The Yarmouth (Isle of Wight) Harbour Revision Order 2011

Moorings

Moorings provided by Commissioners

14.—(1) The Commissioners may place, lay down, maintain, renew, use or remove such moorings in the harbour—

(a) on land owned or leased by them or in which they hold an appropriate interest; or

(b) with the consent in writing of the owner and lessee thereof, on any other land in the harbour

as they consider necessary or desirable for the convenience of vessels.

(2) The Commissioners may from time to time grant a licence of any mooring provided under this article to any person wishing to use the same for such periods, and on such terms and conditions, and on payment of such reasonable fees, as the Commissioners may from time to time determine.

Moorings provided by others

15.—(1) The Commissioners may from time to time grant a licence to any person owning an appropriate interest in land within the harbour limits to place, lay down, maintain, renew and use moorings, buoys and similar apparatus for vessels in the harbour.

(2) A licence under this article—

(a) may be granted for such a period and on such reasonable terms and conditions as the Commissioners think fit;

(b) may relate to one or more moorings; and

(c) may permit or restrict the sub-letting of those moorings.

(3) The Commissioners shall give notice to the applicant of their decision whether to grant a licence.

(4) If within three months from the date of the making of an application for a licence under this article the Commissioners do not give notice under paragraph (3), they shall be deemed to have refused the application.

(5) The Commissioners may charge a reasonable fee for the grant of a licence under this article and such fee may represent an amount to be paid instead of the harbour dues that would otherwise be payable in respect of the vessels using the moorings in question.

(6) Nothing in any licence granted under this article shall entitle any person to place, lay down, maintain, renew, use or have any mooring on land not owned or leased by that person or by the Commissioners or in which that person has no appropriate interest.

(7) The Commissioners shall have the right to refuse a licence to any person who is unable to establish ownership of an appropriate interest in land.

(8) The Commissioners shall not, when exercising their powers under this article, unreasonably refuse to grant a licence to any person.

(9) Any question of whether a licence has or has not been unreasonably refused, or as to the reasonableness of the terms and conditions of a licence, shall be determined by the Secretary of State on appeal made in accordance with article 26.

Offences as to moorings

16.  Any person who—

(a) intentionally obstructs any person acting under the authority of the Commissioners in setting out moorings;

(b) intentionally and without lawful authority pulls up or removes any moorings or any part of any moorings;

(c) places, lays down, maintains, renews or has in the harbour any mooring not provided by the Commissioners under article 14 or licensed by the Commissioners under article 15;

(d) without reasonable excuse causes or permits a vessel to be moored in the harbour except at a mooring so provided or licensed by the Commissioners, or at a quay, jetty or other apparatus provided for the mooring of vessels;

(e) without reasonable excuse causes or permits a vessel to be moored at a mooring provided by the Commissioners under article 14 or licensed by the Commissioners under article 15 which the person is not entitled to use; or

(f) contravenes the terms or conditions of any licence granted under article 14 or article 15,

shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.

Moorings – enforcement provisions

17.—(1) If any person commits an offence under article 7 in respect of any non-compliance with a requirement made under paragraph 1(h) of Schedule 3, or any offence under article 16(c), the Commissioners may remove the mooring in question and recover from that person the expenses incurred in doing so.

(2) If any person commits an offence under article 7 in respect of any non-compliance with a requirement made under paragraph 1(h) of Schedule 3, or any offence under article 16(d) or (e), the Commissioners may at any time after the expiration of the period of 7 days from the date of that offence—

(a) remove the vessel, including any tackle with the vessel;

(b) sell or otherwise dispose of the vessel and tackle; and

(c) recover out of the proceeds of sale—

(i) any unpaid licence fee payable under article 14;

(ii) any unpaid licence fee payable under article 15; and

(iii) the expenses of removal and disposal under this paragraph,

and shall hold any surplus proceeds of sale on trust for the owner of the vessel.

(3) If the proceeds of sale under paragraph (2) above are insufficient to reimburse the Commissioners for the expenses referred to in paragraph (2)(c)(iii), the Commissioners may recover the deficiency, or, where there is no sale, the whole of the expenses, from the owner as a debt.

(4) The Commissioners shall, before removing a vessel in exercise of their powers under this article, give 7 clear days’ notice in writing of their intention to do so except in a case of emergency when they shall give notice as soon as reasonably practicable after they have removed the vessel.