16th October 2009

Dear Sirs

Port of Southampton Master Plan 2009 – 2030: Consultation Draft

The Council of the Solent Protection Society has considered the consultation draft of the Port Master Plan and wishes to register its very significant reservations about various aspects of the Plan, which arise from any future commercialisation of Dibden Bay.

The SPS recalls that the Government proposes to promulgate a National Policy Statement in the near future to act as a guide to the Infrastructure Planning Commission in relation to the ports sector and feels that it is premature to reach definitive conclusions on this Master Plan until that Policy Statement has been formulated.

At the time of the Public Inquiry into the last proposal for the development of Dibden Bay, this Society was one of the objectors represented by Counsel, and so it has approached the new Plan with a view to determining whether there have been any major operational or contextual changes, which should cause it to change its earlier views.

The Inspector at the 2004 Inquiry considered that there were "credible alternatives" to the expansion of Southampton and SPS remains of the opinion that the Port Master Plan assumes too readily that any expansion must occur in Southampton. Whilst this is an understandable commercial aspiration for the Board of ABP, it may not be a balanced view from a national perspective and fails to have regard to the relationship of the Port to the context of the wider Solent.

The reservations of SPS at this stage are broadly (inter alia) :-

1 That Dibden Bay is an environmental site of national importance and its foreshore a site of international importance. Further, in the event of further development at Dibden Bay, SPS considers that some attempt should have been made in the Port Master Plan to address the issue of environmental compensation, notwithstanding that the Plan is at a very early stage.

2 The scenario propounded by ABP in which the Port will stagnate or be marginalized if it does not expand, rather than one in which the port continues to thrive on the eastern bank of the Test requires further substantiating evidence, which is lacking in the present version of the plan.

3 The impact on the landscape of further development of Dibden Bay and particularly its effect on the New Forest National Park, the City of Southampton and the River, together with the ecological effect of the additional capital dredge directly attributable to Dibden Bay are understated in the Port Master Plan.

4 While the development of the landside infrastructure is beyond the immediate scope of the SPS, concerns expressed at the last public enquiry relating to the development of the A326 and the rail links to the proposed port facility do not appear to have been addressed in the present draft of the Port Master Plan.

5 The effects on the quality of life of waterside communities, those adjacent to the necessarily enlarged or altered transport links, and those persons using the Solent for recreational purposes do not appear to have been adequately addressed.

6 Any development at Dibden Bay should be assessed in the light of other alternative developments and traffic forecasts that may exist at the time that a formal application for consent is made.

7 The current proposals do not adequately consider the effect of the increased through-put of the port on other users of the whole Solent area. This applies in particular to the western Solent which lies outside the present remit of any harbour authority and which may be increasingly used by coasters or other feeder vessels.

The Solent Protection Society awaits with interest the publication of the National Policy Statement concerning UK ports and will re-examine the Master Plan in the light of that statement.

Yours faithfully

Jeremy Clark
SPS Chairman

To be held at
The Royal Southampton Yacht Club, Ocean Village, Southampton

MONDAY 26th OCTOBER 2009 AT 12 NOON

1. To confirm the MINUTES of the Annual General Meeting held on 1st December 2008

2. To consider and, if approved, adopt the ANNUAL REPORT AND STATEMENT for the year ended 30th June 2009

3. To ELECT A PRESIDENT – your Council's nomination if Mr. Peter Nicholson

4. To ELECT VICE-PRESIDENTS – Vice-Presidents overleaf are eligible

5. To ELECT MEMBERS TO COUNCIL
(a) There are currently 24 members of the Council; however, Mr John Bradshaw and Mr. Martin Rhodes have indicated that they wish to retire from the Council and, therefore at the time of going to press there are 3 vacancies. Nominations shall reach the Secretary not later than fourteen days before the Annual General Meeting. Each nomination shall be in writing and shall include the name, style and address of the candidate nominated together with a statement signed by him or her that he or she is willing to serve if elected, and each such nomination shall be signed by the member nominating and by the member seconding the candidate.
(b) In accordance with the Rules, one third of the Council shall retire each year and being eligible shall be re-elected at each Annual General Meeting. The 7 members eligible for re-election are Mr. Clark, Mr. Davys, Mrs. Evans, Mr. Hobson, Mr. Marris and Mr. Power and Mr. Rabbitts. Professor Forster, Mr. Biddle and Mrs. Fremantle who were co-opted to the Council during the year are also eligible for re-election.

6. To ELECT an HON. TREASURER

7. To ELECT AUDITORS for 2009/20010. Proposed Hope Jones

8. To hear the reports of the PRESIDENT and CHAIRMAN on the activities of the Society

9. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Members of the Society wishing to propose Resolutions for consideration at the meeting must ensure that they reach the Secretary 14 days prior to the AGM and are signed by the member proposing the Resolution and by supporting members,
if any.

Following formal business, members of the Society are invited to discuss matters relevant to the present and future of the Society

LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN

It is usual at this time of year for a full newsletter to go to members with the AGM papers. This year the AGM is slightly earlier than usual on October 26th and there are so many current matters that a full newsletter has been delayed until later in the autumn. I hope this report will provide an update of Council business and explain some of the matters under consideration.

