10:20am Tuesday 6th April 2010
Exclusive By Gareth Lewis
CAMPAIGNERS against plans to build a major new container port at Dibden Bay have suffered a potential setback, the Daily Echo can reveal.
Natural England, which advises the Government on environmental issues, is refusing to back calls for the site, pictured, to be made part of the New Forest National Park.
The organisation says Dibden Bay – a large area of reclaimed coastline near Hythe – is not attractive enough to merit inclusion.
Instead, it merely says port development must “take full account” of the environment.
Its verdict is a bitter blow to organisations that are preparing to fight any new application by Associated British Ports (ABP) to build the £600m terminal, which would create thousands of jobs.
Southampton docks owner ABP last year published its masterplan for the area forecasting a surge in trade that would mean the terminal would need to be up and running between 2021 and 2027.
Six years ago the Government rejected plans for a six-berth terminal following a 13-month public inquiry.
New Forest District Council regards a new bid to develop the land as “inevitable”.
The council and other organisations are attempting to ward off the threat by persuading the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to include Dibden Bay in the National Park.
But Natural England, in a move that makes extra protection less likely, has decided that the area fails to meet the necessary criteria.
In a letter to Hampshire County Council the organisation said: “Natural England does not consider that National Park designation is appropriate. We are, however, mindful of the potential impact that a major port development could have on the setting of the National Park and the wildlife interest of the area.
“We would expect any development proposal for Dibden Bay to take full account of the area’s landscape, biodiversity and recreation interests.”
Hythe county councillor Brian Dash, a leading light in the campaign to save the site, said he was disappointed with Natural England’s verdict.
He added: “It’s all the more puzzling when you think that the huge power station site at Fawley is included. ABP’s ‘keep out’ signs haven’t helped.”
But New Forest East MP Dr Julian Lewis is defiant.
He said: “I regard the arguments for saving Dibden Bay as overwhelming.
We saved it before the National Park was created and we’ll save it again, whether it’s included in the National Park or not.”
A Natural England spokesman said the Government could ignore the organisation’s advice and make Dibden Bay part of the park.
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