At Dover, the UK’s largest ro-ro port, there are plans for a £300 million redevelopment of the Western Docks with four cross-Channel ferry berths, a new marina and a property development. The project is due for completion in 2012.
The port’s chief executive Bob Goldfield says: “This project presents an excellent opportunity to kick-start the regeneration of Dover specifically but it also represents an employment boost for East Kent.”
Freight traffic through the Port of Dover could double in the next 30 years and all other areas of business activity are forecast to grow. In 2006 the port processed 2.3 million lorries, the largest number ever in a single year. The ferry berths are needed because capacity is running out at the Eastern Docks Ferry Terminal. With an arrival or departure of a ferry every 10 minutes there is little scope to increase the number of ship manoeuvres.
The port is also concerned that road access is also an issue with a lorry movement in or out of the terminal every 10 seconds.
