PORT OF ALBANY COMMUNITY CONSULTATION COMMITTEE MEETING

Transcription

1 PORT OF ALBANY COMMUNITY CONSULTATION COMMITTEE MEETING Item 1 Minutes Welcome of meeting held in Southern Ports Authority (SPA) - Port of Albany Board Room Chairman, Bruce Manning welcomed everyone to the meeting and declared it open at 5pm. 5pm, Tuesday 8 September 2015 Item 1 Welcome The Chair, Bruce Manning welcomed committee members and the meeting commenced at 5pm. Item 2 Record of Attendance/Apologies PRESENT: Chair Bruce Manning Committee members: Regional Development Australia Simon Lyas University of WA Paul Close Department of Transport Noel Chambers Chris Gunby Jane Mouritz Southcoast Diving Supplies Garry Wellstead City of Albany Dale Putland (Representing Andrew Sharpe) SPA Port of Albany staff: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) General Manager (GM) Harbour Master Environment Manager Environment Officer Executive Officer Nicolas Fertin Brad Williamson Sean Bolt Paul Mackey Rachael Goetze Gail Hastie APOLOGIES: Neil Worrell, Bill Payne, Raechel Ellis, Andrew Sharpe, Russ Clark and Cass Porter (SPA Board member). GENERAL BUSINESS: Item 3 Confirmation of minutes The minutes of the meeting held on 5 May 2015 were endorsed as a true and correct record of proceedings. Moved: Simon Lyas Seconded: Garry Wellstead Item 4 Matters arising from minutes Action item: Paul Mackey to investigate fish surveys (SCNRM) being conducted in King George Sound and report back to next meeting. Paul Mackey reported that the academic intent was focussing on water temperature and salinity effects on fish assemblages along the gradient around the Western Australian coast. The local Page 1 of 6

2 group is interested in a finer scale understanding of fishing pressures on the fish stocks. Paul suggested that this topic may not be in the scope of this group. Paul Close agreed that the fishing pressure issues is beyond the scope of this committee and is a fishery issue. Bruce Manning asked Paul Mackey to remain informed and keep us updated if anything changes. Action item: Paul Mackey to investigate data from SeaGrass Mapping (conducted by UWA) and report to next meeting. Paul Mackey reported from his discussions with Geoff Bastyan that recent investigations observed recovery in light sensitive species of seagrass. This is an indicator of increasing health of the local water ways. Paul acknowledged Chris Gunby s long standing involvement and role in the harbour s recovery. Garry Wellstead mentioned his involvement in seagrass monitoring with Geoff Bastyan and said that whilst on the whole the harbour is recovering well there are still algae effected areas and a number of problems that require further investigation. He stated that there is 75% success in the Port s seagrass transplants of the last few years. Garry identified that worms are an issue in terms of seagrass survivorship. Discussion between various members occurred and PoA staff agreed to work with others to explore possible seagrass investigations. Chris Gunby suggested that we need to promote the success of the harbour recovery and the port s role as a good news story. Paul Close offered to provide a study completed by a fourth year student that may be of interest to the Port regarding worms and seagrass. Action item: Nicolas Fertin to provide clarification on new Southern Ports Authority Sponsorship Policy. Nicolas informed the committee that Southern Ports Authority (SPA) had finalised the Corporate Sponsorship Policy on 20 August 2015 ensuring a single policy across SPA. The application process has been developed and consideration will be given to applications for funding from applicants within the marine, port and transport area (related to each regional port) and local Port community groups. Sponsorship requests will be approved in accordance with the relevant delegation levels. Item 5 Marine topic for the meeting Cruise ships Brad Williamson provided a comprehensive understanding of the number of visits per year, the revenue cruise ships provide the Port of Albany and marketing that is undertaken by the Port to cruise ship companies. This included a comparison of incomes from cruise ships and cargo ships. Port staff work closely with the City of Albany to ensure there is significant benefit to community of Albany. The Port provides a free shuttle-bus for passengers allows wharf access to the Albany Visitor Centre staff and ensures a warm welcome for visitors with entertainment on the wharf. Sean Bolt presented information about piloting passenger ships. He spoke of his experience with piloting from the bow, drift angles and tug power required to bring a cruise ship to the wharf. Paul Mackey explained the environmental issues that come with having cruise ships in Port. Waste (and its disposal) is the biggest issue. Others include air emissions, fuel burning and hull fouling. All Page 2 of 6

