Bird Habitat Central to UK Port Expansion Battle
© Environment News Service (ENS) 2000
November 20, 2000
SOUTHAMPTON, United Kingdom, November 20, 2000 (ENS) - A UK company plans to build a container terminal on 240 hectares of open grazing marsh and mudflats described by environmental groups as an internationally important wildlife haven.
Last month, after four years of research and consultation, Associated British Ports (ABP) formally applied to the UK government to develop Dibden Terminal. The terminal is planned for Dibden Bay, situated on the western shores of an estuary known as Southampton Water. The bay is opposite the existing Port of Southampton on the UK's south coast.
About 110 kilometers (70 miles) southwest of London, Southampton is home to one of the country's busiest ports, handling 35 million tonnes of cargo a year and serving more than 55,000 commercial vessels. It employs more than 10,000 people and manages six percent of the country's overseas trade.
Under ABP's proposal, Dibden Terminal will offer six deep water berths, an additional berth for feeder, roll on/roll off and aggregate traffic, road and rail interchanges, and facilities for storage and ancillary services. About 3,000 jobs would be created in the construction and operation of the new terminal.
To Friends of the Earth and a host of other environmental groups, Dibden Bay forms part of an internationally important wildlife haven noted for its diversity, particularly among birds. Solent and Southampton Water is a designated special protection area (SPA) of European importance, because of the wintering and migratory birds dependent on wetland habitats within the site.
The SPA falls under the European Union Birds Directive because it is regularly used by over 20,000 waterfowl in the winter.
Red throated diver (Gavia stellata), black throated diver (G. arctica), Mediterranean Gull (Larus melanocephalus) and Roseate tern (Sterrna dougalli) are among regular visitors to the area's wetlands.
Dibden Bay is a buffer between the towns of Hythe and Marchwood, provides an open view from Southampton, a wildlife corridor to the New Forest from the waterside and is one of the last underdeveloped areas on Southampton Water.
Created in 1079 by William the Conqueror, the New Forest is anything but new. It is a nationally important environment of woodland pasture, heaths, bogs and the remains of 300 year old coppices and timber plantations.
The Countryside Agency, which is responsible for designating national parks, has begun the process of creating a New Forest National Park, which would include Dibden Bay.
"ABP plans to destroy one of the very best wildlife sites in Europe," said Brenda Pollack of Friends of the Earth (FOE).
"They are clearly putting their own profits before local people and wildlife. Building a massive port in the New Forest does not make strategic sense nationally, regionally nor locally. We need a national overview of the capacity needed in the UK rather than looking at individual applications on a piecemeal basis."
Julie Astin of New Forest branch of FOE said the impact on local residents and people in the region will be devastating.
"The extremely high increase in traffic and train movements will result in congestion, pollution and noise that just does not bear thinking about," said Astin. "The construction phase will last no less than 10 years and once it is built it will operate 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. "It's absolutely horrific, the stuff of nightmares. Once Dibden Bay is destroyed it can never be brought back."
Friends of the Earth lists the following impacts on the region if ABP's plan is approved.
Total loss of the foreshore mudflats.
Total loss of grazing marsh.
Loss of foreshore views from Southampton - residents will have views of concrete and cranes instead.
An estimated 6,100 vehicle movements per day, made up of 3,700 container vehicles, 1,800 employee vehicles and 600 support vehicles resulting in traffic congestion, air pollution, noise and vibration.
A 52 percent increase on 1995 traffic flow is forecast for local roads by 2011 and an estimated 46 additional train movements per day by 2011.
Noise and light pollution from port operations.
Dredging of the channel may cause coastal erosion, variation to the channel's usual tidal flow and the redistribution of sediments.
Increased disturbance to animals and plants in the New Forest.
Increased contamination and pollution caused by fuel spillage and leaks, the dumping of oil and ballast water, and leachate from anti-fouling paints.
Irreparable damage to nationally and internationally designated wildlife sites.
ABP calls the Dibden Terminal application a "flagship example of a new approach to the environmental issues associated with port development." The company claims it has brought an unprecedented level of community involvement to its plans over the last four years, via briefings, public hearings, forums and media.
The company worked with the government advisor on conservation issues, English Nature, and the Royal Society for Protection of Birds, to draw up proposals to minimize the negative affects of the development on the environment.
ABP says it will do this by creating extensive areas of habitat enhancement. About 180 hectares have been incorporated into the landscaping and environmental aspects of the proposal.
The land will undergo landscaping and a nature reserve will be created to include reed beds, salt marshes and woodland. Cycleways, footpaths and public open space will be created to link Hythe and Marchwood.
About 300,000 native trees and shrubs, many of them fully grown, will be planted and a 1.6 kilometer (one mile) long intertidal creek that meets the water at the southern edge of the terminal will be created, restoring the original shoreline of Dibden Bay.
ABP claims its proposals will improve open space for the public and provide secure and sustainable habitats for birds, land and marine wildlife.
The company's Group Chief Executive Bo Lerenius says the UK's future competitiveness justifies the port's expansion plans.
"The Dibden Terminal project is a major investment in our core business, in the future of the Port of Southampton and in the regional economy," said Lerenius.
"The substantial growth that we will see continuing for the deep sea container traffic makes the development of Dibden Terminal necessary if the UK is going to remain competitive."
The public's six week comment period on ABP's official application ended last week. Now it is up to the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions to approve or reject the company's plan. Because the area is part of an SPA, the department will have to consider the plan's impact on birds and their habitats in its decision.