Dibden Bay Inquiry - Inspector's Report - Folkestone & Hythe District ...

Dibden Bay Inquiry - Inspector's Report


Front Cover

| |Report to the First Secretary of State and | |
| |the Secretary of State for Transport |The Planning|
| | |Inspectorate|
| | | |
| | |Temple Quay |
| | |House |
| | |2 The Square|
| | | |
| | |Temple Quay |
| | |Bristol BS1 |
| | |6PN |
| | |( GTN 1371 |
| | |8000 |
| |by Michael Hurley BA DipTP MRTPI | |
| | |Date |
| |an Inspector appointed by the Secretaries of |22 Sept 2003|
| |State | |



HARBOURS ACT 1964

TRANSPORT AND WORKS ACT 1992

TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT 1990

ACQUISITION OF LAND ACT 1981





APPLICATIONS FOR ORDERS, PLANNING PERMISSIONS

AND AN EXCHANGE LAND CERTIFICATE

by

ASSOCIATED BRITISH PORTS

in connection with

THE PROPOSED DIBDEN TERMINAL



Land in

NEW FOREST DISTRICT







Introduction


1. I was appointed to hold an Inquiry (or more strictly a series of
concurrent Inquiries) into various applications made by Associated
British Ports (ABP) in connection with their proposal to develop a new
deep-water container terminal at Dibden Bay, Hampshire. The subjects
of the Inquiry were:

. An application for an Order to be made under Section 14 of the
Harbours Act 1964, in the form of the draft Port of Southampton
(Dibden Terminal) Harbour Revision Order 2000 (the HRO).

. An application for an Order to be made under Sections 1 of the
Transport and Works Act 1992, in the form of the draft Fawley
Branch Line Improvements Order 2000 (the TWAO).

. A planning application (ref. 70243) dated 2 October 2000, for
alterations to the A326 between the Michigan Way Roundabout,
Totton, and the Pilgrim Inn, Marchwood; and to the A326 and
Hythe Road, between the Pilgrim Inn and Veal's Lane, Marchwood.
The proposed alterations include the widening of the A326, the
signalisation of junctions, the construction of a Terminal
Access Road junction, bridgeworks, earthworks and associated
landscaping.

. A planning application (ref. 75359) dated 19 June 2002, for the
widening of the Ashurst Railway Bridge on the A326 at Totton,
and for the extension of a proposed footway/cycleway at Hythe
Road and Veal's Lane Marchwood.

. Two planning applications (refs. 70255 and 72426) respectively
dated 2 October 2000 and 2 July 2001, for the erection of noise
barriers alongside parts of the Fawley Branch Railway Line.

. An application for an Order to be made under Section 248 of the
Town and Country Planning Act 1990, to authorise the stopping
up of parts of the existing highway at Hythe Road, Marchwood.

. An application for a Certificate under Section 19 of the
Acquisition of Land Act 1981, relating to the provision of land
at West Cliff Hall in exchange for open space at the Hythe
Marina Bund.

2. The four planning applications were originally made to the New Forest
District Council as local planning authority, but were called in by the
Secretary of State for his own determination under Section 77 of the
Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The reasons for calling in the
applications were as follows:

The Secretary of State is of the opinion that the applications
are such that he ought to decide them himself because of their
association with proposals for the development of port
facilities at Dibden Bay which have been submitted to him for
approval.

3. Notices of the applications for the HRO, the TWAO, the Exchange Land
Certificate and the Stopping-up Order were published in accordance with
the statutory requirements. A total of 6,141 persons or organisations
objected to the proposed development[1]. This includes those who made
representations to the Secretary of State in respect of the Orders and
those who made representations to the New Forest District Council in
respect of the planning applications. In a substantial majority of
cases, objectors commented on the project as a whole, and did not
differentiate between the various applications. In addition to the
objections, there were 190 other representations made, including 172
expressions of support for the proposed development.

4. A number of objections have now been withdrawn. These include
objections to the proposed compulsory purchase provisions in the TWAO
that were made by Freightliner Ltd; Corrall's Coal; Railtrack Ltd; and
English Welsh and Scottish Railways Ltd. Other objections that have
now been withdrawn include those made by the Rail Freight Group;
Transco plc; Southern Water Services Ltd; Laporte Performance Chemicals
Ltd; Shanks Chemical Services Ltd; EniChem UK Ltd; and Cable and
Wireless UK Services Ltd. In preparing this report I have taken
account of all the remaining objections, expressions of support for the
proposed development, and other representations.

5. Amended application plans for the A326 improvements (ref. 70243) and
the Fawley Branch Line noise barriers (refs. 70255 and 72426) were
submitted on 11 October 2002. These amendments were subsequently
advertised by the New Forest District Council. No objections were made
to the applications being determined on the basis of the amended plans.
The amended plans are documents CD/ABP/123 and 124 respectively[2].

6. The draft HRO and the draft TWAO are the subject of separate
Environmental Statements (CD/ABP/3 and CD/ABP/6). These Environmental
Statements (ES) are supported by a series of Technical Statements
(CD/ABP/13 to CD/ABP/68 and CD/ABP/72). In addition, ABP have produced
two supplementary Environmental Statements. The first of these deals
with a proposed modification to the HRO in respect of the Hythe Marina
Bund (CD/ABP/114). The second deals with the proposed alterations to
the Ashurst Railway Bridge and the Hythe Road Footpath Extension
(CD/ABP/116). I have taken account of this environmental information
in preparing this report.

7. The Secretary of State announced his decision to hold a Public Inquiry
on 31 January 2001. On 6 February 2001 all those who had made
representations were notified that the Code of Practice for Major
Planning Inquiries, as set out in Annex 4 of Circular 5/2000, would be
applied as appropriate.

8. An Inquiry Secretariat was established in accordance with the Code of
Practice. This was led by Bob Wiggins, the Inquiry Manager. Other
members of the Secretariat included Val Lucas, the Programme Officer;
and Louise Kavanagh, the Documents Officer.

9. Andrew Phillipson BSc CEng FICE MIHT was appointed Deputy Inspector.
He was present throughout the Inquiry and has assisted me in the
preparation of this report. Chris Gossop BSc MA PhD MRTPI was
appointed Assistant Inspector. He attended those parts of the Inquiry
that dealt with nature conservation, and has assisted me with the
preparation of the corresponding parts of this report. Professor Keith
Dyer MSc PhD FGS, who is a professorial research fellow at the
Institute of Marine Studies, University of Plymouth, was appointed as
Assessor, to advise me on erosion, sedimentation and related matters.
He attended the relevant parts of the Inquiry and his report is
attached at Appendix 1.

10. I wish to record my appreciation for the work undertaken by Mr
Phillipson, Dr Gossop, Professor Dyer and the members of the
Secretariat. They each made a considerable contribution to the
Inquiry, which should not pass without acknowledgement.

Pre-Inquiry Procedures


11. A register of those wishing to participate in the Inquiry was compiled
in accordance with the Code of Practice. In all, 34 participants were
listed in Part 1 of the register. Each of these was required to produce
a Statement of Case. The Part 1 participants played a major role in
the Inquiry, calling and cross-examining witnesses. In addition there
were 101 participants listed in Part 2 of the register. Most of these
chose to make oral statements. However, they neither called nor cr