3 ships must follow the regulations of the International Maritime Organisation and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. Arrangements for the use of Waste Reception Facilities are made through the ship s agent. Dale Putland expressed the City of Albany s enthusiasm for the cruise ship visits to continue. The Chair suggested that the City work closely with the Port to ensure a proactive approach to this. The Chair thanked the presenters and asked the committee if there were any questions. Is waste off-loaded in Albany? Occasionally some garbage but mostly no. Ships are required to abide by the strict regulations at sea. Do cruise ships adversely affect the operations of the Port? POA guarantees the booking when it is made to provide certainty for the ship s agent. The management of all Port traffic is carefully planned for each cruise ship visit. Comment Noel Chambers agreed that the Port s support of the cruise ship season has a significant impact on the town, is a good for the community and agreed that it is putting Albany on the map. Nicolas informed the committee that the Port of Bunbury has lost cruise ships to Busselton because its harbour is too shallow and it is seen as being too far from Margaret River. He said that the Port of Bunbury is not currently set up to take bigger ships (requires dredging). Do the passengers comment that the quality of their visit is reduced if they disembark in King George Sound? In the past 12 years only one ship has not been able to berth alongside, so it a rare occurrence. How does Port of Albany market to cruise ship companies? PoA works with ground agents to arrange booking and visits and this works well. We do not allow commercial activity on the wharf and encourage people to go to the town centre (by offering free shuttle buses and a new footpath) where there are markets, stalls and of course the local retailers. Dale Putland suggested the City of Albany could facilitate meetings between local tour operators and ground agents. Item 6 Maintenance Dredging Program 2015 Captain Sean Bolt (Harbour Master) Sean Bolt reported that PoA s Maintenance Dredging Program 2015 has been completed. It was the first to be finished in 20 years and he described how the main channel is now back down to depth. Sean said it was very successful and there is a bit of tidying up happening at the moment. This will be completed in a couple of weeks. Where is the disposal site? At the entrance to King George Sound between Bald Head and Breaksea Island. Chris Gunby suggested that the Port use the 2015 Maintenance Dredging Program as a pilot case for the larger project. Paul Mackey then explained that the survey error of the Page 3 of 6

4 equipment is larger than the very small volume deposited in extremely large area so it is not possible to derive useful data as a pilot study. Item 7 Suggested topic for next meeting At a previous meeting members agreed with the following suggestions: Ballast water Marine pests Berths (including maintenance, trade, operation) It was agreed that the marine topic that will be explained at the next meeting is: Berth maintenance (including pile wrapping). Item 8 Environmental update Paul Mackey (Environment Manager) Paul provided a comprehensive update on Baited Remote Underwater Video Stereo (BRUVS). He showed a short video of the work the UWA students did in the Port area. The results indicate that there is greater diversity and abundance in the Port areas. Additional item - environmental impact of ships anchored in Middleton Beach (raised by committee member) 1. Is waste management monitored? Yes this is managed by a range of regulators including AQIS and Department of Fisheries and Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) does routine inspections. 2. What management is in place for ships at anchorage in excess of 4 days? Paul responded that the anchored ships are managed by POA Harbour Master and are assigned designated anchorages. The Port has a ship identification system (Automatic Identification System or AIS) that tracks the vessels positions and locations. Port staff are in contact with the ships via radio communications and mobile phones. Jane reported that one of her members enquired about the potential impacts of ships deck lights. Sean responded that vessels are required by international law to be well-lit and visible for safety of life at sea. On one occasion Sean has had one enquiry about a ship that was considered over-lit. HM contacted the captain and asked him to adjust the lighting levels, which was done immediately. Paul Close informed the group that he and Chris Gunby attended a feasibility study for the reintroduction of the flat oyster across the whole south coast and that this may be of interest to the port. Liz Tanner at SCNRM is the contact for this project. Item 9 Current and new projects update Brad Williamson (General Manager) Brad gave a brief update on the progress of projects that are currently being focussed on: Port Theatre the asbestos has been successfully removed and replaced Security gate 2 entrance/exit has been redesigned to allow safer and more efficient use for trucks Closed-circuit Television (CCTV) due to a change in the Customs Act PoA is required to install CCTV and has commissioned a study to identify where they will be placed. Item 10 Southern Ports Authority update Page 4 of 6

5 Nicolas Fertin (CEO) Nicolas informed the committee that SPA s Annual Report is nearly finished and will be publicised towards the end of October It details record trade figures across the three ports. Nicolas and his team have made some changes in the structure of SPA including finance and commercial sections in each Port are now reporting to executives in the Executive Leadership Team. Where is the Perth office? SPA office is located in Parliament Place, West Perth. Nicolas travels frequently, has made IT upgrades and encourages the use of videoconference facilities regularly. Item 11 Board update No report given in Cass Porter s absence. Item 12 Community communication and feedback Dates for 2016 meetings The following dates were agreed upon after some discussion on members availability. Proposed 2016 meeting schedule is: Tuesday 5pm 9 February 10 May 13 September 8 November Permanent Accommodation on Waterfront Senior Port management (CEO and GM PoA) have met with City of Albany s CEO and Executive Director Planning and Development Services (Dale Putland) to emphasise the views of the Port and its customers. Dale Putland responded on behalf of the City of Albany saying that they are consulting the public to see if there is an appetite for change to the Memorandum of Agreement as they want to get a good understanding of the community views. The public consultation methods are being widely promoted. People can make comment via SurveyMonkey, displays in the Library and through several meetings, see the City of Albany website for further information. What is the Port s position on short term accommodation/hotel there instead? The Port supported short term accommodation and has no problem with a hotel, but is strongly opposed to permanent accommodation. Item 13 and Session Paul Close enquired about committee member tenures (some one year and others two). What is the procedure for those whose term expires in February? Brad Williamson will review the Terms of Reference and provide some feedback to the next meeting. Action item: Brad Williamson to investigate and report back to next meeting. Page 5 of 6

6 Since the scope of this group is to facilitate two-way communication, how is this done? GM PoA has regular radio interviews, PoA produces Port Talk periodically and PoA staff are members of several local committees. Brad Williamson will provide further details at the next meeting. Action item: Brad Williamson to provide further details to next meeting. Close: The Chairman thanked committee members for their interest, staff for their presentations and closed the meeting at 6.20pm. Date of next meeting: Tuesday 10 November 2015 Page 6 of 6