Cross-channel ferries may never return to Weymouth
Changes to the Harbour might mean larger vessels can't use the port
Fears that cross-channel ferry services will never be able to return to Weymouth have been raised.
Tim Day from the Weymouth harbour consultative group told Dorset councillors that many people would be very upset if they felt the idea of ferries returning one day was being closed forever.
“It will need to be explained very carefully why we are doing it,” he told the council’s harbour advisory committee.
His comment comes as Dorset Council considers a legal change in the status of the harbour – currently classed as an ‘Open Port.’
The last ferry service stopped in 2015 and despite on-off talks to persuade an operator to return, none have been tempted.
Under the proposals the right to enter and use the harbour would be restricted to vessels no larger than 24metres under a new Harbour Revision Order which will need Marine Management Organisation approval.
Weymouth harbour master Ed Carter has been quick to explain the difference between ‘right to use’ and the harbour management deciding on which larger vessels it would allow.
He says obvious larger vessels, including tall ships and the Waverley paddle steamer, were never likely to be excluded despite being longer than 24 metres.
Mr Carter told councillors that no longer being an Open Port would be helpful for the Peninsula re-development and remove an obligation to provide facilities which were seldom, if ever, used.
“The change would give us a choice in what we wish to accommodate and remove an obligation to provide costly services to all larger vessels,” said Mr Carter.
A final decision will be made later in the year by Dorset Council’s Cabinet with £40,000 set aside for the process of making the change. Once the orders are advertised there will be a public consultation on the proposals.
Among the costs are a £15,600 fee to the Marin Management Organisation, a similar sum for legal fees and around £5,000 to advertise the proposal in the London Gazette, a legal obligation, and in local newspapers.
A council report notes that the there could be a substantial increase in legal costs should complex objections arise.