'Super-port' battle set to resume

Plans were blocked in 2004 to turn land at Dibden Bay into a port

The owner of Southampton docks said it still wants to build a huge container port near a major habitat in Hampshire.

Plans for a £600m "super-port" at Dibden Bay, near the New Forest, were blocked by the government in 2004.

But an Associated British Ports (ABP) draft document seen by BBC South, to be published on 27 July, shows it wants a new port ready between 2021-2027.

Opponents have said it would increase pollution and traffic with disastrous consequences for wildlife.

The ABP document, which lists its long-term plans, says the expansion at Dibden Bay is needed to cope with a forecast growth in trade and would in turn provide a boost in jobs.

Nick Farthing, from Southampton Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the idea.

Nick Farthing, of Southampton Chamber of Commerce, said it would create jobs

He said: "We have to look at the jobs it is going to create but obviously the environmental concerns will be considered in any application.

"If you look at what the docks [in Southampton] create now they put billions into the local economy and support 77,000 jobs and we have to decide if we want to keep those jobs."

But environmentalists have warned about the effect on wildlife of any expansion.

'Living hell'

Natural England, the government's wildlife advisory group, say the super-port would have a detrimental effect on birds such as brent geese, oystercatchers, ringed and grey plover, curlew, lapwing and teal.

New Forest District Council, which rejected the original plans, said the document only appeared to be a public consultation exercise at this stage.

A spokesman added: "This is not application just a general view on ABP's hopes for the future.

ABP currently employs 77,000 people at Southampton docks

"We will of course be keeping a close eye on the situation and if any application is submitted we would start afresh."

But Dr Julian Lewis, Conservative MP for New Forest East, said the port would "create a living hell for people living either side of it".

"It is wrong on every possible basis," he added.

Other objectors to the first application included Friends of the Earth, the Environment Agency, The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Residents Against Dibden Bay group and Hampshire County Council.

But the idea was supported by Southampton City Council which pointed to the benefit to the local economy.

ABP said it would not comment until the document was published on 27 July.