Terminal Disease - Associated British Ports intends to build container terminal that will threaten western shore of Southampton Water, England - Brief Article

Ecologist, The, April, 2001

Associated British Ports (ABP), the company which runs many of Britain's ports, intends to build a huge container terminal at Dibden Bay, on the edge of the New Forest. The area that ABP intends to use is an ecologically important area of marsh and mudflats on the western shore of Southampton Water, and is an internationally recognised bird reserve. If ABP get their way, the terminal will cover an area a third of the size of Heathrow Airport.

A local campaign group called Residents Against Dibden Bay Port (RADBP) argues that the development is not needed because nationally there is no shortage of container-handling capacity, and that Southampton's existing dock space is significantly underused. Whilst a public inquiry has been set for autumn this year, ABP has already sought official consent to make it a criminal offence to disrupt construction on the new terminal, in the event that it is given approval.