December 2025

Container strandings at Selsey are focusing scrutiny on the eastern Solent

Image:  Jacqueline Robertson

On Saturday 6 December, sixteen containers were lost from the deck of the Baltic Klipper near the Nab Tower. Their contents – plastic trays filled with polythene bags of bananas, plantains, and avocados – were released into the sea. More troubling, however, was the break‑up of the containers themselves: aluminium wreckage and large quantities of polyurethane foam used to insulate the refrigerated units have also entered the marine environment risking harm to marine life in the adjacent RSPB reserves.

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Also in the news

Solent Protection Society is currently monitoring two large industrial development proposals for the Dibden Bay and Fawley Waterside areas. At the northern end of Dibden Bay, Associated British Ports (ABP) proposes to develop a second phase of the Solent Gateway port facility while further south, Hynamics, a UK subsidiary of EDF, is seeking early representations for a proposal to build a green hydrogen plant on the former site of Fawley power station
The EDF/Hynamics ‘green hydrogen’ proposals are now seeking views from local communities and environmental organisations. For ExxonMobil, the most realistic pathway to decarbonisation would be to use the green hydrogen proposed by EDF for production on the old Fawley power station site. However, critics will continue to question whether this is genuine transformation or a delay tactic. 

Selected earlier articles
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The posts below cover several of the Society’s particular focus areas.

The Solent Gateway 2 project from ABP proposes to rebalance and expand the company’s existing port facilities between the eastern and western shores of Southampton Water, developing new vehicle import and export facilities south of its existing facilities at Marchwood. While the project could deliver economic benefits, such as job creation and improved connectivity, it would also introduce changes that may be felt locally.
Sewage spills in 2024 appeared lower than 2023, but SPS warns this was due to reduced rainfall, not infrastructure upgrades. Heavy rain still overwhelms sewers, causing untreated discharges. A few CSOs drive most pollution, targets are missed, and only major investment and drainage reform can deliver lasting improvement.
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The Parliamentary Under Secretary at DEFRA responds at length to a letter from our Pollution Group leader to the New Forest East’s MP. While SPS welcomes the government’s ambition, the water company promises and improved regulatory frameworks, the proof of the pudding, as ever, is in the eating…
After a month and a half on the steep net zero learning curve, residents on both sides of the Solent now have a rather better idea of what ExxonMobil is proposing to do with the Esso Fawley refinery. Or do they?
SPS challenges Southern Water’s WRMP* options and NSIP* intentions. The Society responds to Defra on the latest revised draft Water Resources Management Plan and expresses concern at the way the Company is pursuing its application for a Development Control Order as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure project.
The bigger story and the missing details
ExxonMobil is facing increasing public opposition to its Solent CO2 Pipeline proposal. Since the consultation documents were published in early August, SPS has been hard at work reading widely from many different sources to try and find the detail which was so obviously missing. Click this image for th
Southern Water’s Summer 2024 ‘Hampshire Water Transfer and Water Recycling Project’ public consultation concerned the company’s current proposal to recycle treated effluent from its Budds Farm treatment works to provide a future drinking water source… [more]
Southern Water CSO discharges – Environment Agency data reinforces worsening trend. For the past four years SPS has been analysing the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) discharges identifiable in data published annually by the Environment Agency (EA). This latest set of data from the Environment Agency reinforces the message that the problem is getting worse.
SPS is looking forward to reviewing the new Southern Water ‘Rivers and Seas Watch’ application which is due to be launched soon as a replacement for ‘Beachbuoy’. An early pre-release sighting showed that the revised scope looks to have taken on board the comments raised in this article from November 2022.

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With ExxonMobil’s decarbonisation plans for its Esso Fawley refinery site shelved and ‘imaginative’ plans for the redevelopment of the former Calshot power station site finally withdrawn in 2024, the SPS Council will be keeping a close eye on the western shore of Southampton Water as we move into 2025.
Double blast in Southern Water’s decaying underground ‘minefield’
On 29 November, Southern Water experienced two unconnected but near simultaneous major sewer pipe bursts in the Solent Area. What marks both of these incidents as particularly significant is that both sites had been subject to extensive and lengthy repair and refurbishment work by the Company within the last two years.
We’ve written before of the science and assumptions about sea-level rise and flood maps. This post tries to bring it nearer to home with some advice about how worried you should be if you live near the coast.
SPS takes a dip into the Solent Freeport Tax Site maps and uncovers rather more questions than answers. It’s a long read but you might just find it interesting, no matter which side of the Solent you’re on.
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Hurst Castle – understanding the bigger picture. A look at the evolution of Hurst Spit at the Solent’s western gateway.
This post from June 2023 details the distribution of raw sewage spills in 2022 adding further weight to SPS’s request that Southern Water extend the coverage of its Beachbuoy spill notification web service to include the designated ‘shellfish areas‘ in the Solent, in addition to the set of ‘bathing water beaches‘ currently covered.
Is there a housing development near you, if so, what is its environmental impact?
Southern Water’s ‘Beachbuoy’ spill monitoring web page is a significant improvement over its predecessor. We’d still like it to go further though.
Solent Protection Society is extremely disappointed at the actions taken by the Government in voting against the House of Lords amendment to the Environment Bill. 
While we often focus on the quality of water in the Solent, we should not lose sight of impact of pollution upstream in the river basins. This post takes a view.

To view further posts, please use the main menu at the top of the home page, the ‘recent posts’ links and the search box.

The Solent Protection Society is a charitable incorporated organisation intent on safeguarding and preserving the amenities of the Solent environment for the benefit of future generations. The Society was originally set up in 1956 as a joint initiative of CPRE and the RYA in response to proposals to site a nuclear power station on the Isle of Wight and an oil refinery at the mouth of the Hamble river. More than sixty years later, the Solent Protection Society continues to campaign on important issues of planning, conservation and maritime safety affecting the Solent Region.

We welcome issues and concerns raised by our members and apply the breadth of experience of our Council Members, working with our networks within peer organisations and official bodies to secure resolution.

To understand how membership of the Society might help you, or simply to contact us, please explore the options on the main menu. We also welcome applications from existing members who believe they may have relevant experience to offer and a commitment of time to join the Council in our activities. For further details, please email the Secretary.