Teesside container port plan approved
PD Ports seek to shift trade from south of England to North
 

Today, PD Ports’ planning application to build a £300 million deep sea container terminal on Teesside went before Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council planning committee and received unanimous approval.

The planning application, which was accompanied by an Environmental Statement, sought consent for this massive new development, known as The Northern Gateway Container Terminal. These exciting plans could potentially bring over 5,000 new jobs to the Tees Valley and the North East region.

David Robinson, chief executive officer for PD Ports, said:

“We are delighted with today’s news. The decision of the planning committee to give our plans their unanimous support is a massive step forward and marks significant progress for the Northern Gateway Container Terminal project. We have had tremendous support for our plans and I am strongly encouraged by the withdrawal of any objections and representations from all statutory consultees.

“The next stage in the project is the approval of the Harbour Revision Order (HRO), which is progressing well. We expect to discuss the current status of the HRO with the Department for Transport in early May.

“There is now only one outstanding objector to our plans and that is from a competitor port based in the South. Not surprisingly the ports in the South would like to retain their comfortable market position. At present they make a lot of money out of handling in-bound containers heading to the North of England. But the container market will continue to grow and we want the Tees Valley to benefit from handling this growth at Teesport.

“Our planned expansion is all about using a Northern Port to meet the needs of Northern consumers and retailers. By enabling Teesport to accommodate the new larger container ships we will not only create new local jobs, but we will help reduce unnecessary road and rail miles by meeting the needs of retailers and importers in locations such as Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester who want to land containers of clothes, electronics etc from the Far East much closer to their final UK destination.

“I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in the planning application so far for their ongoing support.” concluded Mr Robinson.