ABP strikes environmental deal

ABP undertook the £3.5m project after drawing up a pioneering agreement with a number of environmental and wildlife protection agencies, committing it to mitigate the loss of 31 ha of mudflats to the building of Immingham Outer Harbour, at the Port of Immingham, and the soon-to-be-built Hull Riverside Container Terminal at the Port of Hull. This legally binding agreement – the first of its kind in the UK – means that ABP and the environmental organisations avoided a lengthy and costly public enquiry.

Peter Barham, ABP’s sustainable development manager, said: “Chowder Ness and Welwick Foreshores represent a very important step forward for ABP. They signify our commitment to the sustainable development of our ports and show how it is possible to expand our ports and grow our business without harming the environment.”

The two sites have been developed on inter-tidal farmland formerly reclaimed from the Humber. The project involved the digging of new earthwork embankments, which were covered with protective stonework. Tidal deposits of sediment at the sites will, over time, form new mudflats and, later, salt marsh.