Ambitious 3-4 billion pound plans revealed for shipping port in Lincolnshire
A road connecting Lincolnshire with Norfolk is also being considered
Major plans have been revealed for a port in Lincolnshire which it's hoped will include the world's first tidal powered deep sea container terminal and a road across the wash connecting the county to Norfolk
The ambitious project for the Wash would cost between 3 to 4 billion and would also offer flood protection measures.
The private company involved says the port could handle some of the world's largest container ships and take 4 to 6 years to build.
One of those involved said to could be operational by 2013.
It's understood the centre project would be in Lincolnshire and have a positive impact on the Wash in general.
The application could take up to two and a half years to process
The man behind the project has been speaking to local people to get their views.
During a presentation to the Skegness Area Business Chamber at North Shore Golf Club on Friday Mr Sutcliffe confirmed that the company has already contacted the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) regarding a Development Consent Order (DCO) for the project
He expects could take up to two and a half years to process.
After obtaining the relevant planning permissions from the Planning Inspectorate, it could then take between four to six years to build the terminal.
It would be capable of processing 1.5 million containers per year and handling some of the world’s largest container ships of up to 23,000 TEU (twenty foot equivalent, a cargo capacity measure based on the size of a standard 20-foot shipping container).
Mr Sutcliffe shared that the 500,000 TEU container terminal he funded and developed at the Port of Gdansk in Poland in 2007 took three years to build but highlighted that Centre Port is much larger.
The plan includes the construction of a dual carriageway to the terminal and then an A road linking across to Hunstanton
The CEO highlighted that five shipping companies, three of which he described as some of the largest in the world, have already expressed interest in using the terminal.
He later noted that the terminal alone will employ at least 300 people, and that the resulting knock-on employment effect will be “very substantial,” with the potential for major companies, such as Amazon, to build warehouses in and around the terminal area.
The plan includes the construction of a dual carriageway to the terminal and then an A road linking across to Hunstanton, which would cut the journey to Norfolk from 1.5 hours to 20-minutes.
During the meeting, some attendees shared concerns about flooding and feared the development could worsen the situation for Skegness and the surrounding villages.
The project IS going ahead
Among them was local business owner and East Lindsey district councillor Danny Brookes (Skegness Urban District Society).
He stated: “Are they willing to just sacrifice Skegness, which is where I live, to protect them? When do you become expendable?”
Mr Sutcliffe explained that a major part of the work in the next two-and-a-half years would be to engage specialists and environmental and climate experts to carry out investigations in and around the Wash to make sure this isn’t the case.
He said: “We will conduct investigations into the tides, currents and siltation,  in addition to climate change enhanced storm surges to ensure that as far as possible the structure improves flood defence.”
He added: “The project is going ahead.
We’ve been refining it for four years so far, which we have financed."