The Highways Agency, together with the Port of Dover, Kent and Dover Councils, Kent Police and hauliers groups have been working on changes to help the traffic flow on the A20 approaching and through Dover.

At times when the port is especially busy, queuing traffic can form along the A20 through Dover. Traffic arrangements will be changed for traffic heading to the Port of Dover, with the aim of achieving better traffic flows in the future. Traffic will be filtered into two lanes on A20 outside of the town, and at times when the port is busy, traffic signals will hold traffic on the A20 until there is a clear route to the port entrance.

Highways Agency Asset Manager Kevin Bown said:

“Dover is an international transport gateway, and the Highways Agency is absolutely committed to playing its part in continuing to enable traffic to flow efficiently to and from the port.

“That’s why we are working hard with the Port of Dover and Dover District Council to help make sure that traffic arriving at the port is optimised, while at the same time protecting local roads in and around Dover town centre form unnecessary congestion and pollution.

“The changes being introduced will give us data to assess options to achieve better traffic flows. We will take forward the options, together with our partners, and aim to have real benefits for people living and working in Dover.”

Tim Waggott, Chief Executive, Port of Dover, said:

“The Port has been playing its part in developing plans to keep Dover, the Port and the UK economy moving.  Together we hope to find a solution to address the impact that the growing economy is having on increasing traffic through Dover.

“Through such excellent partnership working, as demonstrated at a recent meeting of the Port and Community Forum attended by all the key players, we are going to make a difference and I look forward to seeing the effects of these new traffic arrangements in the coming months.”

The system will be installed by the Highways Agency and will be in place early in April. It will be operated by the Port of Dover at times of high demand with the aim of reducing queues on the A20 through Dover.

Traffic lights will be installed near the end of the A20, prior to the Western Heights roundabout, to hold vehicles until there is space within the port to accommodate them. Using technology, the Port will be able to ensure that Port bound HGVs only use this route unless they have special permission to do otherwise.

Traffic will be separated on the approach to the traffic lights, with freight using the left hand lane and all other traffic in the right hand side lane.

To maintain safety while we collect the data on the coastbound A20:

• a reduced speed limit will be applied
• an HGV overtaking ban will be in place
• two lay-bys will be closed
• the system will be monitored by cameras  

ENDS

Issued by the Highways Agency.

For further information please contact Andrew Broughton on 0300 470 1325, Stuart Miller on 0300 470 1192 or James Wright on 0300 470 1316.

Marine Parade on the seafront at Dover is the location of Waterloo Mansions – a selection of three to five-bedroomed period apartments recently refurbished for rent and owned by the Port of Dover. Located within minutes walking distance from the town centre and with direct access onto the seafront and harbour, these few remaining apartments are unique in both location and style.

With high quality rental properties hard to find in the South, these Regency apartments offer the chance to live on the seafront, within walking distance of Dover town centre and minutes away from the renowned ferry services. This makes Waterloo Mansions an ideal base to make the most of the shortest and most regular ferry crossings to France and no more than 60 minutes away from  London.

For more information on Port of Dover’s property portfolio, future business development and commercial opportunities with property, please contact the estates department on Tel: +44 (0) 1304 240 400 Ext. 5540 or Email: estates@doverport.co.uk.

Ends

Notes to Editor

• Visit http://www.doverport.co.uk/commercial/property/ to find out more information about Port of Dover property portfolio, or visit the Port’s YouTube Channel where all properties are showcased.

Work has now begun to provide hauliers and drivers with state of the art facilities at Motis Freight Clearance and Truckstop Facility within the Port of Dover.  Over the coming months new toilet facilities, showers, launderette, catering and TV lounge will be added to ensure that drivers experience industry leading levels of service 24 hours a day, every day.  Cargo handling facilities are also being upgraded to include ambient, frozen and chilled storage/transhipment.   A hand truckwash is already in progress and will be opening soon. The entire site will have free wifi and discounted international calls will be available.

Safety and security is being further enhanced with 1km of new fencing, upgraded ANPR and additional CCTV equipment.

Located within the Port of Dover, this 320 space dedicated truck facility is ideally placed for international drivers requiring a safe haven for their legal rest period.  Additional services include HGV Levy, Dart Charge, Customs Clearance, TIR Sealing, POD dispatch and digitacho download.

Rob Hardy, Motis FSA General Manager comments “It has taken a little longer than anticipated to start the key works on site, but meanwhile we have been able to provide an interim service. Going forward we aim to be the benchmark for truck parking and have many innovative plans to further add value which we will be implementing over the coming months.  Now that work has started we can really look to the future and to provide the service levels our customers expect from Motis.  The site has been particularly popular with hauliers disembarking in Dover in the evening, parking overnight with us and then paying the HGV Levy on exit helping to ensure they comply with their legal break requirements.

