Sun, Sea and Ports

Written by Andrew Duff MEP and published in East Anglian Daily Times on Wed 7th Mar 2001

One sunny day last week I sailed across the estuary from Felixstowe to Harwich, courtesy of the port authority. It was easy to see what a magnificent natural harbour we have on our doorstep. No wonder that 41 per cent of Britain's container trade now passes through Felixstowe, and that goods and passenger volumes are rising, and that both ports are on the brink of important new developments. On the Stour side, Hutchison Ports, the owner and chief operator of the port, wants to build a new container terminal that will bring welcome jobs and business to Harwich. On the Orwell side, the company wants to extend its quay once more, and for the last time, to ensure that it can continue to compete with Rotterdam and Antwerp for the largest cargo vessels in the world.

Both developments are not only motivated by European competition but will also be settled according to planning guidelines laid down by the European Council and Parliament. The environmental sensitivity of such major development was also self-evident on my short voyage. At greatest risk is the area of land between high tide and low tide, so precious for wild birds. The intertidal shore is being squeezed, literally, between industrial use or sea defences on the one hand and rising sea levels on the other. The European Union is rightly insisting that any new development will have to be compensated for by the establishment of new feeding grounds for birds nearby. Hutchison is already engaged in one such scheme.

Two other EU measures affect the future of Felixstowe and Harwich. The large volume of containers are transported inland mostly by road. We all know about congestion on the A12 and A14. Some years ago, the EU recognised the Felixstowe to Holyhead route as a strategic Trans-European Network (with soft loans attached) in the hope that the UK government would be persuaded not only to up-grade the road system but also to invest heavily in the modernisation of the East-West railway via Ely to Nuneaton in the Midlands. Unfortunately, the stinginess of the Treasury combined with the lacklustre performance of Railtrack have combined not to produce the magic formula. Indeed, nothing has happened to make a reality of East Anglia's very own, fully integrated Trans-European Network except a bundle of "Multi-Modal Studies".

Remember this when you next hear William Hague demonstrating the Tory Party's cloying obsession with keeping things British. Whatever Britain is, enterprising in transport matters it is not.

The third European feature of this story concerns a draft proposal by the European Commission to improve competition in port services, such as pilotage, mooring and cargo handling. Hutchison argue that the Commission's approach is poorly judged to suit UK conditions, where the ports are generally small and privately run. In mainland Europe ports are generally publicly owned and often operated by the state. Better access to such facilities by commercial companies would clearly be welcome. As Members of the European Parliament, I and my colleagues will have to judge whether EU legislation is really needed in this case. We will need to consult carefully with representatives of port owners as well as shipping and transport companies and trade unions before we can reach a decision. What we will do matters, not only in so far as we represent the interests of East Anglian ports - Lowestoft and Yarmouth as well as Felixstowe and Harwich - but also because we will affect the future of ports across the North Sea. I can hear the call of those sea birds again.