Whitstable Harbour

Whitstable Harbour is a municipal harbour owned by Canterbury City Council. The harbour estate includes a uniquely wide and broad range of tenants including retail, hospitality, manufacturing, professional services and agricultural businesses.

The Harbour Board will make strategic decisions regarding the harbour land, property and marine safety. The membership is made up of five city councillors and four independent members.  Minutes and agendas can be found here. In everything it does, the Harbour Board strives to:

• Build a reputation for safety, reliability and friendly service
• Be open, accessible and accountable
• Create a profitable and sustainable commercial business which is financially self-sufficient
• Be good communicators, regularly engaging with residents and stakeholders
• Work with our community to make things happen

The overriding vision of the board is to support the fishing industry of Whitstable and provide a safe, welcoming, memorable and accessible Harbour that drives local business, protects our environment and delivers a positive social impact for our community.

The harbour is classed as a Competent Harbour Authority (CHA) and as such vessels over 50m LOA must comply with our Pilotage Directions. There is no physical pilotage service available in Whitstable, it is done remotely by the Harbour Authority.

Counts suggest that the Harbour can have up to 16,000 visitors to Whitstable Harbour on the average summer weekend. There are approximately 55 tenants across the estate. The Whitstable Harbour is managed by the Whitstable Harbour Board, a committee of Canterbury City Council which includes five elected members and four independent members of the local community.

The Harbour ensures the operational safety of the Harbour and works to ensure that it remains a brand and dynamic community asset at the heart of the town. It has recently published its new ten year strategic plan.