Updated - 23/3/2022 - Added map for 'Customs Site No.1 Solent' at Marchwood, revised Fawley Waterside to reflect newly published Solent Freeport brochure. Introduction Two years have passed since HM Government announced the Freeport Consultation. Since that time, the eight shortlisted Freeport teams still in competition for Treasury funding have kept their cards close to … Continue reading Solent Freeport – Observations on the Freeport Tax Sites
Category: Fareham, Gosport and Portsmouth
The Solent Freeport puts our focus back on Dibden Bay
In the 2021 March budget, the Solent was shortlisted as the potential site for one of eight Freeports to be set up in the United Kingdom. The Government’s Freeport ‘Bid Prospectus’ set out the overall scale of a Freeport and demonstrated how the maximum ‘outer boundary’, a 45Km circle, could fit with the geography of … Continue reading The Solent Freeport puts our focus back on Dibden Bay
What might the ‘Solent Freeport’ mean for the Solent area?
In the last budget, the Solent was shortlisted as the site for one of ten Freeports to be set up in the United Kingdom. Since that time, we've seen little or no detail in the public domain regarding what the Freeport opportunity could mean for the Solent region. In this article, we try firstly to … Continue reading What might the ‘Solent Freeport’ mean for the Solent area?
Solent Freeport bid shortlisted in the Chancellor’s Budget announcement
The Solent Freeport bid was submitted by Solent Local Enterprise Partnership based on a coalition of businesses, associated local authorities and other partners. In today's budget announcement, the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak announced that Solent has been selected as one of the eight UK sites for which Freeport's will now be developed. This report from the … Continue reading Solent Freeport bid shortlisted in the Chancellor’s Budget announcement
Southsea Seafront Enhancements
Detail from the Collaborative Enhancements Plan related to the Southsea Coastal Scheme. Click the image to view the detail. Solent Protection Society have been engaged as a public stakeholder in several of the Solent's coastal sea defence enhancement schemes as part of our watching brief over the preparations to confront the inevitable impact of climate … Continue reading Southsea Seafront Enhancements
Protesters line shoreline in Portsmouth to oppose Aquind cable plans
Story from the Portsmouth News, October 10th 2020 More than 150 people have lined the shoreline in Portsmouth to show plans for a massive electricity infrastructure project in the area will be met with stiff resistance. Aquind aims that undersea cables will run ashore in Eastney as part of a £1.2bn project connecting the electricity … Continue reading Protesters line shoreline in Portsmouth to oppose Aquind cable plans
Proposed English Coastal Path (South) progress report
The English Coastal Path (South) is part of the proposal by Natural England (NE) to achieve as full a coastal path as possible along the area bordering the Solent. It is part of the coastal path project which covers the whole of England. In our last newsletter we set out the method and format for … Continue reading Proposed English Coastal Path (South) progress report
Fawley New Town
View of the site from the west In the Autumn 2018 issue of the Society’s Newsletter we reported on the proposal to build a new town at Fawley on Southampton Water. This article is an update of developments since then. This is perhaps the most important development on the shores of the Solent this century … Continue reading Fawley New Town
Eastney – Fraser Range development proposal
Solent Protection Society takes a close interest in the conservation of the natural heritage and historic assets of the Solent shoreline. In particular, we are concerned with safeguarding the views towards that shoreline by users of the Solent, a viewpoint not always given priority in planning applications. The fortifications at the eastern end of Southsea … Continue reading Eastney – Fraser Range development proposal
Portsmouth Cathedral – ‘Soup of Souls’ art installation
For those with an interest in the maritime history of Portsmouth and the Solent, the current exhibition in Portsmouth's 'Cathedral of the Sea' is well worth a visit. Described by one of our Council members as 'without doubt, the most moving art installation' he has ever seen, the work by Pete Codling, artist in residence … Continue reading Portsmouth Cathedral – ‘Soup of Souls’ art installation