Cardiff Harbour Authority (CHA) is the managing authority for

Cardiff Bay Cardiff Bay ( cy, Bae Caerdydd; historically Tiger Bay; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it serves as the river mouth of the River Taff and Ely. The body of w ...

under the Cardiff Bay Barrage Act 1993, and was established on 1 April 2000. It took over responsibility from

Cardiff Bay Development Corporation The Cardiff Bay Development Corporation was set up by the United Kingdom Government on 3 April 1987 to redevelop one sixth of the area of Cardiff to create Cardiff Bay. Objectives The Secretary of State for Wales, Nicholas Edwards set out the C ...

and is responsible for the inland bay,

Cardiff Bay Barrage Cardiff Bay Barrage ( cy, Morglawdd Bae Caerdydd) lies across the mouth of Cardiff Bay, Wales between Queen Alexandra Dock and Penarth Head. It was one of the largest civil engineering projects in Europe during construction in the 1990s. Hist ...

, the outer harbour and the rivers

Taff Taff may refer to: * River Taff, a large river in Wales * ''Taff'' (TV series), a German tabloid news programme * Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund, an organisation for science fiction fandom People * a demonym for anyone from south Wales * Jerry Taff ( ...

and

Ely Ely or ELY may refer to: Places Ireland * Éile, a medieval kingdom commonly anglicised Ely * Ely Place, Dublin, a street United Kingdom * Ely, Cambridgeshire, a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England ** Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formal ...

. The harbour authority is part of the

City of Cardiff Council Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Cyngor Sir Dinas a Sir Caerdydd) is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were established ...

and is the statutory

navigation authority A navigation authority is a company or statutory body which is concerned with the management of a navigable canal or river. Rights of a navigation authority Whilst the rights of individual authorities vary, a navigation authority will typically hav ...

for

. The authority is funded by the

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( cy, Llywodraeth Cymru) is the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of ministers and Minister (government), deputy ministers, and also of a Counsel General for Wales, counsel general. Minist ...

Responsibilities

CHA's responsibility includes the inland waters of Cardiff Bay (including the Mount Stuart Graving Docks), the River Taff up to Blackweir, the River Ely up to

Wiggins Teape Arjowiggins is an independent paper manufacturer based in Scotland. History The company's origins go back to 1761 when Buckland Mill in Dover in Kent commenced operations. Meanwhile, in France, in the middle of the 20th century there were fou ...

weir, the outer harbour and

. CHA was also given responsibility for the land areas of

Roald Dahl Plass Roald Dahl Plass is a public space in Cardiff Bay, Cardiff, Wales. It is named after Cardiff-born author Roald Dahl, and is located on the coast along the south of the city centre. The square is home to the Senedd building housing the Senedd, t ...

and the Channel Graving Dock. The Authority assumed this responsibility from

upon its dissolution on 31 March 2000. They are also responsible for a number of facilities around Cardiff Bay: * Cardiff Bay Tourist Information Centre located in the

Wales Millennium Centre Wales Millennium Centre ( cy, Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru) is an arts centre located in the Cardiff Bay area of Cardiff, Wales. The site covers a total area of . Phase 1 of the building was opened during the weekend of the 26–28 November 2004 an ...

. Originally the Cardiff Bay Visitor Centre, known as "The Tube" (dismantled in 2010) *

Cardiff International White Water Cardiff International White Water ( cy, Dŵr Gwyn Rhyngwladol Caerdydd) is an Olympic standard white water rafting centre based at the Cardiff International Sports Village in Cardiff Bay. The centre opened on 26 March 2010, after taking two yea ...

