Percuil River Moorings Limited Strategy
Introduction
1. The Memorandum of Association (MoA) sets the Objects of the Company as
“to manage and administer the fundus of the Percuil River and any other land, buildings or real property either on its own account or as a trustee, nominee or agent of any other company or person”.
The Conditions of the Mooring Licence issued to every licensee expands on this to describe our first Purpose as being:
“to manage the lease of the fundus with the Place Estate in order to supply self-managed, non-maintained and cost-effective moorings for mainly local users.”
2. The Mooring Licence Conditions also explain that:
a. Percuil River Moorings Limited is a locally run, mooring licence operation continuing the tradition of non-maintained moorings for the mutual benefit of mooring licensees on the Percuil River.
b. It is intended that the benefits derived by Licensees from the unique nature of Percuil River Moorings Limited are not exploited: the Company depends on all those involved not circumventing its principles of operation and acting at all times within the spirit of its aims.
c. The Company will give sympathetic consideration to particular cases not catered for in its Licence Conditions. It will inform and, where appropriate, consult individual Licensees when changes to their particular moorings are being considered.
3. Whilst the activities of the Company are widely understood, there is no formal, agreed strategy setting out (for the Directors, Members, Licensees and those on the Waiting List and the Public) the Board’s focus and intent for the near future. This document addresses that shortcoming.
Vision
4. The Objects are set by the MoA and the principles of our operations are set by the Conditions of the Licence issued to all Licensees. From these may be derived our vision for the future:
A Percuil River providing an optimum number of self-managed, non-maintained moorings, with each mooring safe and used to its full capacity so as to benefit the optimum number of licensees wishing to keep and use their boats on the river and in the area, with an emphasis on a cost-effective administration for local licensees.
Themes of the Strategy
5. From this articulation of the vision and the explanation of PRML in the licence conditions, 4 clear themes to the strategy can be deduced that the Board seeks to strive for. These may be summarized as:
“Safety, Efficiency, Economy, Environment”
6. Safety. The Licence Conditions and Servicing Standards have been written to ensure the safety of people and boats on the river. We will enforce conditions and standards using the full range of sanctions available in order to:
a. Ensure the safety of people and assets. This theme will drive both mooring relocations to reduce proximity issues and the Board’s mooring servicing inspection programme.
b. Give the community confidence that we are enforcing the conditions and standards set; and
c. Deter those who might be tempted not to comply with the conditions and standards.
We will take action where we find unlicensed moorings and any categorised as Poor or Very Poor.
7. Efficient Use of the Fundus to benefit the Optimum Number of Licensees.
We will:
a. Optimise the deployment of moorings to use the space available to provide moorings for an appropriate number and range of lengths of boat. Whilst the primary rationale for the recent survey was to establish ‘ground truth’ for PRML and address proximity issues, this theme will capitalise on the data developed in the survey to re-site and re-size moorings where practicable to improve the distribution of moorings in the river through relocations to: address high risks of proximity issues and excess congestion; improve navigation for all users; and, where opportunity allows, enable existing moorings to take longer boats.
b. Allocate each mooring such that, where practicable, it is used to its length capacity and by licensees who will actively use their boats on the water. Recognising history and support to the local community, our primary focus will be on S Moorings and making them available to local licensees. One implication of this theme is that Licensees may be required to change S Moorings where their boat does not fully use its length capacity: such a change will only be imposed where a suitable alternative S Mooring can be offered.
8. Economy.
a. Costs for licensees are driven by 5 factors:
i. Payments under the Lease with Place Manor. At the rent review in 2021, we will seek to negotiate a rent that is fair to the lessor and at as low a cost as possible to Licensees.
ii. Servicing Charges. We will seek to ensure that compliance requirements do not drive unnecessary cost into the AMCs’ work. We recognise the economy benefits to those who can self-service their moorings but we will not jeopardise safety on the river where standards of servicing are inadequate.
iii. PRML costs. We seek to minimise the work required by, and costs accrued by, PRML as far as possible and use volunteers to undertake that work where we can and value the time they offer. To achieve this, we will be efficient in our engagement with others, valuing our time and theirs, demanding and giving a prompt service and payments. We will maintain only sufficient levels of financial reserves as the Board judges necessary.
iv. The total authorised mooring length paid for by Licensees. Our strategy for optimisation strikes a balance between improving safety/reducing congestion (which increases costs to licensees) and making greater mooring length available (which drives costs down).
v. VAT Threshold. We recognise the potential impact of costs to licensees of PRML losing its exemption from VAT and will investigate options.
b. The Board takes the view that individual licensees should not be granted an S Class Licence with a view to them making a profit. It is accepted that S Mooring Licensees may not have use of their mooring for one year and may sub-let it: in years beyond that, their S Mooring Licence will not be renewed.
c. The legacy of A Mooring Licences is recognised. Licensees with a single A Class mooring may be allocated an additional S Mooring licence where they have their own boats occupying both moorings. Where their A Mooring no longer meets their needs, their long-term rights to their A Mooring will be recognised but allocation of an S Mooring will require a return of their unused A Mooring for the duration of their alternative S Mooring Licence.
d. The Objects of the Company and the Conditions of the Licences clearly indicate the charitable nature of PRML’s operations. We will investigate the benefits of attaining charitable status for PRML and adopt this should the Board conclude it provides value to the community.
9. Environment. We recognise the Roseland as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and place a priority on measures to protect the environment and enhance the Percuil River as a place of beauty and sanctuary for wildlife and as a part of the Fal and Helford Special Area of Conservation. This theme will be a driver of the standards and conditions we set and enforce. It will also drive any relocation of moorings away from particularly sensitive areas of the river and remote parts of the foreshore.
10. Communication. PRML’s preferred means of ‘broadcast’ communication is through its website with Email used for more tailored messaging. We plan to move to a wholly digital communication system and will ask stakeholders to keep PRML up to date with Email addresses and phone numbers.