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For any person, whether a boat owner or a member of the public, reading the recent announcement by Guernsey Ports of their proposed mooring charges increases for 2025, one might think that the Government has taken note of Guernsey boat owners’ concerns regarding recent inflationary price rises and lowered their sights to ease the pressure on local mooring holders.
The real truth is that they haven’t. Their course of action remains unaltered.
It looks as though local leisure boat owners are once again being singled out by Guernsey Ports in their proposals for mooring fee charges for 2025 and 2026.
We appreciate that the revenue reserves are empty but we are fed up with being labelled a drain on the public purse.
For many years any rises have been in line with the Guernsey Retail price Index (GRPI) until this year when we have seen hefty increases ranging from 20-45% depending on boat size and location, only now to be surmounted by a further increase of GRPI + 3% (8.3%) for 2025 and a whopping rise of between 11.9-35.7% forecast for 2026 (and this last range does not include a figure for GRPI yet).
If one examines what these increases mean in real terms, a vessel of 20' x 7' will cost £1,348pa in 2026 to moor in the marinas plus GRPI for that year. That equates to a 45% rise from 2023 to 2026.
40+% of the boats in the marinas are less than 20' and are owned by many folk who are either on a fixed income or pensions and the rises to date have already seen some of these vessels up for sale. These additional charges will see this situation increase.
You can see for yourself some of the gaps on the pontoons in the marinas where these smaller boats were moored. These haven't been filled over the past six months either from the so-called 'waiting list'.
We understand from reliable sources at the marina offices that many of these empty spaces have now been reallocated to some people who have been waiting for years for a mooring and who are now shopping around for a suitable vessel to fill these vacant slots but only time will tell if they actually commit to purchasing a boat and paying the new exorbitant fees.
Let's examine the effects of these proposals on a vessel of 36'x 12'. It will cost £4,549pa in 2026 to moor in the marinas, not including GRPI for 2026. Now that equates to a massive rise of approx. 60% from 2023-2026.
Over 35% of boats moored in the marinas range from 21'-40'. Few are new, many are second to fourth hand, acquired by young families or retirees who use these vessels for holidays or short trips around the Bailiwick or even venture further afield to Jersey and nearby French ports. It's their form of a caravan or motorhome on water. These boats are lovingly restored by DIY enthusiasts, aided by local marine craftsmen who earn their living from this trade.
The 2024 increases in mooring fees have hit many of these owners and subsequently affected the incomes of the marine traders as people have cut back on expenditure on their vessels. We are fully aware that a large percentage have been contemplating discontinuing with their main leisure activity but Guernsey Ports newest plans will push these owners to definitely cease boating.
Guernsey Harbours will argue that their previous rates were too cheap and did not produce enough income to cover the ongoing maintenance and enhancements around the harbour but we have proved time and again that this is untrue. Until 2009 when the accounts for the harbours and Airport changed, an element of depreciation was included in annual mooring charges to cover maintenance and replacement of infrastructure. This information is according to previous harbour masters and those involved with managing the finances of the harbours.
The States annual accounts of the local harbours show that they have consistently made substantial profits over the past 27 years , that's 1995-2022, (apart from Covid years) to the tune of £32m whilst the Airport continues to lose money by approx. £54m over the same 27 year period.
Guernsey Ports have stated in their consultation paper that they intend to allocate £4m during the next three years towards improvements and maintenance of the harbours specifically for local and visitor leisure craft.
We would like to see a breakdown of these enhancements.
And visiting yachts have complained about existing facilities for them being outdated and Guernsey Harbours are aware of this. Competition from Jersey and French marinas is also mounting with better facilities than in Guernsey and cheaper rates in these foreign ports.
So, what are these so-called improvements for local mooring holders?
Ports have replaced two out-dated pontoons in the QE2 marina this winter and the gates are on their last legs. In fact, the gates should have been replaced 15 years ago according to previous harbourmasters but the funds were non-existent at that time as they were diverted to cover the losses at the Airport. Without these gates operating effectively, those boat owners with moorings in the QE2 will be severely restricted and one could argue that they should receive a refund if these are not replaced asap. But it seems that this is unlikely to be completed until December 2026.
Is it reasonable for local berth holders to start footing the cost of improving the visitor facilities when we do not receive any added value for our increased fees?
In conclusion:
We know that we are on our own with this struggle. There is no independent ombudsman to turn to for arbitration in our case.
The Guernsey Competition & Regulatory Authority (GCRA) do not have the powers to act as an economic regulator where States of Guernsey trading departments like Guernsey Ports and STSB (States Trading Supervisory Board) are concerned. This includes electricity, water, postal services, Dairy, harbours and airport and others.
In Jersey, the Jersey Competition & Regulatory Authority (JCRA) can investigate and regulate Jersey Ports because the States of Jersey in 2015 handed over responsibility for harbours and airport to an incorporated body which was specifically created to operate these departments. In other words, they turned them into a business and were no longer classed as a States department.
If this was done in Guernsey, then GCRA could act as an economic regulator and we would have an independent body to assess our situation and to protect all of us consumers, whatever the product on sale or excessive price increases, from an abuse of a dominant market position ie. a monopoly.
Of course, this very much depends on whether the States decide to disband GCRA or continue to be able to be exempt from the existing Competition Law when it suits them. The results of the current review of GCRA by Frontier Economics will be very interesting.
Any mooring fee increases should be set at a rate equating to the GRPI (Guernsey Retail Price Index) across the board. The States previously passed a Resolution agreeing that this should be the correct method of pricing up until last year. And this rate should be calculated based on the latest RPI figure nearest the fee increase date.ie. January 2025. In fairness, this method is similar to that used by some local property agents carrying out rental reviews for their clients.
By lowering their sights to 8.3% for 2025 and then expressing their hefty rates for 2026 shows that there has been no change in Guernsey Ports economic forecasts which were originally publicised in 2023.
This latest news will see more local boat owners definitely selling their 'pride and joy' and it will discourage any youngsters from venturing into owning a smaller vessel as a start to their leisure boating activities. After all, they are the future of the marine industry.
Sadly, the damage was done last year by Guernsey Ports and the States Trading Supervisory Board (STSB) and no way of playing with the figures or obfuscating their costs can reverse the lack of trust coming from the existing local boat owners.
These proposals from Guernsey Ports are really no different to their original plans for fee rises over the 2023-2026 period.
We will be paying 45-60% more by 2026 for facilities we don't have. You cannot compare our charges with Jersey or UK privately owned marinas where the facilities are classed as "Rolls-Royce".
These rises cannot be justified, are unfair and represent a targeting of leisure boat owners, especially when Guernsey Ports have not published any programme of significant improvements in the facilities offered to local leisure boat owners.
Let's see a breakdown of the proposed £4m spend on any enhancements directly for the local boaters.
The Guernsey Boat Owners Association (GBA) in conjunction with both Yacht Clubs and the local Marine Traders launched a petition during the summer to fight these huge increases in mooring fees and over a 1000 local leisure boat owners and their supporters have so far signed this petition, demonstrating their opposition and total dissatisfaction to these plans of Guernsey Ports. We are continuing with this petition as more and more boatowners are now discovering what is in store for them in 2026 with these exorbitant charges.
Ultimately, if our arguments and concerns are not listened to by our politicians who decide these matters, local boat owners might just as well make a direct donation to Guernsey Airport.
Nick Guillemette
GBA President
