South East Forum For Sustainability

Archive for the ‘Ports’ Category

ABP's site for Dibden Bay Port

Back in 2004 (after a 7 year campaign), Didben Bay was saved from the clutches of ABP. The then Secretary of State commented that “Overall, the Secretary of State agrees with the Inspector that the disbenefits of the scheme, as borne out by its impact on internationally and nationally environmentally sensitive sites, outweigh the potential benefits.”

Alas the nature of big business is to pursue it’s plans and ABP want to set out Southampton Port as a contender for the forecast growth in marine trade. So once more the site is under threat.

To this end ABP has launched a new consultation on the future of the Port. The consultation will run until 13th November. There will be two public exhibitions held at the Southampton Civic Centre on 11 September and in Hythe on 15 September.

Aware that development was on the cards the original Residents Against Dibden Bay Port campaign group has been revived to keep a watching brief. In their view nothing has changed in the new plans make a future proposal by ABP acceptable. RADBP’s objections, which are the same as they were to the original proposal, are summarised as follows:

- Substantial environmental damage would be caused, not only to wildlife habitat, but also to the residents’ quality of life in the New Forest side of Southampton Water.
- Other port proposals such as at Thamesport, Felixstowe and Harwich present more acceptablealternatives. The cost of such proposals, and the environmental impact, would be much less than for Dibden Bay.
- Larger ships could not access Dibden Bay port without major dredging and other works
- Transport links – road and rail are inadequate. They are already overstretched without massive new traffic.

From this to Wharves and Port Facilities?

During the original campaign most of the local authorities around Dibden Bay were against the proposal and many local residents were deeply alarmed. RADBP joined SEFS and became a consortium of local interests including residents associations, parish councils in the Waterside area and organisations such as RSPB, CPRE, the Wildlife Trusts and Friends of the Earth. There was also strong support from Dr Julian Lewis MP. Together the group objected on a wide range of issues, including unacceptable increases in traffic on the already overcrowded A326 (”one of Hampshire’s deadliest roads*”); a big increase from a few freight trains per day in the area to two every hour; and the effects of noise, light and visual intrusion on local residents. The campaign was successful. After a lengthy public inquiry, government decided to refuse ABP’s application.

Opposition to the new proposals is already mounting and The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds for one has voiced its concerns about ABP’s intentions.
In June a Forest District Council spokesman was quoted as saying “If another application is ever submitted, all the hurdles ABP had to climb before – and failed – will have to be climbed again”. South Daily Echo 12th June 2009

SEFS members including , Residents Against Dibden Bay Port, RSPB, Friends of the Earth and Hampshire Wildlife Trust have been campaigning since 1997 against the ABP proposals to develop Dibden Bay. Their hard work and dedication paid off this week when Tony MacNaulty (Transport Minister) announced that he was turning down the proposal.
The full decision letter and the Inspectors report can be found by following the link below but in conclusion the letter states: “Overall, the Secretary of State agrees with the Inspector that the disbenefits of the scheme, as borne out by its impact on internationally and nationally environmentally sensitive sites, outweigh the potential benefits.”
Paul Vickers chairman of Residents Against Dibden Bay who’s motto for the campaign is ” He who cares, wins”. is now looking forward to retiring as chair “knowing that Dibden Bay is secure and that our quality of life and the environment are safe once again.”
Brenda Pollack from Friends of the Earth South East said she was “thrilled ministers are sticking to their principles instead of bolstering big business”

The Public Inquiry into the ABP port development at Dibden Bay ended nearly a year ago and we have been awaiting the Inspector’s report. This is expected early in the new year and if he advises the Secretary of State to give approval, there will be much work to do to try and make the government see sense. Meanwhile a special Transport Committee has been looking at the government’s Ports policy and has just produced a report.
Friends of the Earth has long argued that the government should make a decision on all the ports applications at the same time to avoid any unnecessary damage to the environment. Recently Friends of the Earth set up a national alliance with the RSPB, CPRE, Transport 2000 and others. This is called PortsWatch. It has just issued a press release to back the Transport Committee report as it has echoed many of the concerns about the lack of an integrated, national strategy for ports.
There will shortly be a PortsWatch page on the Friends of the Earth website at which will have up to date information and actions you can take. Meanwhile you can see the press release by following the link below and the full report from the Transport Committee is also available on the web.

PortsWatch web page
PortsWatch press release
Transport Committee Report