by Graham Tutthill

gtutthill@thekmgroup.co.uk

P&O Ferries' chief executive Helen Deeble says discussions with Dover Harbour Board over the tariffs they charged had been “time-consuming and utterly pointless”.

The ferry operators now had a total lack of trust in the board, she said.
Miss Deeble was giving evidence on Tuesday at the public inquiry into the operators’ objection to the level of charges set by the harbour board for 2010 and 2011.

“In the last few years, the process of setting the annual tariffs has become more and more unsatisfactory, with a lack of consultation, and the harbour board’s failure to take our views into account,” she said.

“We have a real sense of frustration. We have not had any meaningful negotiations or an attempt at compromise. They just seem to insist on doing it their way and they don’t care about their customers.”

Miss Deeble described the level of cash surplus built up by the harbour board in recent years as “unacceptably high”.

She said: “It is unacceptable for a public body to have accrued such an excessive profit.

Asked by Fergus Randolph QC, representing the ferry companies, whether she regarded the DHB tariffs had been set at an appropriate commercial level – as DHB chief executive Bob Goldfield had claimed – Miss Deeble replied: “If they had been, we wouldn’t be sitting here in this inquiry."

Miss Deeble said her company could not pass the increased charges on to their customers as they did not have to travel from Dover. “Every time DHB increase their dues, we have to consider how we can offset those costs which will inevitably affect jobs.”

Full story in this week's Dover Mercury.

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