Harbour Trust
Annan Harbour Trust
The withdrawal of Dumfries and Galloway Council officer support and a change in fishing patterns led to the eventual demise of the original Annan Harbour Trust at the end of last century. Thus ending 100 years of mixed fortunes since it was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1897.
The fact that this Act was not rescinded became a blight to redevelopment as the harbour had no governing body to develop a plan. Annan Harbour Action Group (AHAG) lobbied the Council to take over the harbour as the statutory authority, but this proved to be impossible. However, in 2019 the Council provided finance and support to AHAG to seek a Harbour Revision Order to create a new Harbour Trust to provide modern governance. Negotiations with Transport Scotland who manage these powers for the Scottish Ministers are ongoing
More about the history of the trust and its current activities below ⇓
Annan Harbour – Key Historical Dates
1725
Convention of Royal Burghs stationed an armed sloop at Annan Waterfoot to discourage the free trade.
1790
Mill Lead excavated via a feu from the Town Council.
1805
Burgh funds provided to build a wharf and warehouse at the Well (Welldale) capable of receiving light craft.
1810
Town Subscription Quay was built to a drawing prepared by Thomas Telford.
1817
John Irving of Newbie Estates build the flood banks on the lower river stabilising the merse land to the East at a cost of £3000, thus enabling ships of 300 tons to reach the Town Quay.
1818
John Nicholson established ship building yard at the Welldale building clippers with local timber.
1825
Timber now imported directly from Prince Edward Island.
1846 - 48
Glasgow and South West railway was built and opened.
1854
Annandale launched, at 228 ft 6 inches the longest ship in the world for her beam.
1850s
A shrimp fishing fleet relocated to Upper Kenziels from Morecambe Bay.
1866
Big ship building ceased.
1888
6000 tons of goods were moving through the harbour annually but as free port no money for developments was earned. William Cuthbertson, newspaper proprietor, called for a Harbour Trust, independent of the Council. Thus the original harbour trustees were constituted by minute from the Town Council and tasked with applying to the Board of Trade for a Provisional Order under the Harbours Act.
1893
Extension to the quay following a ruling that the land was Crown Property.
1894
New quay completed.
1895
Town Council declined to take over quay from Harbour Trust at cost.
1897
Royal Assent for the Annan Harbour Order.
1899
Harbour Trust granted Robert Robertson & Sons, Liverpool a site for a warehouse.
1900
The contract to deepen the dam let at £340 eventually cost £640.
1904
The second quay extension was completed at a cost of £500.
1918
A decline followed good trade during WW1.
1930
Shipping decreased during the depression.
1940
Increase in value of fishing activity during WW2 and subsequent development of Annan’s shell fishing processing capacity.
1945
The post war move to road transport substantially reduced traffic, although the building of Chapelcross nuclear power station in 1950s brought cement ships and the development of a chipboard factory brought timber ships in the 1960s.
1975
Annandale & Eskdale District Council agreed to provide administrative, legal and financial services to the Annan Harbour Trust.
1994
Fish landings were £224k from 10 working boats.
1996
Dumfries and Galloway Council continued the practice of its predecessor authority.
1996
The Trust secured £425K funding from D&G Enterprise, Scottish Government and Annan Common Good to upgrade the quay for fish landings and install a cut to sluice the harbour. DGE only delivered parts of this project.
1997
The Director of Corporate Finance of Dumfries & Galloway Council terminated all support arrangements to Annan Harbour Trust.
1998
Fish landings were nil in year with no boats operating following the withdrawal of the Dutch buyer. The majority of Annan fishermen were now pursuing clams out of Kirkcudbright and elsewhere.
1999
Dumfries and Galloway Council declared Annan Harbour Trust moribund.
2011
Annan Harbour Action Group (AHAG) formed as a sub-committee of Annan Regeneration Committee.
2014
Chair John Thorburn, a former councillor, reconvened Annan Harbour Trust for one meeting to grant permission to AHAG to renovate the slipway.
2016
AHAG became a two tier SCIO.
2016
Dumfries and Galloway Council acknowledged ‘ownership’ of the quay at Annan harbour as part of the Annan Common Good portfolio and therefore their liability to be responsible for its maintenance.
2017
AHAG produced Annan Harbour – A Trust Port without Governance to persuade Dumfries and Galloway Council to take action.
2018
Following discussions with senior Council officers and lobbying of elected members various papers were submitted to the Environment, Economy and Infrastructure Committee of Dumfries and Galloway Council .
2019
A report to E, E and I on January 22nd recommended that AHAG be funded to pursue a Harbour Revision Order. This decision was later endorsed by full Council.
2020
AHAG engaged Brodies LLB to work up a draft HRO and liaise with Transport Scotland.
Our Current Work
We are currently seeking a ‘Harbour Revision Order’, in order to:
Take charge of regulating and managing this important asset on behalf of the local community.
Take forward a community vision for the harbour and river.
Manage statutory powers over the river for the community.
Instigate improvements, management and maintenance of the harbour in an efficient and economic manner.
Develop new projects in the harbour to benefit the town and the wider community.
Facilitate efficient and economical transport of goods or passengers by sea.
Facilitate the interests of commercial and leisure users of the harbour and river.
Efficiently manage and regulate commercial and leisure water traffic within the river.
Work in partnership with like-minded organisations to improve the harbour area and environs.
Ensure that all the interests of Annan Harbour work in harmony.
Our Funders & Partners
Our funders and partners invest in us to support our local community and in the continued work to regenerate Annan Harbour. By doing so they continue to recognise the value of this work and the importance of community-led regeneration.
