR HARBOUR TRUST 9TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 9th annual general meeting of Dunbar Harbour Trust and thank you for coming along. Copies of the accounts for the year to 31st January 2008 are available and I hope you have taken a copy to read. I apologise for the fact that this meeting is being held so long after the year end but, as you will see from the accounts, many changes to the format of the accounts of charities such as the DHT were introduced last year and it has taken considerably longer to prepare them this year than in the past. It is also now a requirement that the accounts are professionally audited. My thanks to our Finance Director Becky Donald and our auditor John Norman of Norman, Downie and Kerr Ltd for all their work in preparing and auditing the accounts for us. Hopefully this year’s accounts will be a lot easier to prepare.

I don’t propose to go over the activities of the Trust for the year to 31st January 2008 for two reasons – firstly because you will find details of the activities set out in the Directors’ report in the accounts and secondly because they now somewhat historic and I would prefer to talk about more recent events.

Firstly I would like to talk about the largest project which the Trust has so far been involved in, namely the restoration and development of McArthur’s Store. I am very pleased that George McNeill, the project manager, is able to join us this evening and I would like to hand over to him to give us a brief progress report. Before I do however, I would just like to say how fortunate we are to have the services of George as project manager. George has considerable experience of project management and is a well ken’t face in and around council and local government circles and I would just like to take this opportunity to publicly thank him for all his hard work on behalf of the Trust.

Most of the DHT’s work is split between two bodies, the HMC on the one hand and the Board on the other. The work of the HMC is critical to the smooth running of the harbour and my thanks to Rodney Thomas, the harbour master and the other members of the HMC for their excellent work over the past 18 months.

There are a large number of projects which the HMC are currently involved in and I am only going to mention a few at this time. If you would like me to expand further please ask during question time and I will happily do so.

  1. The asbestos in the harbour master’s office is to be removed and restoration completed.
  2. The outstanding work on the bridge remains outstanding and in spite of the efforts of local councillors, I cannot give you a hand over date as yet.
  3. A power davit is to be installed on the south quay of Victoria Harbour.
  4. The level of the maintenance bay is to be raised and repairs carried out to the adjacent harbour wall.
  5. Extensions to the foot of two ladders in Victoria Harbour are to be fitted to prevent ropes getting caught underneath them.
  6. Discussions are taking place with diving clubs with a view to deciding on suitable facilities for divers which will take them away from the harbour entrance.

On the DHT Board front, there are a number of larger projects which are in progress.

  1. Plans have been submitted to the planning department for the construction of a small amenities block on the area of land previously occupied by the ballroom. This will provide toilet, shower and washing facilities for harbour users including crews of visiting leisure craft and toilet facilities for the general public.
  2. Plans are being drawn up to improve access to and within the battery on Lamer Island. This will probably involve some walkways inside the battery being made with interpretative boards to inform visitors of the history of the battery. We did have more ambitious plans for developing the battery but these are on hold for the time being.
  3. On a grander scale, funding is being sought to pay for a feasibility study for a possible breakwater outside the harbour entrance which would eliminate the surge past the harbour entrance and allow us to consider deepening of the harbour and making it into a 24/7 safe haven for craft in the Firth of Forth. It would also allow us to consider the installation of pontoons in the harbour which would increase the number of vessels which could use the harbour and make Dunbar a more attractive destination for visiting craft. The RNLI have also expressed interest in this project as they are keen for the ALB to return to the harbour.

As you can see, there is lot going on none of which would be possible without the support and hard work of the other members of the DHT Board and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for all they have done, and hopefully will continue to do, on behalf of the Trust. We are always on the look out for new members of both the HMC and the Board and if any of you here this evening would like to participate in ant way please let me know.

There will be an opportunity for questions at the end of the meeting and I would now lake to hand you over to our Finance Director, Becky Donald who will try to explain a little bit about the financial statements for the year to 31 January 2008.