Chris Polwart, Motis Commercial Director, added “Motis are proud to provide these additional facilities at such a key geographic point in Europe.  The majority of our customers are now passing our doorstep on a regular basis so providing these additional facilities is fantastic and natural progression to our already strong product range including Freight Ferry Bookings, Motorway Tolls, Alpine Tunnels and Rolling Highways. This facility also gives us the opportunity to offer some unique product packages to our customers based on specific requirements they may have for their vehicles / drivers on arrival in the UK”.

The Motis Freight Clearance and Truckstop Facility is located off Lord Warden Square in the Port of Dover’s Western Docks, a 2 minute drive from the Ferry.  It operates 24 hours a day, 7 days per week and is the largest facility of its kind in the UK.

Motis Ireland Limited is a long established freight services provider and now has offices in UK, Ireland, Benelux, Poland, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Romania and representation beyond these regions.  It provides Bookings on over

500 Freight Ferry routes throughout Europe, Motorway Tolls Services, Alpine Tunnel Bookings, Rolling Highway Services throughout the Alp’s, Back load Services, TIPP Reclaim and other services to the European Transport Industry. We operate 24 hours a Day, 7 Days per week. For further information contact sales@motis.com or view www.motis.com

Britain’s ferry industry continued its revival in 2014 on over 75 routes, posting increases across the board for passengers, cars and coaches carried during last year.

According to 2014 “Ferrystat” figures, released today by industry body, Discover Ferries*, passenger numbers were up 2.6% or a full million in 2014, to 39.01m (compared with 38.01m in 2013).  Passenger cars carried by ferry were up 1.6% at 8.5m, and over 163,300 coaches were carried by ferry in 2014, an increase of 3.1%.

2014 was the second successive year showing annual growth of a million passengers by ferries – increasing, in round terms, from 37m passengers in 2012 to 38m in 2013 and 39m in 2014.

Continental ferry passenger numbers lead the way

Overall, Continental ferry routes were the strongest passenger growth sector in 2014, up 3.7% to 18.32m with the key Dover-Calais/Dunkirk short Channel routes operated by DFDS, P&O Ferries and MyFerryLink up 4.4% to 13.29m. North Sea routes to Holland by DFDS, P&O Ferries and Stena Line were up 2.9% to 1.75m passengers, with the western Channel sector, operated by Brittany Ferries and DFDS, up 1.5% to 2.85m.

Ferry passengers travelling to Ireland by operators including Irish Ferries, P&O Ferries and Stena Line, were up 1.4% overall in 2014 to 4.87m, with the “central corridor” Holyhead and Liverpool routes to Dublin the best-performing sub-sector, showing 2.9% growth to 2.13m passengers.

Domestic mainland ferry routes were up 1.8% overall to 15.83m passengers overall, with Scottish routes performing best, up 3.9% to 6.19m passengers served by ferry lines like Cal-Mac and Northlink. Isle of Wight passenger figures via operators such as Red Funnel and Wightlink, rose 0.7% to 8.64m in 2014.

Cars and Coaches ride the waves

Of the 8.5million passenger cars transported by all ferries in 2014, up 1.6%, the key growth in 2014 came from the domestic ferry sector, up 2.2% to 3.53m cars, followed by Irish Sea, up 2.1% to 1.15m, with cars to the Continent by ferry up 0.9% to 3.82m.

Passenger coach trips by ferry continued a healthy upward trend, up 3.1% in 2014 to over 163,300, led with those to the Continent accounting for nearly 110,000 coach movements by ferry, up 6.2% on 2013.

Better Value; Less Hassle

“It has been another strong year for UK ferry industry, putting on more than a million passengers for the second year in succession, with us now in striking distance of 40 million passengers for 2015” said Discover Ferries director Bill Gibbons. “In the all-important France market, with 15.9m passenger journeys in 2014, ferries are the market leaders with 33%, compared to approximately 23% by air, 23% by Eurotunnel and 21% by Eurostar – and other ferry markets like Holland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland are all showing strong passenger growth.”

“Consumers are now very savvy about getting the best value and minimising hassle when they travel- especially with their families. They realise that taking your car by ferry is a smart way to achieving a new sense of travelling freedom, with no baggage charges. The industry is also getting together behind our showcase consumer campaign for National Ferry Fortnight, running this year March 2-15, when some excellent added value ferry offers will be available on www.discoverferries.com.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

• The 2014 Ferrystat Annual Figures are commissioned by Discover Ferries through independent research agency, IRN Research, and are collated by them from returns supplied by each of the ferry operator members in Discover Ferries

The idea of setting up a dedicated community fund, in preference to handing out ad hoc charitable donations, seems to be gaining ground in the ports sector.

Last month, the Port of Dover announced it had committed £250,000 to launch a new community fund, which will also benefit from an ongoing annual contribution of 1% of pre-tax profits. The fund was set up after a consultation exercise to gain feedback on what the local community wants, and key priorities included making a lasting effect, supporting skills development, supporting job creation and providing opportunity locally for young people.

