Camber Slip Portsmouth

Nasher · 14 May 2014, 22:52

Hearing tonight that Portsmouth City council are getting rid of the trailer park at the Camber to make more car parking spaces, effectively shutting down the camber slip to launch from.

There is no other slip available in Portsmouth.

Anyone know any more about this?

Nasher

Nos4r2 · 15 May 2014, 00:05

Damn, thats one of the few I like in the Solent. Hope it's wrong.

Dry Run · 15 May 2014, 00:10

Hi,

There is a current proposal for "Ben Ainslie Racing" (BAR) to develop a headquarters for their Americas Cup Challenge at the Camber Quay here in Old Portsmouth. There will be limited consequances for those wishing to launch at The Camber, however, the slipway will remain mostly unaffected.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call me (Steve) on 023 9283 3166 or 07899 075313

Hope that helps

Steve

Nasher · 15 May 2014, 09:42

Steve

Hi.

What I heard specifically is that the Trailer park will close to make way for more car parking spaces.

Unfortunately the slipway is quite useless without somewhere to leave the trailer.
For a smaller boat you could pay for two car parking spaces, one for the car and one for the trailer, but if you leave a longer trailer sticking out of a car parking space you’re going to get a ticket.

I'll try to give you a shout later.

Nasher.

Nasher · 16 May 2014, 10:43

I scattergunned different departments at Portsmouth city council with emails about this to get a reaction.

I’ve heard back from 2 different departments so far, one of which was the ‘Parking Office’ explaining that the Camber dock is owned by the port, and that they are unaware of any changes being made.

They’ve supplied me with the telephone number of “the port” to call, which I’ll do later today.

Nasher.

Alan Priddy · 16 May 2014, 11:33

The land is owned by Portsmouth City Council while the Camber Dock is controlled by a Portsmouth City Council Employed Harbour Master who is nothing to do with QHM or what goes on past the Car Ferry. PCC are playing a careful game in the vain hope that BAR will come to Portsmouth and bring millions of £££s with it. Of course it wont as to my knowledge none of the sailing events are being held in the UK. Its all about politics and Portsmouth has become a marginal seat ready for the taking. I suspect very strongly that the picture will be clearer after next Thursday. There are a lot of people waiting in the shadows to help make Portsmouth a true "Maritime City" Alan P

Dry Run · 16 May 2014, 13:12

Hi,

Nasher, I'm afraid the area currently used as a free trailer park will become par of BAR's car park. However, at evenings and weekend it is intended to be open to the public (about 60+ spaces if my memory serves me).

Discussions are ongoing regarding a possible site for a trailer park but I can't tell you where that will be at this time (and I suspect that no-one else can either), but it is in the minds of the powers that be.

Alan, an interesting take on what's happening and maybe you were being a little "tongue in cheek". However trust me (as someone who is relocating their business to make way for BAR), this is going to happen. If you view the planning application, you may note that it has cost BAR a fortune to put this plan together. The planning application fee alone is almost £25k! I'm sure it will be a great result for all those in the council and much political capital will be made of it, but this is a serious proposal and the amount of work going it to minimise any negative effect on the residents, fishermen, leisure users and local businesses is staggering. Can't see it as just cheap political posturing.

Anyway, let's all hope that an alternate trailer park can be accommodated near the slipway. If I know anything further I'll post here.

Regards

Steve

Nasher · 16 May 2014, 22:05

Scroll down to the bottom of this page, join up and have your say.

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/bus...idea-1-6042575

Nasher

Nos4r2 · 16 May 2014, 22:20

Done. Doubt it'll make any difference

Alan Priddy · 18 May 2014, 18:58

Steve.
One thing that is not clear or accepted yet is that no teams are prepared to make any decisions yet until the final AC proposal is agreed. It is my understanding that this will not be at least until September and even run as late as November. With this in mind nothing is likely to happen until everyone knows and understands what is involved. To spend £25k + on preparations for a project of this scale is loose change. Our challenge has spent a considerable amount more than this on air fares alone and holding luncheons with interested parties.
Portsmouth needs new and exciting projects and I think the jury will be out for some time before anyone knows what is happening. Cheers Alan P.

