PRESSURE on Somerset Council to resolve the crisis surrounding the lease on Watchet’s ailing marina mounted this week as campaigners urged the council to either sort out the problems or take back control of the marina.

It was also suggested that there could be a judicial review of the decision or other legal action.

Watchet Town Council will be asked on Monday (November 13) to support a vote of no confidence in marina operators the Cardiff-based Marine and Property Group (MPG) and to request Somerset Council to cease negotiations on a 200-year lease for MPG.

Four Welsh marinas run by the group went into administration in April with £16 million worth of debts.

Watchet is still in operation because MPG does not own the lease but has a sub-lease from the previous marina operator, Tim Taylor.

Swiss-based Christopher Odling-Smee, MPG’s sole director, took over Watchet Marina in March, 2021, after the then-Somerset West and Taunton council served Mr Taylor with an enforcement order to force him to hand back his lease unless defects were remedied.

Asked if the negotiations which started in 2021 were nearing completion, a Somerset Council spokesperson said: “There will be no changes in the existing lease until such time that the Marine Group have exercised their right to purchase from Tim Taylor.”

Mr Odling-Smee was invited to comment on the current situation but no reply has been received.

The shock ‘no-confidence’ town council proposal comes from Cllr John Richards, chairman of WACET and a member of Watchet’s harbour advisory committee, who said: “I want the council to support the move to get the Marine Group out and someone else in.

“This new lease must be stopped now for the future of Watchet.

“Over the last few months I have seen the deterioration in the marina and the detrimental effect it is having on the town.”

Cllr Richards has asked the town council to consider two proposals:

In April, 2021, Mr Odling-Smee pledged to provide 1.5 metres of retained water within six months - and make the marina into ‘the jewel in Watchet’s crown’.

Cllr Richards said now, two-and-a-half years later, boats were aground 16 hours a day, the marina had no office, no staff, no safety systems, a broken lock gate, no facilities, fuel, etc.

No dredging had taken place since May, and wages remained unpaid.

More than 600 boat owners and residents have signed an online petition to withhold the 200-year lease from the Marine Group and start enforcement proceedings if things do not improve.

Businessman Chris Moiser, who is organising the petition, said: “It would be nice if another, more solvent, company was to take an interest in our harbour, which with the loss of the road to Blue Anchor, is now even more important for Watchet's future.

“This might be an appropriate undertaking to be done through a community interest company, where the directors are not necessarily aiming at personal gain, but in benefitting the community.

“There is Government guidance on this, and I believe that it is already being attempted in Wales, at Port Dinorwic marina, one of the harbours that went into administration under Mr Odling-Smee."

The Free Press also understands that Watchet boat owners are also in discussions to form an action group to find an efficient operator for the facility.

One said: “The marina is under a real threat. We boat owners share a council of despair and I know many are looking to move elsewhere.”

Cllr Richards said it was understood that Somerset Council had agreed that ‘sometime soon’ Mr Odling-Smee would surrender his sub-lease to Mr Taylor, who would then surrender his lease, which has 103 years remaining.

The council would then give the Marine Group a new 200-year lease.

Cllr Richards said: “The council have refused the harbour advisory committee any possibility of seeing the new lease or knowing its contents.

“We have been advised that the council has signed the lease and it is waiting in a safe for Mr Odling-Smee to provide finance before getting him to sign.

“The business community, the harbour advisory committee, and especially the berth holders, have zero confidence in the ability of Mr Odling-Smee and any of his companies to run a proper marina and at present have zero confidence in the council to do the right thing for Watchet.

“We must somehow force the council to enforce the lease with Mr Taylor, for him to then enforce with Mr Odling-Smee, or if not, to surrender the lease back to the council as soon as possible and for the council to find a new, reliable, and viable business to run a proper, fully functioning marina."

"A judicial review of the council’s decision or some other legal action may be necessary.”

Cllr Federica Smith-Roberts, Somerset Council executive member for communities, housing, and culture, said: “The current marina lease is owned by Tim Taylor who is selling the lease to the Marine Group.

“The ongoing sale is a private matter between the two parties.”

The council’s spokesperson said: “While the council will not comment on the financial arrangements of a third party, we would like to clarify that the Marine Group is depositing funds to support the operation of Watchet Marina.

“They advised that these funds would be available by the end of August, but this date was not given as a deadline by the council.

“We can confirm that the first tranche of these funds has been deposited.”