Albert Basin

Dear Newry & Mourne District Council,

Hi Briege

I will assume my current rquest to be closed with no 'internal
review' and will therefore make a fresh request:, viz-

During the period leading up to and following the modernisation of
the Victoria Lock discussions and/or meetings clearly took place
between potential 'Developers' and representatives of the NMDC
regarding the development of the Albert Basin and/or The Newry
Shipping Canal? (eg Canal Court?)

Please now supply all details held by the NMDC of any such meetings
and/or discussions and who or which Council members or departments
were involved

Please include any 'negotiations' that were abandoned for any
reason

A 'prompt' response would be appreciated

Yours faithfully,

david schiller

Seamus, Thank you for your ‘Review’

Having previously been refused permission to berth Sheiloan in the
Albert Basin, in 2006 the Council said she could berth for £27.30
per month (£85 for 6 months)

An Invoice for £85 (Oct 2006 - May 2007) was received and on the
4th of June 2007 the Council phoned saying the fee should have been
£27.30/metre and not per boat - despite requests for a basis for
the increased charge none has been given.
-
In June 2007 the NMDC are said to have approved an ‘Access
Procedure’ which, by definition, clearly means a procedure to
explain how vessels can access the Albert Basin.
There is no indication that any details of the ‘procedure’ were
presented to the Council meetings so it is assumed that those who
approved the procedure either had prior knowledge of it or were
content to accept the procedure without question. Similarly,
nowhere is there any indication that any details of charges for
berthing in the Basin were discussed or approved by the Council

Unless the foregoing is incorrect and other information exists that
explains the fees charged for ‘Sheiloan’ the implication of what
you now suggest is that the fees for berthing were added to the
‘Access Procedure’ document after the June 2007 meeting/s
--
The NMDC did not provide a requested ‘legal basis’ for the
‘increased’ fees demanded for berthing Sheiloan and were not
represented in Court on the 12th September 2007 for the ‘Case’ they
had commenced! Instead of dismissing the Claim the judge instructed
the NMDC to bring a legal basis for the Claim and to be legally
represented at an adjourned hearing on the 24th October 2008 and on
that date and in the continued absence of legal representation a
Council employee (one of four sent as ‘Observers’) handed the judge
something which presumably, purported to be a legal basis’ for the
Claim : I was not provided with a copy
--

You have explained that the ‘legal basis’ for berthing fees is:
(1) the setting of the Councils Annual Rate and
(2) the adoption of the tarrifs for services which takes place
annually

Please supply details of the relevant ‘setting of the Annual Rate’
and ‘adoption of the tariff ’ that apply to the period 2006 to 2008

Yours faithfully,

david schiller

Seamus,

You have asked me to clarify my last post

The first part of my post was intended to clarify what followed so
please ignore the text as far as "purported to be a legal basis’
for the Claim : I was not provided with a copy"

I will re-phrase the remainder:

Please supply:-
(1) details of the 'setting of the Annual Rate' that applied to the
berthing of vessels in the Albert Basin for the years 2006, 2007
and 2008

(2) details of the 'adoption of the tarrifs for services which
takes place annually' that applied to the berthing of vessels in
the Albert Basin for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008

(3) a copy of what was handed to the judge in Court in Oct 2008
---

If you would prefer I will consider the current request for
information (including this post) to have been 'reviewed without
change' and to be closed - in that circumstance please consider
this post as a fresh application

Yours faithfully,

david schiller

Dear Newry and Mourne District Council,

Hi Briege
Thanks for post
My address is 10, Ur Chill, Creggan, BT35 9DB

Yours faithfully,

david schiller

Dear Newry and Mourne District Council,

Hi Briege
Did you receive my address?

Yours faithfully,

david schiller

Dear Newry and Mourne District Council,
Hi Briege,

Can you explain what's happening regarding the supply of
documentation?

