COUNCIL chiefs say they fear another application to build a huge container terminal at Dibden Bay could be just years away.
Civic leaders are on alert after Associated British Ports (ABP) objected to their refusal to allocate Dibden Bay for future port development.
New Forest District Council is determined to block any new attempt to build a massive dock development on the environmentally sensitive site.
One council officer told the Daily Echo that he expected ABP to make a fresh application within the next five years.Chris Treleaven, Cabinet member for planning and transport, is also convinced that another attempt will be made to develop the site.
He said: “I wouldn’t be at all surprised if ABP submitted a further proposal, although it’s impossible to say when that might happen.
“However, they would have to find some way around the reasons why it was refused before – and I don’t see how they can.”
ABP’s application to build a £600m terminal on reclaimed coastline between Hythe and Marchwood was thrown out in 2004 after one of the biggest environmental battles the south has ever seen.
Many of the original objectors suspect that ABP will make a second attempt to gain permission for the scheme.
The company has repeatedly said it still wants to proceed with the project, which it regards as vital to the prosperity of Southampton docks.
The pressure group Residents Against Dibden Bay Port still meets, but former chairman Paul Vickers said any new application was unlikely to be made for at least ten years because there was too much capacity elsewhere.
He was commenting on ABP’s response to the district council’s core strategy, a development blueprint for sites surrounding the New Forest National Park.
ABP challenged the document on the grounds that it fails to safeguard Dibden Bay for future port development.
The document will now be rewritten to reflect the importance of the docks while reiterating that any future proposal to develop Dibden Bay will have to meet strict criteria.
Cllr Vickers said: “Dibden Bay is now surrounded by the New Forest National Park, which isn’t a particularly easy hurdle to cross.”
Marchwood county councillor David Harrison said: “The arguments for not developing Dibden Bay are stronger than they have ever been.”
