The post you are reporting:
After many years of investing less than £3m per annum on average in maintenance and improvements, DHB published a major refurbishment programme last year of approx £87m over 5 years. The first tranche of this spending was approved by the Board on Tuesday. We know that the money is available for this programme, in fact, if DHB method of privatisation does not proceed and no private equity investors have to be serviced at normal PE return rates of 8.5%, then significantly more money is available for investment in catch up maintenance and refurbishment. The DPPT business plan, which has been heavily scrutinised by experts in the field, provides for £100m of investment in catch up maintenance and refurbishment within the first 5 years of the plan (this is £13m more than the current DHB plan).
As stated on other threads and throughout discussions and presentations on the subject, DPPT has developed plans for the Western part of the Harbour. To say that DPPT has no plans in this regard is absolutely untrue. It is equally untrue to state that DPPT has made no provision for refurbishment and maintenance. It would be preferable if forumites could refrain from stating untruths as if they were facts, especially when such matters have been discussed and explained at some length on other threads.
A commitment to build T2, as laid out in the DHB paperwork, is specifically and explicitly excluded from the privatisation as per DHB's previous proposals, we'll see what, if anything, is different in this regard when they publish the new one.
The DHB Masterplan is in need of a significant review and will need to be reworked in consultation with stakeholders, highways, railways, regional planning, town officials, community representatives, port users, etc. There is nothing simplistic in what we are doing in this regard. The continued development of Dover as a major UK Infrastructure hub and key European transport node is a most involved and complex issue. The port's position geographically, marching right up into the town as it does, makes growth and development even more sensitive. I have been in charge of the development of new port facilities from greenfield and brownfield standing starts and am more than well aware of what will be required in this regard.
The DPPT regeneration vehicle has well thought out plans for reconnecting Dover with its sea front and strengthening that connection over time. Some of these plans will be subject to consultation with the community and other stakeholders and will not be fully mature until they have been properly consulted.
Kevin, the UK is the only country in the developed world that sells its port estates to the private sector in their entirety. Pretty much everywhere else, including the arch private sector champion the USA, retains ownership in public hands and, at the most, sells long term leases or concessions to private sector companies to operate and build up parts of the port estate. The previous government invited the remaining Trust ports to re-examine their existing strucure, ownership and governance and to put forward any proposals for change that they might come up with as a result of that re-evaluation. DHB initiated the privatisation themselves under section 2 of the 1991 Ports Act, alone among the major Trust Ports to do so, having said in a public forum just six months previously that they had no plans to privatise (Vic M asked the question I believe).
Port authorities and port operators around the world have been recognising their role in the development and regeneration of their associated towns and cities for many years now and there are shining examples of excellent port-town and port-city relationships from many countries and regions. Relationships that see heavy investment by the port in its community and by the community in its port. Just one example of many that I could bring to mind is a NZ port that has contributed NZ$120m in cash to redevelopment and regeneration in its surrounding communities over the last 14 years. Other examples can be found in Spain, Belgium, France, Germany, Scandinavia, the USA, Canada, South America, Australia, China, Philippines, Malaysia, the Middle East, the list goes on and on. The UK is way behind the game in this regard and part of what we aim to achieve with the DPPT project is to bring best practice in this area to Dover and its surrounding communities.