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Ports
Ports are part of an integrated transport policy, but we believe that we need to find a way to manage their expansion without unsustainable costs to the environment.
The UK's coasts and estuaries are valuable habitats for birds and other wildlife. But they are also of great economic value - port traffic has increased by two thirds since 1965.
To keep pace with economic demand, new ports may need to be built and existing facilities expanded, but this puts pressure on unique wildlife habitats. In particular, it often means that we lose inter-tidal areas - land of particularly high value for nature conservation.
Unanswered questions
To get a truly sustainable national transport system, the Government needs to address:
- How will informed, strategic decisions be made about the environmental costs and benefits of different forms of transport?
- How will alternatives to port development be assessed, and who will do the assessing?
- How can public participation in the planning of large, UK-wide transport proposals be guaranteed?
Setting the course for the future
To set transport policy for the 21st century, including a port development strategy, we believe that more work is needed. The Government must:
- Agree how to measure demand for port capacity
- Develop reliable models of port productivity based on practical experience of how ports work, to see how much today's ports could meet demand without new development
- Find ways to assess the impact of port proposals on transport infrastructure and transport use.
With English Nature, we commissioned MDS Transmodal on a study that showed that some increase in UK port capacity may be needed.