Regards,
david schiller

Dear Newry and Mourne District Council,

Hi Seamus, Thank you for the Info. Sorry I didn't respond yesterday
but this is just to acknowledge your post - I will respond more
substantively lately

Yours faithfully,

david schiller

Dear Newry and Mourne District Council,

Seamus,following my previous post_

Again, thank you for supplying the Information, in particular the
‘Annalong Harbour from 1st April 2005’ document which was missing
from past requests and which identifies the origin of the £27.30
charge which is said to be the basis of the berthing fees levied
for the Albert Basin

1 As you say the document would have been approved by the Council
at any relevant meetings and presumably there was a relevant
meeting which approved the 2005 ‘Annalong’ document The ‘relevant
meetings’ for the Case at hand would include those of the 6th and
18th June 2007 wherein a procedure for vessels wanting to access
the Albert Basin was approved. As recorded elsewhere there is no
evidence that the Council discussed or approved any fees to be
charged for berthing in the Albert Basin but if it did it clearly
used the wrong figures and as recorded elsewhere the indications
are the rates were added to the ‘Access Procedure’ document after
the June meetings

2 The Council claimed a ‘mistake’ had been made in regard to the
berthing fees quoted for ‘Sheiloan’ in 2006 which should have been
£27.30 per metre and not per vessel
The evidence confirms the correct charge for berthing was applied
in 2006 (£27.30/month) and explains the intention of a Council
employee (SR) to notify the Council of their error – that intended
action was cancelled, presumably by JM, on the 6th November 2007

3 JM later said the bills as presented ( based on known false
charges) would have to be paid failing which Court action would be
taken adding that the ‘Claim’ would be restricted to <£2000 and
action taken in the Small Claims Court where Legal Assistance would
not be available to me
In fact the ‘mistake’ made in 2006 was to charge anything for
berthing since the Council have now confirmed that “berthing
charges at Albert Basin commenced in April 2007”

4 Subsequently the NMDC lodged a ‘Claim’ for £1879.50 (£1979.50
with Court fees) which was ‘Heard’ on the 12th September 2008. No
Documents were filed by the NMDC (other than the amount Claimed)
nor were they represented in Court. The Judge ignored ‘The Case for
the Respondent’ and adjourned the matter for Hearing on the 24th
October 2008 on which occasion she said she would find in favour of
the NMDC. She relayed a message to the NMDC to make sure they were
legally represented and a ‘legal basis’ for the Claim was provided
for the adjourned Hearing

5 At the Hearing on the 24th October four ‘Observers’ from the NMDC
(again) attended and presented the Judge with a document – I was
not given sight of it or told what it was.
The NMDC were not represented so the judge took on the role of
‘Counsel for the Council’ and found in favour of the NMDC ; an
Appeal against the Decision was dismissed, effectively on the basis
that the Decision was unlawful.
--

You ask whether the Information you have supplied ‘satisfies my FOI
request or are there other things outstanding’:- the Information
regarding the source of the £27.30 figure seems settled - again
thank you.

Other relevant matters are:

A
As recorded you explained the ‘legal basis’ for berthing fees is:
(1) the setting of the Councils Annual Rate and
(2) the adoption of the tarrifs for services which takes place
annually and I therefore requested details of any relevant ‘setting
of the Annual Rate’ and/or adoption of the tariff ’ that apply to
the period 2006 to 2008
Are there any relevant details?

B
I also said “During the period leading up to and following the
modernisation of the Victoria Lock discussions and/or meetings
clearly took place between potential 'Developers' and
representatives of the NMDC regarding the development of the Albert
Basin and/or the Newry Shipping Canal?” and I asked for details
held of any such meetings and/or discussions and who or which
Council members or departments were involved?
On the 22nd ult you asked me to supply my home address because you
had a large amount of information to send and not all on email.
I supplied my address but have not received any information – I am
still waiting!

I did also ask for a copy of what was handed to the judge in Court
in Oct 2008
Regards, DAS

david schiller