We believe from various news sources that consent for an £80m upgrade of Southampton’s container port has been withdrawn for reassessment after legal action from its largest UK rival.
Hutchinson Ports, which owns Felixstowe Port, applied for a judicial review of a decision to give the go-ahead for major works to develop berths 201 and 202 into a new 500m quay wall capable of handling the next generation of supersized container ships.
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO), a public body which issued the required environmental consent to ABP Southampton in February, decided not to defend the challenge.
It agreed in the High Court with Hutchinson lawyers that its decision should be quashed and it would reassess Southampton ABP’s application.
The legal manoeuvres have delayed vital work to restore a lost fourth berth in Southampton after the increasing length of container ships has meant Southampton’s existing deep-sea container berths, 204 to 207, cannot accommodate four large vessels at the same time.
ABP bosses hope to receive planning consent early next year for the new quay space to be operational by the end of 2013.
