IMPACTE

ABOUT IMPACTE

Introduction

Co-funded under the European INTERREG IIIB programme for North West Europe, the IMPACTE project, led by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), brings together a partnership of 26 investment, strategic, public sector and research partners from Belgium, England and France.

The project promotes and facilitates sustainable port based development and distribution of freight, focusing on economic, social and environmental benefits. The project includes small-scale investments in port infrastructure and feasibility works to improve intermodal port access. Through research, the project will also raise the profile of ports in terms of their contribution to the regional, national and European economy.

Within this overall objective, subsidiary aims are to:

• Develop rail services from ports for international freight traffic, based on small-scale investments in rail terminals at (or close to) ports;
• Develop longer distance short sea shipping services between the UK and the continental mainland based on small-scale investments in Roll on / Roll off (RoRo) terminals.
• Examine in detail the traffic flows between the continental mainland and the UK, with forecasts into the future, to establish potential opportunities for additional new short sea shipping services and sustainable distribution of freight by rail.
• Quantify the existing economic impact of ports and promote the economic development role of ports in the public policy arena.
• Examine how ports can capture and maximise economic benefits in port regions, particularly by developing added value distribution activity at the port themselves and through clustering in general.
• Establish a funding strategy for the development of a high-gauge rail link in the UK between the Solent region (encompassing Southampton & Portsmouth) and the West Midlands for international containerised traffic.
• Establish how the Port of Dover can be re-connected to the rail network so that some modal shift of unitised traffic is possible on the Dover-Calais route.
• Develop an integrated spatial strategy for the Channel Arc maritime region with the objective of increasing trade and intermodal distribution of the resultant traffic inland.
• Develop a strong and sustainable trans-national partnership to develop additional new services and other projects.
• Develop mutual understanding of the issues involved in evaluating, comparing and developing practical, port-related projects in North West Europe.

Major Project Deliverables

Small-scale Infrastructure:

• Container Rail Loading Facility, Port of Southampton, UK
• Dredged RoRo Berth, Ramsgate, UK
• RoRo Berth, Port of Oostende, Belgium
• Intermodal Railhead, Portsmouth, UK
• RoRo Berth, Port of Zeebrugge, Belgium

Action Plans & Strategies:

• Action Plan to maximise the economic development potential of ports.
• Action Plan for the development of new short sea shipping services between the UK and the continental mainland, with traffic flow data.
• Financing structure for rail loading gauge up-grade scheme.
• Engineering design for key bottleneck on major rail route for international trade.
• Action Plan to reinstate rail link to Port of Dover.
• Integrated maritime spatial strategy for the Channel Arc.

Project Structure - IMPACTE

The IMPACTE project is built up of 4 work packages. The project partnership brings together 26 public, commercial and not-for-profit organisations from Belgium, France and the UK who are working together to deliver these project goals.

Outlined below is the working structure for each part of the project

To complement the work of those directly involved in delivering each work package, the IMPACTE Strategic partners meet on a regular basis to discuss and feed relevant information into each work package.

For more information on all of the project partners visit THE PARTNERSHIP page

Funding

The IMPACTE project has a value of over €16million of which the partnership has secured 30% European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) match funding through the North West Europe Interreg IIIB programme (www.nweurope.org).