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POOLE HARBOUR APPROACH CHANNEL DEEPENING AND BENEFICIAL USE SCHEME

 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Borough of Poole Council as lead Coast Protection Authority and Poole Harbour Commissioners as Harbour Authority have completed an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) for the joint project to deepen the approach channels of Poole Harbour and use some of the resulting dredgings for beach nourishment on beaches in Poole Bay.

 Earlier in 2004 the initial Scoping Study for the EIA was made available for consultation.

THE HARBOUR WORKS (ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT)
REGULATIONS 1999

POOLE HARBOUR - CHANNEL DEEPENING

The Poole Harbour Commissioners have applied to the Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), under Section 34 of the Coast Protection Act 1949, for consent to deepen and improve the approach channels through Poole Harbour that give access for commercial shipping to the Port of Poole.

In accordance with Regulation 6(3) of the Harbour Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 1999, the Poole Harbour Commissioners have been directed by the Secretary of State, to supply an Environmental Statement.

Background to the scheme

In order to improve access for vessels, the Poole Harbour Commissioners (PHC) are proposing to deepen the approach channel to the Port of Poole by 1.5m, to a declared depth of 7.5m below Chart Datum (CD). The deepening is necessary for several reasons. Primarily, a deeper approach channel is required to meet the needs of modern ferries, the majority of which now have a minimum draft of over 6.5 metres. In addition, the proposed dredging would also allow the Port to retain and possibly increase the existing number of conventional vessels that currently utilise it. Such vessels are continuing to increase in size as older vessels are scrapped because goods can be transported more economically through the use of larger vessels. Another potential benefit of the proposed dredging is that it would provide opportunity for a greater proportion of cruise ships to access the Port. In summary, therefore, approach channel dredging is proposed to accommodate the general trend towards larger vessels and in order to secure the long term viability of the Port in a safe manner.

It is proposed that all suitable material arising from deepening the approach channel would be used beneficially for beach nourishment (i.e. coastal protection) at Poole, Bournemouth and Swanage. The coast protection authorities for these areas are Borough of Poole (BoP), Bournemouth Borough Council (BBC) and Purbeck District Council (PDC), respectively, and these authorities are the promoters of beach nourishment works within their jurisdiction.

The remainder of the material arising from the approach channel deepening (i.e. that portion unsuitable for beach nourishment works) would be disposed of at a nearby offshore disposal ground. The proposed disposal ground is located at a depth of approximately 20m off Swanage (termed the Swanage disposal ground); PHC have utilised this site for the disposal of dredged material from Poole Harbour for more than 50 years. The site is now largely used for the disposal of silty material that is dredged from Poole Harbour during routine maintenance works (typically, sandy material from within the Harbour and approach channel is now used for beach nourishment). However, historically, this disposal ground has, been used for the disposal of material arising from capital dredging works that have been undertaken within Poole Harbour and its approaches, as well as for the disposal of material arising from dredging in Weymouth.

In summary, the scheme comprises three components; approach channel deepening, beneficial use of dredged material in the form of beach nourishment and the offshore disposal of dredged material.

The Environmental Statement and its supporting information are now available for consultation. These will be submitted in support of the necessary approval applications to the Department for Transport (DfT) and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

A copy of the information supplied to the Secretary of State under Regulation 4(1) together with the Environmental Statement may be inspected by members of the public at Poole Harbour Commissioners, Harbour Office, 20 New Quay Road, Poole, Dorset, BH15 4AF, during normal office hours.

The documents will be open to inspection until 7th January 2005. The Environmental Statement and associated documents may also be obtained, for so long as stocks last, from the Poole Harbour Commissioners, Harbour Office, 20 New Quay Road, Poole, Dorset, BH15 4AF, and costs as follows:-

Non Technical Summary                                                             No charge
Environmental Statement including Supporting documents        £120
Full documentation on CD                                                            £10

Or be downloaded from the document links below.

Any person wishing to make representations concerning the application should do so in writing, to; Peter Gill, Marine Consents and Environment Unit, Room 309, Eastbury House, 30-34 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TL or alternatively e-mailed to marine.consents@defra.gsi.gov.uk, within 7 days of the date above (Closing date 14th January 2005) quoting reference MNA 152/1449/10

The following supporting documents to the applications are reproduced below in .pdf format and are downloaded using Adobe Reader V5 or later:

Download Adobe Acrobat Reader HERE