Dover sell-off blocked
Dover Harbour Board’s proposal to privatise the UK publicly owned ro-ro trust port has been turned down by the government.
In a letter, the UK Department for Transport states: “The Secretary of State [for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin] has decided not to confirm the transfer scheme from the board. He reached this conclusion taking into account his published policy.
“He concluded that the transfer scheme proposed would not ensure a sufficient level of enduring community participation in the port.
“He also concluded that in so far as the board made the application in order to be able to obtain the additional finance necessary to undertake the proposed redevelopment of the Western Docks, there were other options available to secure that redevelopment.”
DHB applied for an estimated £400m ($650.7m) port privatisation in January 2010, but met with stiff opposition from both its ferry operator customer base and the local community.
In an immediate reaction, Dover’s largest customer, P&O Ferries, said it would “challenge” DHB to return the £60m it raised from the ferries operators to pre-fund a second terminal at the port, a project now on the back burner until the end of the decade.
DHB chief executive Bob Goldfield said in reaction to the DfT ruling: “The minister has said no to the scheme. The board is very surprised and disappointed at the ministerial decision.
“We will now take time to consider the details of the statement but also to assess its impact on our strategic and financial planning to grow the business.”
Mr Goldfield, who confirmed that he would stay at DHB, said: “It is a real shame that the community of Dover will not now benefit from the injection of many millions of pounds that would have made such a difference. They will not get that any more now.
“Dover continues as a trust port and we will continue to run it as a very commercial and successful organisation.”
He said that he would stay with the port as “it is my duty now to make sure that the business, which had expected privatisation to be the driver for growth, continues on the right track”.
The chairman of the rival Dover People’s Port Trust for keeping the port in local community ownership, Neil Wiggins, said: “We are very pleased with this decision, after three years of hard work. The people of Dover and the port stakeholders will be the biggest winners out of this.
“It clears the way to enable the long-term future of the port to be finalised in a way that is fair and equitable for all stakeholders.”
P&O Ferries, a fierce opponent of DHB’s proposal, welcomed the minister’s decision and repeated its “serious concerns” that the interests of ferry operators would have been “undermined” by the DHB scheme.
Dover’s largest ferry customer said that “scant regard was being paid to the fact that the ferry companies represent 80% of the port’s income”.
P&O Ferries’ chief executive Helen Deeble said: “The port’s tariffs are already highly contentious in a difficult economic climate and with no safeguards about future tariffs under privatisation, we had very real concerns about future price increases.
“The fundamental justification for DHB’s scheme has always been the need to raise capital for redevelopment of the Western Docks. We have always questioned this argument and note that the Secretary of State has concluded there are other ways to raise capital without having to privatise.”
She added: “DHB has agreed to ringfence the £60m provided by the ferry companies to pre-fund Terminal 2 but has failed to make it clear how this will be achieved. We are now considering how we can challenge DHB to return the money.”
Source: http://www.lloydsloadinglist.com/