“The Dover Harbour Board has always provided support in a number of ways to its local community,” says Dover’s chief executive, Tim Waggott. “In the aftermath of the government’s decision on [against] privatisation, the then Minister of Shipping, Stephen Hammond, announced in April this year that he would like to see Dover Harbour Board establish a community fund in line with other ports.

“We have subsequently consulted widely with community groups and individuals on how we can make such a fund work effectively for the whole area, and which areas the community would wish to see benefit.”

Building relations

The merits of ‘doing good’ locally are obvious but is this also an important part of rebuilding relationships between port and local community, given the turbulent times in Dover in recent years? Mr Waggott says: “Naturally it is in our interests to continue to improve local relationships as we press forward with major development via the Dover Western Docks Revival. We see our transformational plans as a catalyst for game-changing regeneration in Dover and the wider area, but in the shorter term we want ordinary people directly benefiting from a fund established in our name, by fostering skills and training, and enriching the local community.”

While Dover’s fund is a newbie, the Felixstowe Port Community Fund is now well established – founded in 2008, it recently announced that it has now awarded more than £250,000 in grants. This fund was created not just by the port itself but by a group of companies in and around the port, in order to pool their resources, support local charities and build a ‘mutually supportive’ relationship with the local community.

It is managed by the Suffolk Community Foundation, whose chief executive, Stephen Singleton, says: “It is certainly very unusual that organisations have come together like this, because often they could be seen to be competitors. But they sit around the table and make decisions and, by working together, they have created a significant fund to help Felixstowe and the surrounding area.

“So far they have given a total of 137 grants and supported 91 different organisations. What’s really remarkable is that they are also building an endowment fund to help the community in perpetuity. It is the same principles as a trust fund – we use investment managers, and the interest and returns they have generated go into the grant-making programme.”

Understanding

The members of the Felixstowe fund meet four times a year to discuss grant applications and decide which to support. In this, the Suffolk Community Foundation plays an important role. “We are the people who understand the voluntary sector, investigate the applications and assess the need, so the panel of business people can make decisions on what they want to support rather than worrying about the risk attached to it,” says Mr Singleton. “They want to put their money in the right place – we iron out the risk.”

The fund has supported projects such as Felixstowe Coastwatch, which monitors the beach and sea areas in Felixstowe and Harwich, and the East Anglian Sailing Trust – but also supports less visible projects such as Headway (for people with a brain injury), Cruse (for bereaved people) or the local women’s refuge. “Typically our charities are grass roots charities with high volunteer levels, needing a relatively small amount of money but absolutely delivering vital services,” says Mr Singleton. “We don’t mind handing out money to support day-to-day running costs – these charities need money to keep going and we recognise the value of what they do every day, as opposed to one-off projects to attract funding.”

One of the fund partners is port community system operator Maritime Cargo Processing (MCP), whose chief executive, Alan Long, says: “The Port Community Fund is a good idea for us because it means we can focus our contributions on the fund, rather than dealing with individual calls for help. It means the total pot we are able to use to help local charities is larger, and the collective impact is much greater. Also, we often fund causes that might be considered ‘less fashionable’ and not otherwise get funding.”

 Building links

Claire Ling, marketing and sales manager at Cory Brothers, says: “As an agency, we have been in the community for such a long time and, when the fund was set up, it seemed to be the logical next step for us, to support and help our local community. Although we have always contributed in small ways, as part of a group we can achieve something so much bigger and long-term. Also, many of our own staff are connected with some of the groups supported by the fund, so it is helping them in the long-term too. And already there is going to be a legacy for the future.”

Mr Waggott says one of the key points to come out of a public workshop to discuss the Dover fund was that of securing match funding from other parties to support major initiatives. “Personally, I think the whole board would be delighted if other local organisations decided to follow our lead,” he says.

Meanwhile, the plan is for the Kent Community Foundation to administer the fund, but with a committee led by the Bishop of Dover confirming which projects and individuals should be supported. “It must be absolutely separate from the port’s own administrative team, although we will be happy to promote the organisations which benefit from the fund,” he says.

The Port of Tyne has had a community fund in place for several years, but this was relaunched with a new focus after a research project in 2012.

“The port commissioned us to do the research because they were looking to focus their corporate giving to the needs of the community,” says Elaine Holdsworth, of the Tyne & Wear and Northumberland Community Foundation. “Three key issues came through: young people and employability; helping enrich community life; and improving the environment.

“We devised aims and objectives for the fund based around these themes and I manage the fund through the Community Foundation – assessing grant applications and carrying out due diligence, so that the staff panel at the port can make the decisions. The port made the decision to donate 1% of pre-tax profits to the fund, which is a significant amount. It is a really positive way to involve the staff, by giving them a say in how to distribute this income.

“The staff come from across the various parts of the business and bring different views and understanding of what is going on in their local communities. We give panel members the opportunity to go and visit projects recommended for grants. It is really helping staff on the panel to get a better understanding of the incredible range of projects in the community, but also of the impact they are making. This has been a really great model of corporate giving – the port really wants to support change in the community.”