The Government has initiated several pieces of legislation with their attendant consultation periods. Firstly and most far reaching is the Marine and Coastal Access Bill, which has passed through the Committee stage and awaits the Report stage reading in the House of Commons A national office for the Marine Management Organisation is to be established on Tyneside. The Solent is part of the South Coast region administered from Dover. The SPS has written suggesting that because of the unique mix of commercial interests, recreational sailing, and particularly the high proportion of the coastline that is privately owned, the Solent should be considered for a pilot study.

Legislation is also at the consultative stage for proposed legislation on Coastal Policy to determine how coastal communities can adapt to coastal change. There is also consultation on another policy setting out the planning frameworks to ensure continuing economic and social viability of coastal communities. Consultation has recently finished to an amendment to the Habitats Directive that will be of concern to the likes of the Lymington Ferry Operation in causing Regulators to pay closer attention to the effects arising from new plans or projects on adjacent European Protected Sites.

At a local level ABP has just published its Master Plan for the Port of Southampton for the next 20 years. The development of Dibden Bay is portrayed as being essential to the Port and to the national economy. ABP are seeking public response and SPS members can find details through the ABP website. The Council will be responding shortly.

We have been learning more about the work to prepare a new Shoreline Management Plan for the north Solent shore. This will have relevance to problems arising from changing sea levels and consideration of developments in this area.

The Council has continued to review planning applications, large and small, and in particular members have attended meetings about the Local Development Framework and new Core Strategies for Local Authority areas. Our particular interest has been to ensure that the view from the water is considered a relevant factor in making planning decisions. A particular problem concerns the Isle of Wight where the proposed core plan considers the view from the Solent important around Ryde but not in other areas. We have made representations.

At a local level we have recently made observations concerning the proposed East Cowes breakwater and marina, and about No Mans Land Fort, as we are concerned that the application for this listed building may be heard with unreasonable haste and inadequate information.

In respect to Lymington Ferries we have heard that the application in the High Court by the Lymington River Association will not be heard until December. In the meantime we understand that Natural England is moving towards an agreement with Wightlink to use dredging spoils to rebuild mudflats and that the latest bathymetric surveys show little change resulting from the new ferries. The position remains very difficult.

As you see, the members of the Council continue to work on a variety of subjects. As Chairman, the greatest challenge I face, is understanding and keeping up with sheer scale of proposals and threats facing the Solent. All appears calm, the tides come and go as usual but this is in fact a time of continuous government review. The items I have mentioned are just a few of the matters we are considering. Finally any Association is only as good and as effective as its members. We need to hear your views and concerns and of course we rely on you to recruit new members from amongst your friends and family.

Jeremy Clark
SPS Council Chairman

The draft Phase 2 report from BMT Seatech has been distributed to the stake holders for consultation. This will be followed at the end of this week by an addendum to include the results of the final strong wind trials that were carried out last Tuesday (3/3/09).

The aim is to complete the consultation process and publish the report by the end of April.

At the beginning of this process the Commissioners were clear that once we had definitive advice that we may need powers to regulate for environmental concerns, we would take the necessary steps to acquire them. Now that we have received Natural England's advice, the Commissioners have resolved to seek a Harbour Revision Order that will enable us to make general directions with regard to environmental matters both in response to this current advice and any future situations that may demand such action.

Peter Griffiths – Chairman LHC

11/3/2009.

Our present position is that we take note of the advice given by Natural England that the new ferries will have an adverse effect on the environment of Lymington Harbour. For the Ferries to run in an acceptable manner it is important that there is a rapid conclusion to the discussions between Wightlink and the competent authorities about such matters as the speed of ferries, whether more than one ferry at a time should be in the River and the extent of any environmental mitigation.

The proposal to run the new ferries is complex and multi-faceted, involving the safety of sailors, potential damage to the environment and economic and social factors. The Solent Protection Society by virtue of its constitution can only concern itself with the protection of the environment and will support the Lymington Society and the Lymington River Association and the yacht clubs to seek a resolution to the present impasse, and ensure that a rigorous monitoring programme is implemented to measure future changes to the harbour.

They have taken this action despite repeated requests from the LHC and their previous undertaking not to do so. They claim that they are justified because of the needs of the Isle of Wight, but the real problem that has lead to this situation is Wightlink's determination to design and build ferries in advance of meaningful consultations with all the regulators. As a result, all subsequent consultations have taken place against the commercial necessity on the part of Wightlink to introduce ferries that had already been paid for.

We have once again requested Wightlink to desist from this action, and are contacting all the relevant Government Departments for support in preventing it. However, if Wightlink go ahead without completion and acceptance of the risk assessment we will be providing whatever harbour patrols are appropriate to help safe guard other river users. These actions will be taken by the Commissioners in order to minimise any threat to the safety of other river users but without condoning the introduction of the new ferries. It has been confirmed to us by Government that as presently constituted, the Commissioners do not have the power to prevent the new ferries sailing.

We expect the full BMT report to be available by 5 March and it will be circulated to stake holders for consultation as soon as possible.

In this fast developing situation, we will keep you all informed as they occur.

Peter Griffiths – Chairman LHC

24/2/2009.

A PDF copy of this advice may be read by clicking NE advice to Regulators V3 120209