HOUSES will lose value, people's lives will be changed for ever, the environment will be wrecked and Southampton Water and the Solent will never be quite the same again for the huge sailing fraternity.

Those were the parting shots from councillors, residents and environmental groups when the Dibden Bay public inquiry moved out of Applemore Recreation Centre yesterday.

The inquiry spent its first three days at Applemore to let people living in or near the Dibden Bay area have their say.

It will resume at the old Stena ferry terminal in Southampton's Eastern Docks on Tuesday, where it looks set to stay - for up to 18 months.

But it went out of Applemore under a cloud of discontent, with one speaker after another slating Associated British

Ports' plans for a huge new container terminal between Hythe and Marchwood.

David Wolfe, counsel for Residents Against Dibden Bay, which is playing a major role in the objections, said most

people living in the bay area bought their homes without any idea of what might be built nearby.

He said: "At no point has it been made clear that a major port development might be thrust into the midst of this

predominantly residential area."

He warned: "The development will introduce irreversible changes to the quality of life which local people currently

enjoy and the value of local properties will be reduced."

He also alleged that a compulsory purchase order sought by ABP for land adjoining Hythe Marina was unlawful.

There were similar warnings from Thomas Hill, who is representing Hythe Marina Limited, Hythe Marina Village

and Hythe Marina Association.

He referred to the high quality layout and build and the considerable amount of peace and quiet on the Marina, which is set to be threatened by a development which would be working 24 hours a day seven days a week.

He also spoke of the damage to the sky-line by cranes almost 400 feet high, the noise and he warned that disruption from extremely deep pile-driving "would cause Hythe Marina to shift".

They were supported in their arguments by New Forest East MP Julian Lewis, who was given rousing applause.

ABP, he said, were no longer able to show that there were no alternatives to Dibden Bay in terms of container terminal capacity, pointing to extensions at Felixstowe and Harwich and a new container terminal planned at Shell Haven on the Thames Estuary.

He warned: "I believe there is an ulterior motive and that motive is that when Dibden Bay is up and running, the existing Southampton Container Terminal will close and the land will be offered for highly profitable commercial development."

Boost for the yes lobby

DIBDEN Bay planners were given their biggest crumb of comfort of the inquiry so far when oil giant Esso withdrew its objections to the container terminal plan.

Timothy Mould of Esso Petroleum outlined four major points of objection to the original scheme, but told the inquiry: "As the result of discussions Esso has been able to withdraw those objections."

He said that Esso had been against the scheme because of the potential for silt from the dredgings to get into its saltwater intakes and the impact on itself and its tenants; impact on its shipping movements; impact on its road transport activities and the threat to nature conservation.

But he said that although it had withdrawn the objections to the terminal itself, Esso still objected to a compulsory purchase order (CPO) of its tidal marshland and mudflats on the Fawley Refinery foreshore.

There was no reason for a CPO to be made, he said.

Esso owns the largest private jetty and its withdrawal of objections to the plan itself will have come as a relief to ABP following strong opposition to the scheme by Defence Estates which owns Europe's biggest military port at Marchwood.

Words: Peter East