In a statement issued to Maritime Journal in late March, the port said: 'We can confirm that the Secretary of State has announced his intention to hold a public inquiry into our proposals to develop a modern container terminal at Harwich International Port on the site known as Bathside Bay'.

'Although our plans enjoy a wide degree of public support - an NOP poll has shown 84 per cent of local people are in favour of the development - we have always recognised that the development raises a number of important issues and we welcome the public inquiry as a means of exploring these fully'.

The statement went on to say that Harwich believes that 'there is a very strong case for the development'.

It is widely acknowledged that there is an urgent need for additional deep water container facilities in the UK and Harwich is ideally located as the site for such a project.

Harwich is close to the other main ports in northern Europe, shares the deepest approach channel for any UK container port with Port of Felixstowe, and has existing road and rail connections in place. If it goes ahead in its current form, the Bathside Bay project will see four berths for post-Panamax container ships, plus back-up land and a rail terminal to serve the facilities.

The port says that the development should also generate approximately 500 direct jobs.

The project has also won widespread support elsewhere in the UK, and the urgent need for more container handling capacity in the UK was highlighted recently at the public inquiry now under way into the proposed container port at Dibden Bay in Hampshire.

If it goes ahead, the Bathside Bay development will provide the UK additional annual capacity of 1.7 million teu. Hampshire County Council - which is campaigning against Dibden Bay - said recently that it thought Bathside 'a more suitable site to meet national needs'.

Hutchison Ports is also seeking permission for an extension to Felixstowe's Trinity container terminal. Harwich International was acquired by Hutchison Port Holdings in 1998, and Bathside Bay was acquired for the container port development in 2000.

An Act of Parliament for the development of Bathside Bay already exists and planning permission is encompassed in the Act.

Harwich port says the main features of the proposal at Harwich include 1,400m of new deep water quay (built in three phases), and a new storage yard and rail terminal.

Harwich says the facilities will complement those at Felixstowe, and says the development will be carried out 'within an environmentally sensitive context', and says that as the detail of the development becomes clear, there will be consultation with English Nature, the RSPB and other interested parties to minimise the effect upon the environment.

However, critics of the scheme, such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) claim that, although the 29 hectares of inter-tidal mudflats at the proposed site are not actually part of a nearby Special Protection Area (SPA) - the Stour and Orwell SPA - they are integral to it.

According to RPSB, parts of the proposed site are 'as important' as the SPA, and are growing in importance as the mud flats on the East Anglian coastline decline.

For its part, Hutchison Ports points to its excellent reputation on conservation matters, highlighting measures taken at Felixstowe, such as the development of an 84 hectare nature reserve at Trimley Marshes, including a freshwater lake, three lagoons, a new bridleway and a spread of reed beds and meadows; and in conjunction with Harwich Haven Authority, the creation of inter-tidal habitat along the River Orwell, including mudflats and salt marshes providing habitat for fish, birds and other wildlife.