The Port Franks Harbour Committee (PFHC) is a group of like-minded individuals representing the multifaceted sectors that make up our riverfront community.   It is our goal to promote the safety and navigability of the Ausable River and harbour channel, by providing guidance and cooperation to our Municipality and operators of the Northside. We have been in contact with numerous members of Lambton Shores Council, and have gained a better understanding of what is presently in place and how things work. 

The PFHC will be presenting at the next Council Meeting in March, as we were not able to get onto the speaker roster for the February meeting.  Our goal is to be a recognized committee in cooperation with Lambton Shores Council, so that we can provide guidance and suggestions pertaining to the channel dredging, marking of the channel and riverfront, and overall navigability and safety of the harbour. 

We have been monitoring the river mouth the past number of weeks; the channel appears to have gone back to its former course, following the mouth of the river with a slight turn to the North.  The channel, which was very narrow last year, no longer runs tight to the steel seawall on the South side and does not appear to turn sharply to the North in front of Chicken Island. We are cautiously optimistic that the channel will naturally be more navigable this year, and proactively maintained throughout the season.

The PFHC recently circulated a petition regarding the licensing of the Northside for use in Grand Bend. We are humbled by the outpouring of support from the community; in under 24 hours, the petition obtained over 400 signatures and 7500 views!  After speaking with the present operators of the Northside, we decided to close the petition. It is our understanding that the Northside would only travel to Grand Bend for short periods of time, as mooring space for a vessel of that size is not available. During these times, the smaller dredging boat (Motoi) would be stationed in Port Franks. These discussions are still ongoing, and we will keep the community informed of any new information.

We thank everyone in the community for their support, and will keep you updated with any relevant information. For any questions, concerns, or inquiries, please email us at PFHarbourCommittee@gmail.com.

Best regards,

The PFHC