CIVIL ENGINEER Ian Townend has hit back at criticism of plans to dump huge amounts of mud on the foreshore between Hythe and Fawley.

Dredging will be carried out at Dibden Bay if Associated British Ports (ABP) is given permission to turn the site into a container terminal.

Some of the dredged material will be deposited near Hythe to compensate for the loss of tidal mudflats at Dibden.

Mr Townend defended the proposed "recharge" of the Hythe foreshore at the Dibden Bay public inquiry, which resumed yesterday after a two-week break.

He said: "The proposed scheme provides an area of new and improved mudflat.

"It also offers a real chance to counter the effects of sea-level rise and to reverse the erosion of this important mudflat and saltmarsh.

"It was only as the port began to finalise its application that we became aware of the fact that English Nature opposed the proposed recharge.

"We've been meeting with them to try to understand the basis of their concerns."

Mr Townend said the scheme would benefit the area by capping poor-quality sediment and providing 22 hectares of extra mudflat within a special protection area.

He said it would also offset the loss of mudflat and saltmarsh caused by the projected increase in the rate of sea-level rise.

Groups opposed to the Dibden Bay scheme have voiced a long list of concerns about the proposed recharge.

Objectors say it will cause siltation of oyster beds and moorings. They also claim it will not resemble the Dibden foreshore it is designed to replace.

But Mr Townend said ABP would be "quite selective" when deciding which deposits should be used.

He added: "Material of a higher density is desirable - and this is more likely to be present at greater depth on the Dibden shore.

"This avoids the surface layer of sediment, which contains post-industrial contamination."

Mr Townend is managing director of ABP Research and Consultancy Ltd, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Associated British Ports Holding plc.

Topics covered during his evidence to the inquiry included the stability of the recharge and potential problems involving the seawater intakes at Fawley refinery.

He said: "Specific measures have been drawn up to protect the intakes and are the subject of an agreement with Esso.

"The inclusion of a pilot construction phase within the programme will ensure that the construction method and monitoring mechanisms are tested on a limited scale, prior to full implementation.

"The creeks at the back of the recharge form an important part of the saltmarsh and there is the potential for them to split up during or after construction.

"This has been investigated in its own right because of the potential to block the outfalls that discharge into some of the creeks.

"An assessment has concluded there is sufficient flow within the creeks to ensure that they will be flushed out during periods of average rainfall."

Mr Townend said steps would be taken to protect the saltmarsh and outfalls.

"A narrow strip some ten metres wide will be maintained between the edge of the saltmarsh and the start of the recharge.

"This will provide a buffer area for any material that is transported up-shore, which is a possibility during storms with an onshore wind-wave direction."

The recharge would reduce the overall loss of the Hythe-Fawley "inter-tidal" by nine hectares in the next 50 years.