A NEW committee has been set up to manage Weymouth Harbour.

Councillors unanimously approved plans for a Weymouth Harbour management committee at a council meeting last night.

The committee, which will meet quarterly, will oversee the running of the harbour and seek to increase its income.

It will be made up of five Weymouth and Portland Borough Council members on a politically proportionate basis.

Two members of the public with particular knowledge of the harbour will also be recruited.

The committee will devise an annual harbour business plan to ensure the harbour benefits all residents of the borough economically.

Speaking after the meeting, Councillor Doug Hollings, chairman of the new committee, said the group will help residents keep track of the harbour's progress.

He added: "This will allow us to manage the harbour in a more businesslike manner.

"It will be done in a more transparent way so councillors and residents can see agreed business plans set out for a number of years.

"It's about making best use of the harbour as an asset to the borough."

Committee members will find ways to help the community capitalise on the harbour's appeal as a tourist destination.

Also within their remit will be authorising capital expenditure and submitting a five-year capital programme to the council's management committee for approval.

The harbour management committee will liaise with nine independent harbour users who make up the harbour users group, councillors were told.

At last night's meeting, councillors made a U-turn on a decision to limit committee membership to those representing Weymouth East and Melcombe Regis wards.

Coun Hollings added: "Membership should no longer be restricted to certain ward members, it should be open to everyone.

"Now it's time to give them a chance to get on with running the harbour."

But former councillor John Birtwistle told the meeting he feared the committee's members would lack sufficient nautical knowledge.

He said: "The non-council input has been halved from four members to just two members.

"That's one decision I'm very sorry to see."