‘A worst-case Brexit could hit CI food supplies’

Portsmouth City Council told a House of Commons committee investigating the impact of a no-deal Brexit that traffic gridlock could affect Portsmouth International Port.

Around 90% of the Channel Islands’ food and pharmaceutical supplies comes through the port, although Policy & Resources said it was in ‘no doubt’ that contingency plans were more than sufficient to cope with potential no-deal challenges.

In evidence to the House of Commons Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, Portsmouth Council said the city’s facility was the UK’s second-busiest cross-Channel ferry port.

‘We are not like Dover – we are a densely built-up island city susceptible to gridlock,’ it said.

‘The port is at the gateway to the rest of the city.

‘The freight gate is 12 HGV lengths from the final motorway junction, but unlike Port of Dover, that junction goes on to serve the naval base, the city and the ferries to the Isle of Wight and Channel Islands – 90% of whose food and pharmaceuticals are shipped from Portsmouth.’

The council added that the Hampshire and Isle of Wight local resilience forum, chaired by the local police chief constable and made up of key services, had been required by the government to prepare for a reasonable worst-case scenario for a no-deal Brexit on 29 March, which was when the UK was supposed to have left the European Union.

‘Across HIOW, the LRFs primary concern remains the likelihood of severe traffic congestion around Portsmouth International Port,’ it warned.

‘Taking account of local and strategic road network capacity, the need to plan for diverted traffic from Dover advised by the Border Planning Group, potential increases in ship turnaround times at EU ports, the additional sailings into Portsmouth commissioned by the DfT [Department for Transport], the capacity of the port and its proximity to the strategic road network and local traffic conditions, the LRF considers that a reasonable worst-case scenario is serious traffic congestion across Portsmouth and onto the strategic road network, food shortages on the Channel Islands and disruption to the operation of Portsmouth Naval Base.’

The LRF said the DfT did not share those concerns, but claimed the Whitehall department’s modelling was ‘deeply flawed’.

‘It assumed space for 800 HGVs in the port (actual 350); failed to account for the traffic on the road network; assumes HGVs flow evenly hour by hour; made no allowance for diverted HGVs or cars from Dover,’ it said.

‘The Minister for Transport has subsequently accepted that queues of up to 60 HGVs may be experienced but believes this will clear quickly. The modelling has still not been recast or re-issued.’

Despite this, the local resilience forum had developed a traffic management plan which ‘seeks to establish triage and interception points to help manage the flow of traffic to and from the port. This requires the construction of a lorry holding area (HGVs), the use of part of the A31 for stacking, and the implementation of signage and marshalling’.

A P&R spokesman said it remained in close contact with Portsmouth and had been fully informed of its contingency plans.

‘Our contingency planning involves working with companies dependant on that port to get goods through to the Bailiwick, and we have been left in no doubt that these plans are more than sufficient to cope with the challenges a no-deal Brexit may present,’ he added.

In relation to food supplies, P&R last week said that it was confident in preparations made over many months in partnership with the island’s food retailers.

While Guernsey might experience a ‘limited amount of disruption’ with regards to the choice of products, any disruption would be similar to that seen during winter storms.