New port faces inquiry
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• A public inquiry has been launched to decide whether a new super-port' should be built by Associated British Ports on a 202 hectare wildlife site at Dibden Bay in Southampton.
The development of the deep sea container terminal is, says ABP, vital to "secure the future success of the Port of Southampton" and the city itself. However, local and national objections to the project are loud.
Tony Juniper, director of Friends of the Earth, claims that the proposal is "unnecessary and unpopular and will cause enormous damage to one of the most supposedly protected areas in the UK. It must never be built". A local haulier echoes Juniper's views. Paul Dawson of Deben Transport says: "There is plenty of spare capacity at the Port of Southampton already and also at Felixstowe, Tilbury and Thamesport. Why build another one?" he says.
The government is expected to make a decision during 2003.