* Cardiff Rowing Centre, previously known as CBWAC * Cardiff Sailing Centre * Flat Holm Project * Norwegian Church Cardiff Harbour Authority today has a number of statutory duties, including traffic control, security, navigational safety (including buoys, beacons, bridge lights and channel surveys), conservation (including dredging, maintaining river banks and the wetland wildlife reserve), encouraging both commercial and leisure uses of the bay, and protecting its environment. The CHA is responsible for the operation of the three

sea lock A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water lev ...

s, the five

sluice Sluice ( ) is a word for a channel controlled at its head by a movable gate which is called a sluice gate. A sluice gate is traditionally a wood or metal barrier sliding in grooves that are set in the sides of the waterway and can be considered ...

s that maintain the water level in the bay and the

fish pass A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass, fish steps, or fish cannon is a structure on or around artificial and natural barriers (such as dams, locks and waterfalls) to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration as well as movemen ...

that allows migratory

Salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

and

Sea Trout Sea trout is the common name usually applied to anadromous (sea-run) forms of brown trout (''Salmo trutta''), and is often referred to as ''Salmo trutta'' morpha ''trutta''. Other names for anadromous brown trout are sewin (Wales), peel or peal ...

to return to the rivers to

spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment, and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** '' Spawn: ...

Offices

The authorities main offices are based in Queen Alexandra House, alongside the

Cardiff Docks Cardiff Docks ( cy, Dociau Caerdydd) is a port in southern Cardiff, Wales. At its peak, the port was one of the largest dock systems in the world with a total quayage of almost . Once the main port for the export of South Wales coal, the Port ...

, however the barrage is managed from the Barrage Control Building which overlooks the 3 sea locks and outer harbour and the

Harbour Master A harbourmaster (or harbormaster, see spelling differences) is an official responsible for enforcing the regulations of a particular harbour or port, in order to ensure the safety of navigation, the security of the harbour and the correct operat ...

is based in the Environment Building at the north end of the barrage.

Vessels

CHA operates a number of

patrol A patrol is commonly a group of personnel, such as Law enforcement officer, law enforcement officers, military personnel, or Security guard, security personnel, that are assigned to monitor or secure a specific geographic area. Etymology Fro ...

, workboat,

survey Survey may refer to: Statistics and human research * Statistical survey, a method for collecting quantitative information about items in a population * Survey (human research), including opinion polls Spatial measurement * Surveying, the techniq ...

and general duty vessels in order to comply with its statutory duties. The authority took delivery of a new general duties boat in 2014, built by

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

-based shipbuilder Alnmaritec.

Emergency Services

CHA works closely with a number of

emergency services Emergency services and rescue services are organizations that ensure public safety and health by addressing and resolving different emergencies. Some of these agencies exist solely for addressing certain types of emergencies, while others deal wit ...

South Wales Police South Wales Police ( cy, Heddlu De Cymru) is one of the four territorial police forces in Wales. It is headquartered in Bridgend. The force was formed as South Wales Constabulary on 1 June 1969, by the amalgamation of the former Glamorgan Const ...

regularly store a Ribcraft 9m

RIB In vertebrate anatomy, ribs ( la, costae) are the long curved bones which form the rib cage, part of the axial skeleton. In most tetrapods, ribs surround the chest, enabling the lungs to expand and thus facilitate breathing by expanding the ches ...

on-site,

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (SWFRS; cy, Gwasanaeth Tân ac Achub De Cymru) is the fire and rescue service covering the ten Welsh principal areas of Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Newport, ...

have a 5.3m rescue boat moored on the barrage and there is a Memorandum of understanding between CHA,

Maritime and Coastguard Agency The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is an executive agency of the United Kingdom that responsible for implementing British and international maritime law and safety policy. It works to prevent the loss of lives at sea and to prevent marine ...

HM Coastguard His Majesty's Coastguard (HMCG) is a section of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency responsible, through the Secretary of State for Transport to Parliament, for the initiation and co-ordination of all maritime search and rescue (SAR) within the ...

RNLI The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...

, SW Fire and Rescue, the

Welsh Ambulance Service The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust ( cy, Ymddiriedolaeth GIG Gwasanaethau Ambiwlans Cymru) is the national ambulance service for Wales. It was established on 1 April 1998 and has 3,400 staff providing ambulance and related services to the ...

and Bristow Helicopters Search and Rescue in regards to

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

operations within the bay.

References

External links