The Port of London Authority’s fist port infrastructure meeting has taken place and was attended by The Shipping Minister, John Hayes MP and Val Shawcross, the deputy mayor of London for Transport. There were also 30 different business leaders that attended the meeting which discussed the road, rail, river and crossings work that needs to go ahead in order to unlock the growth that has been forecasted for the Port over the course of the next 20 years.

This forecast for the Port of London has come from the Thames Vision scheme which could lead to an increase of trade in the area. It is thought that the scheme allows for the potential for 30 million tonnes of trade to take place. This growth would mean that the trade in the port would increase to 80 million tonnes. This growth is a continuation on last year, where the port saw their trade increase by 10%.

The infrastructure event was hosted by Thurrock MP and Jackie Doyle Price. The guests that were invited to the meeting included a number of different representatives for ports and terminals that can bring aggregates, fuel and food in to the Thames. There were also local authorities represented at the event including Kent County Council, Thurrock, the London Borough of Dagenham & Redbridge, Royal Borough of Greenwich and Gravesham Borough Council.

The UK economy is boosted by ports, therefore developing them will help the economy thrive. The plans to make improvements to the road, rail and river transport will improve connections between the port and the markets, which will also provide a welcome boost to this sector. A Port Connectivity Study has also been set u which will look in to the different ways to develop the transport links in the area in order to support the economic growth of this sector over the next 10 years.