Whitby and Scarborough harbours need expertise – Yorkshire Post Letters

BOB Roberts raised a number of interesting questions (The Yorkshire Post, April 8) about the future of Scarborough and Whitby harbours following the North Yorkshire local government shake-up.

I also note that the Secretary of State has agreed with Scarborough Borough Council’s request to the “removal of pilotage functions” in the borough.

This decision has been taken despite respondents from Whitby raising the following concerns:

Pilotage services required due to the hazardous nature of harbour approaches, also flagged a concern about vessels grounding and lack of dredging.

Removal of pilotage would affect Whitby Harbour’s ability to attract potential offshore work, since the size of vessels would be limited in future, severely restricting commercial operations and business opportunities.

The council failed to fully evidence the lack of need or cost-effectiveness of the pilotage service. One potential solution would be to share pilotage arrangements with nearby ports.

The questions posed by Mr Roberts appear to me to be very valid. The lack of expertise at present has led to the failure by SBC to manage the harbours properly.

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