A History of Elie Harbour/Elie & Earlsferry Sailing Club
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- Category: About Elie & Earlsferry Sailing Club
- Created on Tuesday, 06 December 2011 20:27
1969/ 1970 - Elie Town Council agrees to let a piece of ground to EESC to be used as a dinghy park. Ground rent agreed at £25.00 per annum. Work commences by EESC to level the ground.
1973 - EESC commences work to concrete the area.
1973 - Elie Town Council installs street lamps on the causeway leading to the harbour and 5 floodlights on the granary.
1974- Elie Town Council lays 3 ground chains in the harbour to provide more secure mooring for all craft .(Burgh Surveyor - W. Balderstone )
Concern being voiced at the extent of silting taking place in the harbour an approach was made to the Council by EESC to suggest the removal of
This proved to be a difficult task and the work was completed with the assistance of the Army (Royal Engineers) on an "Aid to the Civil Community" agreement in being at that time.
1975 - Formation of Elie Harbour Co Ltd. to attend to harbour and granary affairs following local government re-organisation.
The Certificate of Incorporation is dated 5th. March 1975. There had been debate as to the title "Co. Ltd" being apt "Trust" being thought more appropriate but this was rejected by the Inland Revenue at that time,
The first meeting of the newly formed body took place on 14th. May 1975. Initially the Co. would rent the harbour & granary from the council.
The rental for the harbour was to be £50.00 per annum. The first meeting however agreed to purchase the granary for £1000.
One of the last acts of the retiring Elie Town Council was to give The Harbour Co. a grant of £12,000.
This sum allowed the Co. to engage in much needed renovation Work on the granary building - roof repairs, slating, guttering, The provision of internal electric power including light & power sockets on all floors. The building was also re-harled in accordance with guidelines for Historic Buildings laid down by the Dept. of the Environment.
1976 - EESC had been invited by the OK Dinghy Association to hold in 1976 the National Championships of their class. This was a large undertaking for the club - 80 competitors and "followers" amounting to probably in excess of 150 persons in Elie from 7th. To 14th. August. In managing this event the Sailing Club and the Harbour Co. co-operated very fully and the occasion was a great success for all concerned.
1977 - The Fife Regional Council having proved to be difficult land-lords the Harbour Co. as it was entitled to do by the Lease Agreement approached the Region to purchase the harbour for £5000. This offer was rejected but agreement reached on a figure of £5500. Thus the Harbour co. became owners of both granary and harbour . A disadvantage of the new status was that the company became liable for rates of £1000. per annum. This made an increase of 100% on all harbour charges necessary.
1980 - Bye-laws specific to Elie Harbour and based on previous regulations by the old Town Council but also incorporating rules taken from past Acts of Parliament which were still extant were agreed to be used in the formation of these new Bye-laws.
During the following few years many and various attempts were made and avenues were explored, together with approaches to potential grant awarding bodies to make the granary a viable asset. Some with a margin of success but never sufficient to make any impact on the cost of keeping the granary even wind and watertight and honouring the costs of services, rates etc. Discussions and investigations showed that the only viable way forward was to dispose of the building to a developer for commercial use, and the building was advertised for sale for this purpose.
1987 - A proposal to change the name of the company to "Elie Harbour Trust Ltd" was found now to be acceptable.
1988 - To accommodate the proposed sewage treatment system the Co. sold part of the car park area to Fife Regional Council. As part of the deal the Council's contractors built for £2000 only, a very successful slipway at the S.E. side of the harbour using a "gut" known as Luckie's Hole, where fishing boats hauled up for wintering in times past.
1989 - Peter Clayden Construction Ltd. Made an offer of £20,000 for the building subject to planning permission with an agreement that the entire ground floor would be retained by the Harbour Trust with the upper floors being converted into residential use.
It was planned that the ground floor use would be for an EESC Clubhouse, Fisherman's stores, an interpretation room, and a Chandlery shop. This plan satisfied the local planning authority's Views at the time - that of "multiple use".
1990 - The Co. built a storage shed adjacent to the dinghy park to be by EESC and Elie Watersports.
1991 - The proposed Bye-Laws for Elie Harbour having been revised and accepted by the judiciary passed into law.
1993 - A direction indicator plinth was erected on the Law showing details of all prominent features visible from that point.
1994 - Fife Enterprise proposed a series of helpful improvements at the harbour which included much needed repairs to the roadway, car park, fencing posts demarcating various areas and an information board giving local details & history - (seen in the car park.)
1994 - EESC proposed plans for a new clubhouse at the harbour which had been granted planning permission. These were accepted by the harbour Trust and the club was granted a long term ground rent of the area required.
1995 - The EESC Clubhouse was completed and the opening ceremony took place in june of that year.
1997 - Due to unexpected problems encountered in obtaining planning permission for their proposed development of the granary and other factors not associated with this project the Peter Clayden Group were forced to come out of the project and the Granary was Sold on to a new owner - Hyecroft Developments.
1999 - Plans were proposed to mark the millennium involve all local groups and this received the approval and co- operation of the Trust. Significant among these was a Millennium Ball held in a marquee at the harbour which was well attended and much enjoyed by all.
1999 - An extension to the EESC clubhouse was approved by the Trust and was completed in time for the start of the 2000 season.
Written by: Tom Maccabe, Hon. Commodore