On the 1st of February 2006 the Port of Felixstowe was delighted to receive the news that the Secretary of State for Transport and the Deputy Prime Minister had granted consent for the Felixstowe South Reconfiguration.

This expansion, driven by the demands of the largest container ships for deep-water, will meet the UK’s need for a modern container handling capability in the coming years. Construction of the new terminal continues at pace and is on schedule to open in 2010.

The Government consent is subject to a number of conditions, the main one being that a legally binding commitment had to be given by the Port to fund external road and rail upgrades, some more than 100 miles from the Port.

Such upgrades are outside the scope of normal port operations and cannot be funded by the Port’s usual level of charges for services provided to its customers.

The Port of Felixstowe therefore released an Open Letter advising customers that the Port would have to introduce an Infrastructure Charge to cover the external road and rail costs beyond the gate with effect from Monday 2nd April 2007. (The full text of the Open Letter to customers is available to download here.)