Humber port plans need improvement.

As summer draws to a close the stream of birds heading south from their arctic breeding grounds will build until our coastal wetlands are thronged with them.  It is the phenomenon of migration that links our world together, a patch of tundra to nest and muddy coastline to find food throughout the winter linked by an energy-sapping flight.  This is the world that sustains millions of wildfowl and waders (like these black-tailed godwit).  Break that link and their survival is put at risk.

Yet, often, those same estuaries and coastal wetlands are identified as opportunities for economic activity – the links in trade and commerce that provide employment and livelihoods.  The Humber is just such a place – the South Banks are an economic hot-spot as well as a crucial part of an ecological system that is of international importance. 

Able UK’s proposals to develop port storage facilities are, according to their own studies, a threat to birds depending on the area through the impact the development will have on key feeding and roosting habitats.  So can the problem be fixed by providing ‘mitigation’ – land that fills the same role for the birds that currently depend on the site?  We believe that a solution can be found, but the current proposals by the developer are not, in our view, adequate. 

As the proposal is now submitted for determination we have no option but to object.  That doesn’t mean we are failing to recognise the need for economic development – quite the reverse we are keen to work to solve the impasse to get to a point where we can withdraw our objection in the knowledge that the natural environment will be protected in parallel with the development.

This is not an unusual state of affairs – we’ve followed the dualling of the A11, a very different proposal but once again hinging on the effectiveness of the measures to avoid the impact of the development.  But you don’t have to look so far away from this current proposal.  Development of the roll-on roll off Humber International Ferry Terminal at the port of Immingham went ahead with the developer accepting that their proposal would have an adverse impact and systematically identifying suitable replacement habitat.  Their approach enabled us to withdraw our objection.  Getting the best outcome for wildlife does not, in many cases, mean that development is wrong option.

You can read more about the case here.

You can support our position and your voice by writing to the Chair of the Planning Committee Cllr John Collinson:

110 Messingham Road
Scunthorpe
North Lincolnshire
DN17 2DB

Or by emailing him at: Cllr.JohnCollinson@northlincs.gov.uk

In your letter or email you might like to include the following points:

• The site of Able UK’s port facility proposal on the South Humber Gateway (planning reference no: PA/2009/0600) is nationally and internationally important for wildlife including internationally important populations of waterbirds.
• Before the development can go ahead, Able UK are legally obliged to prove that their plans will not damage the protected wildlife.
• Able UK’s proposal, as currently submitted, does not contain appropriate or adequate mitigation, nor does the information supplied demonstrate there will be no adverse effect on the populations of waterbirds which are features of the Humber Estuary Special Protection Area (SPA) and Ramsar site.
• Without adequate mitigation the proposal, as submitted, must therefore be rejected.
• The granting of permission for this proposal, as it is currently submitted, would be against Natural England’s statutory advice.
• The Humber Estuary can and must continue to support both a world class environment and a world class economy. The Council should carefully consider the implications of the proposal on the people and wildlife of the Humber Estuary and ensure that their vote secures a truly sustainable future for all by rejecting the application as currently proposed.