Tobermory Harbour Association - Isle of Mull, Scotland

Next we secured an agreement with the Crown Estate to lay and maintain all the mooring blocks in the bay - this secured the rights of local boat owners to moor in the bay as we have always given preference to local Isle of Mull boats. from 1998 we agreed with the CE to install 30 moorings for visitors – that's 30 out of a possible maximum capacity of 125 moorings. We now,

We now have an organized grid of over 100 moorings; secure mooring blocks inspected every year with powerful surge chains and most importantly a group discount down to £40 per member from the Crown Estate. Add on your group discounted insurance of £10 - add on the block rental of £35 for boats up to 20 ft rising to £175 for boats up to 75 feet and finally add the new Replacement Fund Charge and we arrive at a total of £95 for the smallest boat and £265 for the largest boats. Yes we all now have to add the cost of our own riser and pick up tackle - say £250 to £300 per year.

So how does this compare? Take Burnham on Crouch – this came up on Google first - an average large British Marina. For swinging moorings they charge £101 per season ---- per meter. At Rhu just down the road the charges are £932 for boats up to 3 tons rising to £1770 for boats up to 70 tons per year per season with winter charges ashore to be added.

An 8 m boat ashore on the west coast averages out at £400 for the winter - in the THA boat park the charge is £10 per meter per year, making a comparable charge of only £40 for winter storage.

Our local mooring charges are one of the cheapest in Britain for a recognised harbour. In fact I have never found a cheaper rate and please don't forget that part of your charge is now ring fenced for future replacement costs.

Then there was and is the Ledaig Park - there are only two words to say - FREE PARKING - Free parking because we all defended the community input into Ledaig and won - After we won the proposed charges were dropped for the main street - no revenue - the result free parking for all.

On the business side the THA is providing offices to new local businesses at a very competitive rate - how competitive - well the fact that all our office are let speaks volumes.

Afloat local business operating from the pontoon - classified as Regular Commercial pay from £200 to £400 for the largest passenger launch. At Burnham they pay £275 per meter for under 10 meters and £325 per meter for 11 meters and above and at Rhu the charge is £292 per meter for boats over 7.5meters –that's over £3000 per season.

In partnership with MacKays' garage the fuel berth is expanding. A new 10,000 ltr tank has just been installed and the 60/40 split on the price of diesel has now been introduced.

The list of advantages for locals is substantial - storage for boats in the boat park at nominal rates,THA staff keeping the area tidy, storage compounds for local business, free water for cleaning down, a nominal charge for electricity, the free use of the pontoon for short stay visits alongside during the day - at Rhu for example this would be £11 for up to 4 hours. Free dinghy berthing for mooring holders and a nominal rental for others, a new compound for the Yacht Club and environmental improvements for all our facilities.

If we are to continue to improve the facilities within the harbour for the benefit of both locals and for our visitors afloat and ashore we will need new infrastructure.

Tobermory needs alongside berthing for boats over 50 feet - this would kick start new business and open up new summer links to Coll to Tiree to Oban. Flood defenses will needed if the sea starts to rise or if extreme weather events become more frequent. We need new land reclamation at sea level to create space for slipping and servicing boats. (The current slip at Ledaig has problems and needs to be re-aligned.) This would create new business opportunities in the engineering and servicing sector. We need a floating breakwater to protect our pontoon from those awful easterly winds in the winter and spring - protecting the pontoon would allow use to offer winter alongside berthing especially of future interest to locals. A small water taxis is needed to Aros Park if the proposed improvements within the park are to succeed - this again would again create local jobs and bring benefits for both tourist and locals.

We have spent two years consolidating after the completion of our Harbour Visitor Centre -Taigh Solais and now we are ready to move forward. We need your input - your ideas for the future. This autumn the THA will publish a new report on the next phase - be involved - tell us your ideas - building new infrastructure will bring benefits to all - give us your feed back.

The message is simple - we build the infrastructure and the infrastructure is owned by the community for the community. The policy and the distribution of profits is managed by your board of Directors who all give time - not just to attend the once a month board meetings but to help and assist our fantastic staff who manage, organise and keep spotlessly clean the best facilities in the west.

Thanks to the staff - thanks to the directors