Our Strategy

Protecting and restoring landscape, water and nature

I am delighted to introduce the new Chichester Harbour Conservancy strategy and vision for 2050.

As we envision the future of Chichester Harbour in 2050, we recognise the daunting challenges confronting conservation today. Our natural environment faces myriad pressures; from climate change and habitat loss, to economic constraints and water pollution. In the face of so many pressures, it’s imperative we chart a course toward a future that addresses these pressing issues head- on.

Our vision is not merely aspirational; it’s a guiding landmark for tangible progress. It’s a future where Chichester Harbour stands as an example of conservation excellence, renowned for its proactive stewardship and its commitment to safe and efficient port management.

To realise this vision, we’re committed to a strategy that places conservation at its core. This strategy is fully supported by both myself and the board as a robust approach for safeguarding and enhancing Chichester Harbour for generations to come.

Our strategy serves as a bridge connecting our present reality to our envisioned future. While the specifics of our plans may evolve over time, the fundamental principles of our vision, centred on conservation, education, and community engagement, will remain steadfast.

Crucial to our success will be the support and sustained funding from our key stakeholders—the West Sussex and Hampshire County Councils, DEFRA, and our network of supporting organisations and benefactors. With their continued partnership, we will be able to navigate the challenges ahead and usher in a future where Chichester Harbour thrives as a testament to the power of collective conservation efforts.

Pieter Montyn, Chairman – Chichester Harbour Conservancy

Our Purpose

Chichester Harbour Conservancy is bound by the duties and powers set out in the Chichester Harbour Conservancy Act 1971 which state:

21.– (1)  It shall be the function of the Conservancy, subject to the provisions of this Act, to take such steps from time to time as to them seem meet for the conservancy, maintenance and improvement of:

(a)  The harbour, for the use of pleasure craft and such other vessels as may seek to use the same;

(b)  The amenity area, for the occupation of leisure and recreation and the conservation of nature;

and the facilities (including, in relation to the harbour, navigational facilities) afforded respectively therein or in connection therewith.

(2)  In the fulfilment of the function with which they are charged by subsection (1) of this section, the Conservancy shall have regard to the desirability of conserving the natural beauty and amenity of the countryside and of avoiding interference with fisheries.

Our Values

Achieving Our Vision

  1. Prioritise Conservation by:
  • Making conservation the prime focus of the organisation.
  • Making Chichester Harbour Protection and Recovery of Nature (CHaPRoN) the conservation main effort within the Chichester Harbour Management Plan.
  • Having a formal survey regime for the natural environment that enables close condition monitoring.
  • Having a coherent and effective communications strategy that clearly articulates the importance of Chichester Harbour as a natural and leisure resource and engages all people with the aims and decisions of Chichester Harbour Conservancy.
  1. Ensure Safe and Efficient Harbour Operations by:
  • Discharging its responsibilities as the Statutory Harbour Authority effectively to deliver a safe
    and efficient harbour for all users with enhanced and modernised facilities.
  • Discharging Chichester Harbour Conservancy’s authority fairly through a proactive approach to enforcement of its powers and duties under the 1971 Act.
  1. Lead Through Education and Community Engagement by:
  • Delivering educational training in support of the National Curriculum that increases public awareness, including the disadvantaged young, as to the value of the Chichester Harbour and the threats to its well-being.
  • Providing a well-maintained network of foot paths and cycle routes, that attract users from across the diverse local community and further afield
  1. Influence Local Planning and Development by:
  • Having greater influence on planning applications in and around the National Landscape. This should include achieving Statutory Consultee status for planning applications in the short term (5 years), leading to Local Planning Authority status by 2050.
  1. Achieve Organisational Excellence by:
  • Having a contented, informed and empowered workforce within a trusting environment where decisions are delegated down by default.
  • Being a self-critical learning organisation that strives for excellence through a desire to improve.
  • Chichester Harbour Conservancy achieving Net Zero by 2035.
  • Being an expert, astute and agile at identifying and securing investments and grants.
  • Having a rigorous risk-based approach to business management that enable agile and focussed interventions that maximise return and deliver value for money.
  • Securing improved, sustainable work premises by 2030.
  1. Collaborating with partners by:
  • Working with partners to lobby and secure national and local policies that better protect and conserve the natural environment.
  • Leveraging Chichester Harbour Conservancy’s convening power to work closely with government agencies, charities (including the Chichester Harbour Friends, the Chichester Harbour Trust and the Chichester Harbour Federation) and other benefactors.
  • Being an active participant in the Chichester Harbour Investment and Adaptation Plan.
  • Forming international partnerships with like-challenged organisations to share ideas and develop co-operation.

Resourcing Our Strategy

  • By creating a culture where people want to come to work and give of their best, with these efforts rewarded and celebrated. It is also a place where streamlined processes enable the workforce to deliver more by working
  • smarter not harder.
  • By maximising potential of the workforce through empowerment, delegation and trust, with our human potential aligned to the aims and aspirations of Chichester Harbour Consultancy.
  • Through provision of excellent facilities and services, ensuring Chichester Harbour remains an attractive area to all users (land and sea), generating revenue for re-investment.
  • By having a successful and sustained track record of securing grants.
  • By being a wise, transparent and value for money spender of money.
  • To safeguard existing sources of revenue while continually seeking new revenue streams.
  • To adopt a ‘whole enterprise’ approach to setting annual budgets that meet Chichester Harbour Conservancy’s priorities not and in the future.
  • Through extensive deployment of a strong pool of volunteers from the local community and further afield.
  • Fund shift to Net Zero emissions for the Harbour Office and Education Centre by 2035.
  • Through longstanding and beneficial support from local and national industry/companies through their Corporate Social Responsibility programmes.
  • To seek out international collaborative partners based on skill set and competence.

Implementing the Strategy

Chichester Harbour is a unique and precious environment. Designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1964 due to its special qualities and protected for the nation to enjoy. As such, it is a tremendous resource for wellbeing for all people across the South Coast and further afield. However, the harbour is under enormous, complex and pernicious pressure. Chichester Harbour Conservancy is committed through this strategy, to halt and reverse the decline.

This will take many years of concerted and coordinated hard work to deliver. The strategy is the conceptual bridge from where we are to where we want to be in 2050, providing a unifying vision. It is ambitious and rightly so given the critical value of the harbour. Its role is to set a course, not to provide the detail of what needs to be done; that is the function of our rolling 5-year Management Plan that will operationalise delivery.

As with all strategies, it is not fixed and will have to adjust over time to changing political, economic and societal factors. This is why it will be reviewed annually to check our intent and trajectory remains correct.