Swift decision vital for port

May 2 2006 By Helen Logan Evening Gazette

Let's hope there is a speedy decision when it comes to the planning application for a £300m deep sea container terminal at Teesport.

For this is a vital development for the area with the potential to create a whopping 7,000 jobs.

A fast decision could help PD Ports, the company behind the ambitious scheme, get ahead of its rivals down south.

Middlesbrough-based PD had wanted the Government to give priority to its plans over proposals to develop three southern ports, to reduce the £30bn North-South divide.

But the Government has now given the green light for major expansion at three sites in the South.

But, PD Ports is pressing ahead with its plans which it says will bring "significant new inward investment to the North".

A planning application has now been submitted to Redcar and Cleveland Council.

Redcar MP Vera Baird believes it is crucial a decision is taken quickly on the Teesport plan.

She said: "I am pleased that they are still competing despite the grants of permission for similar schemes at southern ports.

"It has always been my view that planning permission ought to be reasonably speedily achieved and relatively straightforward here, so that we might pull ahead of the other ports which have heavy conditions on their grants of consent.

"Teesport have done a lot of work keeping the authorities and all interested parties up-to-date with progress."

Teesport is something of a hidden asset on Teesside.

Unlike the steel works and Wilton International chemical complex, which dominate the skyline on the way to Redcar, the port cannot be seen from the road.

But its importance to the economic well-being of the area is huge.

* For an archive of stories on this subject visit the website at: www.gazettelive.co.uk/ports