LAND between Hythe and Marchwood has been earmarked for port development for more than half-a-century, a public inquiry has been told.

Plans by Southampton Docks operator Associated British Ports to build a new container terminal have sparked a storm of protest.

But when the public inquiry continued at the Stena ferry terminal in Southampton Docks yesterday, planning consultant Martin Hendry referred to a map dating back to 1950.

It illustrated an application for permission to reclaim the mudflats which then formed the floor of the bay and also included the marina at Hythe which was to be built more than 30 years later.

"For 51 years," Mr Hendry told the inquiry, "planning policies and development control decisions around Southampton Water have been based on the expectation that the area between Hythe and Dibden may at some time accommodate port and/or port related uses."

He added that over the years, the land had been safeguarded for port use and he pointed out:

"When the government has been involved in this process, it has on several occasions taken action to retain the possibility of deep-water port and port related development between Marchwood and Hythe."

Mr Hendry also stressed the importance of the scheme to the national economy and took issue with the emphasis being put by Hampshire county planning officer Tim Greenwood on environmental issues at the expense of references to the economy.

"Though Mr Greenwood seeks to emphasise at every opportunity the national environmental assets of Hampshire, he says very little about the national importance of the economic and social capital that has been built up over decades of growth of the port of Southampton.

"The long-term future well-being of the county depends on those capital resources being well-husbanded. In order that this can be done, it is necessary to develop Dibden Bay."

Meanwhile, public attendances at the inquiry have been on the decrease.

As its ninth day drew to a close, there were just half-a-dozen people on the public seats and 20 in the working area.