Updated 25th March 2020

The Harbour Board has reviewed its annual harbour dues payment procedures in the light of the Government measures announced to tackle COVID-19.

The statutory responsibilities of the Harbour Board remain in place including the duty to maintain a safe harbour and conserve the marine environment. This will include daily patrol and inspection of the harbour where possible.  To ensure that this continues to take place, invoices for Harbour Dues commencing 1 April 2020 will shortly be circulated to boat owners.

The invoice will include a reminder that, in the case where a boat is not in the water, the invoice can be cancelled until such time that the boat is launched.

The Harbour Board is currently working with the local mooring providers to identify boats not yet launched and write to those owners to advise that no invoice will be sent until such time that they are using the Harbour.

Charter vessels will be invoiced the leisure rate of harbour dues and asked to pay the difference to the charter rate at the point that their charter operations recommence.  Charter operators are also advised to explore the business rate tax relief announced by HM Treasury during this period.

Littlehampton registered commercial fishing vessels remain exempt from harbour dues.

This policy will be kept under constant review and further updates will be circulated via the same channels.

For information on how the COVID-19 outbreak has affected other areas of harbour operations please see here for the statement released on Friday 20 March which currently remains valid.