Energy and Climate Change CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by Unite the Union SW/8071 branch (SEV 13)
1. Jobs dependent on Bristol Docks
The Port of Bristol Company directly employs about 500 people, most of whom are members of Unite, while there are between 5,000 and 7,000 jobs in the immediate area that are dependent on the port. Most of these are well organised with a high proportion of Unite membership).
2. Current position of Bristol Docks
The Port is made up of two dock complexes: Avonmouth and Portbury. The most significant trades are in the import of Cars, Jet Fuel (25% of UK imports), Animal Feed, Coal, Food and Containers.
3. Access to Bristol via the Barrage
The proposed barrage will be about 20 miles downstream of Bristol, and so access would be via locks. Locks add a lot of time to a voyage, and might double the turnaround of ships visiting the Port. This is a cost to the shipping company, and alternatives (such as Southampton, where there are no locks) become more attractive. Locks are also costly to build and operate, and though Hafren Power say there would be no charge, the costs have to be recouped somewhere.
4. Big Ship Capacity
Ships are getting bigger, and any viable port needs to maintain and increase its Big Ship Capacity. A barrage would reduce Bristol’s. Because the barrage would half the tidal range, there will be less depth of water at high tide. In addition, the salinity of the estuary behind the barrage will reduce, meaning the ships will ride lower in the water, so again reducing the available depth. Increased sedimentation behind the barrage will also massively increase the need for dredging, and the costs that entails.
5. Proposed Deep Water Container Facility
The future of Bristol Docks is dependent on the new container facility, which will create a massive increase in capacity and jobs if it goes ahead. Planning permission has been granted and funding is in place for this, and construction is due to start in 2014. If the barrage goes ahead, the new facility will not be built. This will mean that the port will no longer be a viable proposition for the Bristol Port Company, and they will sell or wind up their operation, threatening the future of the whole of the Port.
6. Blight
The uncertainty over the future of Bristol is already having an effect on negotiations between the Bristol Port Company and shipping companies about long-term contracts.
7. Impact on Employment
The 2009 DTZ Report says that “at the peak of negative impact” that 60% of port activity upstream from the barrage will cease, and it will continue to diminish after that. So effectively, a barrage means the death of the Bristol docks.
8. Impact of Construction
At some point during construction of a barrage, shipping would have to cease for a period of 3 to 6 months at the final stage to allow the transformation from open sea to sea/lake. During this period Bristol ships would have to go elsewhere. It is then difficult to see why any of this trade should come back.
9. The Hafren Power Proposal
Hafren Power says that the concerns expressed about the Port of Bristol in 2008–10 have been addressed in the new proposal, but neither the Bristol Port Company nor the Unite branch have been able to identify significant differences from the old proposals.
November 2012