Coastal Communities Minister Penny Mordaunt visited Shoreham Port last week. She came to see the site where a new wharf is being built on a sliver of land that is currently hard to put to good use.
The £500,000 wharf should be completed within weeks. It will enable the port to do business with extra ships which, in turn, will create about 10 extra jobs.
The minister took a spin in a tug as she learnt about the benefits of a £100,000 grant from the government through the Regional Growth Fund towards the cost of the wharf.
She heard first hand from the port chief executive Rod Lunn and Ron Crank, the chief executive of the Coast to Capital (C2C) Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).
The official party included two people who played a key role behind the scenes in securing the money. C2C strategic director Ian Parkes and growth deal project manager Hayley Shepherd.
They are part of a staff of just 12 who cover an astonishingly wide area. It stretches from Brighton to Croydon, including Gatwick, as well as West Sussex and the east end of Surrey.
The port’s development Peter Davies director said: “To keep the port growing and to meet further demand for importing and exporting goods, more wharfage is required to avoid turning new business inquiries away.
“Potential customers often have an immediate requirement and therefore the space needs to be available straight away or the business is lost.
“The creation of additional space for handling cargo will maintain the continuing growth of the port and provide a better mix of cargo to strengthen the financial position of the port and reduce the heavy reliance on the importing of building materials.
“In addition, it will lower handling costs for local exporters and importers.”
Penny Mordaunt said: “It’s great to see a project that’s ready to go. People are already being hired. I don’t know what the nautical equivalent of shovel-ready is, but the shovels are ready.
“The good thing about the Regional Growth Fund is it’s very quick, creating jobs including in the wider economy as well as at the port.
“It’s a competitive fund so we’ve got confidence in the bids and it’s nice to come and congratulate the winners in person.”
A short distance from the new wharf, one of the harbour’s longstanding tenants Skip It will soon leave to make way for the steel business Arcelor Mittal. The change is part of a strategy of ensuring that all tenants are other importing or exporting through the harbour.
Parker Steel is just to the west. The company and the port have both invested a considerable sum in building a modern facility which is a testament to the growing confidence in Shoreham.
And, if all goes to plan, work could start on the proposed Edgeley Green power station as soon as June.
Separately, another pot of government funding has contributed towards the cost of replacing the groynes – they are a key sea defence – just yards to the south of the harbour.
The money – again, just a fraction of the cost of the project – has come through Brighton and Hove City Council and Adur District Council.
If planning permission is granted, a couple of wind turbines could be installed near the port’s pump house.
These would complement the 2,000 Brighton Energy Co-op solar panels which have already been installed on some of the acres of roof space around the harbour.
The port spends well into six figures on electricity every year and is looking at how to halve the bill.
With an ecology study in the pipeline, and a strong emphasis on all things green, it’s not hard to see how progress is being made towards Shoreham becoming a truly sustainable port.
It is also on track to remain one of the economic and employment success stories of the area too.
