A view from the Newlyn Pier and Harbour Commissioners' boardroom, by Ray Tovey.
SINGLEHANDEDLY, the commissioners have contributed substantially to the economic base of Newlyn by the sheer number of chocolate bars consumed in endless meetings in the commissioners' boardroom. I'm not convinced we all actually like chocolate, but we certainly need sugar having realised the volume of work that lies in front of us as volunteers.
A little over six months into our work, we have set up a number of committees to make sense of the job before us. These are: finance committee, harbour management and operations committee, assets committee, human resources committee and the advisory body convening committee.
We haven't gone committee mad – we needed a structure to help us focus our work and to give us a scrutiny function.
The work of the advisory body convening committee has almost come to a conclusion, and we hope it will create a lot of positive local response. Its function was to invite a number of local individuals, groups and organisations, from the community, from the fishing sector, from local and national government, to either serve on, or to give us nominations to serve on, our advisory body. The advisory body to Newlyn Pier and Harbour Commissioners is a requirement of the Harbour Revision Order that saw the new commission take over last June from its predecessors. The body will meet at least four times a year, and its main responsibilities will be to consider the business plan the commission is preparing, and comment and advise; independently determine issues it wishes to address in relation to commission operations; offer the commission advice and guidance; keep abreast of activities in the harbour and discuss matters of concern.
Strategy
It will also address issues raised by other stakeholders; meet jointly with the commission to discuss strategy and plans and help us with the organisation of consultations to identify stakeholder opinion concerning the services delivered by the commissioners.
We hope the community of Newlyn sees this as another step forward in our commitment to engage the wider community, building on the public participation element of our commissioner meetings every month. Not everything we have had to decide since our inception has been popular, particularly with our critics: the decision not to go ahead with the former proposals for the new market being the one that most quickly springs to mind.
We have also had to exclude the press and public from parts of our commissioner meetings when we are talking about matters that are confidential or sensitive, such as reviewing competitive tenders for services, or payroll matters; the reasons for any exclusions are not always understood.
As far as our promised business plan is concerned, we are on target to have our draft ready in January for consultation, in the form of a strategy with our overall aims, and specific objectives, spelt out clearly. The first to comment on the draft plan will be harbour staff; and I am sure it will be high on the agenda of the advisory body when it is formed in January.
In the meantime, the commissioners welcome comments, ideas and suggestions about the future of Newlyn harbour from those interested enough to do so. As we plan our vision of Newlyn harbour over the next five to ten years, it may look and feel very different to today. As a trust port we have to work in the best interests of our stakeholders, including the wider community of Newlyn, so the door of the boardroom is always open to those who want a serious discussion about the future of this fantastic harbour.
Any thoughts? Write to the chairman of commissioners at Newlyn harbour.
Article copyright THE CORNISHMAN