THE Haven Gateway Partnership is to play a key role in a multi-million pound project to identify sites for new freight transport hubs.Haven Gateway is among the partners involved in the “Dryport” initiative which aims to create new facilities able to improve the flow of freight to and from seaports.

THE Haven Gateway Partnership is to play a key role in a multi-million pound project to identify sites for new freight transport hubs.

Haven Gateway is among the partners involved in the “Dryport” initiative which aims to create new facilities able to improve the flow of freight to and from seaports.

The project, which has been awarded 2.4million euros (about £1.9million) in funding by the European Union over the next three years - a sum to be match-funded by the project partners - aims to shift freight from road to rail or inland waterways where possible, or to enable more freight to travel by road at off-peak times.

Haven Gateway director Richard Morton, who will be representing the partnership on the Dryport team, said: “Dryport is about helping support port capacity by improving hinterland distribution hubs, looking at the potential of 'inland ports' with multimodal connections where appropriate.

“We also want to look at the way in which better planning can reduce the amount of vehicles on the roads. For the Haven Gateway, this is a critical issue; we need to look carefully at planning and developing logistics sites in support of port activity, which is one of the key economic drivers in this sub-region.

“We will also be working with relevant agencies looking at capacity issues and how road and rail infrastructure may have an impact on a suitable site.”

Haven Gateway will be looking to determine potential sites and develop them as close-range “dryports”, introducing a regular rail shuttle between these sites and the Gateway ports, which include Felixstowe and Harwich.

The partners also include Babergh District Council, whose area includes a number of potential development sites around the edge of Ipswich, although sites will be considered throughout the Haven Gateway area which also includes the Suffolk Coastal, Ipswich, Colchester and Tendring districts.

Haven Gateway and Babergh have been awarded a 425,000 euro slice of the EU funding (about £340,000) for their part in the Dryport project, and will be contributing the same amount in match funding.

The region of Västra Götaland in Sweden is the lead partner in Dryport. Alongside Haven Gateway and Babergh, other core partners include the Port of Gothenburg and Falköping Kommun in Sweden; the Port of Zeebrugge, Belgium; Edinburgh Gateway, Scotland; and Gemeente Emmen and the Province of Friesland, in the Netherlands.