An ordinary meeting of the Society was held on the 5th March 2008. The President was in the chair. After the minutes were read and approved he introduced the speaker Mr James Davis, The Administrator of the Chichester Harbour Trust.
Chichester Harbour covers 22 square miles with 50 miles of shoreline and 40 miles of footpaths. It is a place of extremes from urban Hayling Island, through bustling Emsworth, to tiny villages – some full of life, such as Bosham and some like Itchenor, where 40% of the houses are rarely occupied. There are 10,000 sailing boats with 27,000 people involved and 500 employed to service them.
Chichester was a famous source of oysters until 1900 when the Emsworth sewage pipe leaked and caused widespread illness including the death of the Dean of Winchester.
He described the inlet up to Fishbourne as being as it was in Roman times, but that today there were threats to the environment: local authorities under pressure to build more houses, private developers who cant get planning permission leaving sites to rot; areas of farming land under shining plastic and even global warming causing higher tides.
It is run by the Harbour Conservancy which was set up by Act of Parliament to do so. It protects the Harbour, is responsible for safe navigation within it and controls boats and the adjacent land. The area is graded as an Area of Outstanding Beauty by statute but this only gives protection to the highwater mark. Five years ago the Conservancy felt that the best form of protection was to own the sensitive areas. They are not allowed to own land and so the Chichester Harbour Trust was set up which being a charity can raise money and buy land. They have 12 trustees separate from the Conservancy and work closely with National England, the National Trust and wildlife trusts. They now own 200 acres.
He closed his talk with a film which showed the beauty of Chichester Harbour its environs and places of interest.
There being no other business the meeting was closed at 10.05 pm