Alan, an interesting take on what's happening and maybe you were being a little "tongue in cheek". However trust me (as someone who is relocating their business to make way for BAR), this is going to happen. If you view the planning application, you may note that it has cost BAR a fortune to put this plan together. The planning application fee alone is almost £25k! I'm sure it will be a great result for all those in the council and much political capital will be made of it, but this is a serious proposal and the amount of work going it to minimise any negative effect on the residents, fishermen, leisure users and local businesses is staggering. Can't see it as just cheap political posturing.

Anyway, let's all hope that an alternate trailer park can be accommodated near the slipway. If I know anything further I'll post here.

Regards

Steve[/QUOTE]

Bucksribster · 18 May 2014, 22:16

Camber is a great place to launch, and I for one would be very sorry to see it made unusable.

Huib1965 · 19 May 2014, 13:06

I think we should applaud all the people involved who are working hard to get BAM to (Old) Portsmouth.... Its a great boost for the city and also the "friend of old portsmouth" seem to be very supportive.... Surely there will be some space left to launch from....

Nasher · 19 May 2014, 18:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Huib1965

Surely there will be some space left to launch from....

As said above there will still be access to the slip, assuming they don't clog it up even more than the fishermen do already, but the whole point mentioned above is that there will be nowhere to leave a trailer bigger than a car parking space.

I think it's good for the city to attract this type of venture.
But not without a thought for those who already use the facilities.

Nasher

Huib1965 · 19 May 2014, 18:45

Well... its a working harbour and if not use the one in Eastney. .. its only down the road...

Hightower · 19 May 2014, 21:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Huib1965

Well... its a working harbour and if not use the one in Eastney. .. its only down the road...

There are lots of slipways to launch your boat from, but not that many are full tide range and capable of a single handed launch. What the authorities need to be made aware of is that these slips are used for recreational boaters and not just commercial guys.

CJL · 19 May 2014, 22:07

Email the journalist direct - her email address is at the top of the article.

Its often the case that the slipway owners and local car park operators don't work in partnership.

Chris

Dry Run · 20 May 2014, 07:22

Hi,

Nasher's right, in that the slipway is not the issue as it will remain open. The problem to be solved is trailer parking. As the current plan stands, there is no provision for a new trailer park. However, the local sailing club, residents and ward councilors are aware of this concern and are looking into ways of solving this.

Huib is correct that this certainly will be a great boost for Portsmouth and generally the "locals" are very supportive.

You can understand why the council and port authority are not greatly concerned by this matter as commercially the slipway and trailer park are a substantial revenue drain on their budgets, The barrier is often left open and so the revenue collected in a year does not cover the cost of repairs/servicing - (I know, 'cause I collect the money).

Hopefully something can be sorted out long term, but short term there will be disruption as work to demolish the sheds is due to start mid June.

If I hear anything further I'll post.

Steve

John Kennett · 20 May 2014, 08:52

So how are you affected? Is the boat park moving as part of the development?

Dry Run · 20 May 2014, 17:42

Hi John,

Yes, we are relocating to the south-side of The Camber (closer to where we launch the boats).

It's a massive upheavel and complicated by the incredibly tight timescales. Despite Mr Priddy's thoughts, the Specs for the new America's Cup boats are being announced in the next few weeks and Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR) are hoping to start work on the building their headquarters on June 13th 2014. So we have to start moving now (in fact we are in the process of).

Our new Dry Stack will be on a smaller footprint than we currently have, so we will have to stack 4 high (compared with our current 2 high) and that requires new racking, groundworks, fencing and a new Fork-lift, as ours currently will only do 3 high. So major investment for us and lots of work on the way - whilst still providing a top class service to our clients.

I do hope though that a new site can be found for trailer parking as I recognise that without it the slipway becomes unusable. Not in my gift unfortunately, but certainly being discussed.

Regards

Steve

Nasher · 20 May 2014, 19:00

Steve
I really feel for you with the move, just at the start of the season can't be good timing, if it's ever a good time.

I don't want anyone to think I'm against BAR making Portsmouth it's home, it's great for the city, but it just feels like they don't give a damn about the likes of us.

I'm slightly disappointed that the character of the Camber will be lost, it's my favourite place to have a walk around as I'd rather look at the working boats than rows of big white pointy things, far more interesting in my opinion.

Will be interested see how it all pans out down there.

Nasher.