Dover People's Port

Dover People's Port, or Paper Port?

What is the Dover People's Port? It is a proposal, styled on paper, sometimes referred to as a trust (Dover People's Port Trust). The Dover People's Port was put to paper in 2010 with the intention of presenting it as an alternative to the privatisation plans of Dover Harbour Board (DHB).

Location of the Dover People's Port

The Dover People's Port is not situated anywhere, as it does not exist. The only Port in Dover is the Dover Harbour Board, and consists of two ports, the Eastern Docks and the Western Docks. The seafront between these two docks is also part of the Dover Harbour Board.

Support for Dover People's Port at the Parish Poll

A parish poll held in Dover town on 23 March 2011 saw a staggering 75% of Dover's people declining to take part in the poll, which asked people to choose between the Dover People's Port and the Dover Harbour Board privatisation proposals.

The majority of people in Dover do not accept either proposal, preferring Dover Port to remain a charter port, practically a state asset, with no form of privatisation, neither that proposed by DHB nor the privatisation proposals of the Dover People's Port Trust.

Dover's People and the Port

With 75% of Dover's town residents refusing to vote in the parish poll, the obvious question is: why were the people of Dover not asked in the poll if they want the Port of Dover to remain a State asset? If this question had been asked on the ballot paper, then perhaps the vast majority of people in Dover would have turned out to vote, which would have meant a resounding: No! to the privatisation proposals both of DHB and of the Dover People's Port Trust.

As the obvious question was not asked, the vast majority did not turn up to vote, which equates to a resounding thumbs down to both privatisation proposals concerning the Port of Dover, and as a result, the Dover People's Port project has remained a paper port, its value equal to the paper it is written on.

Article written by D. Alexander

How unpopular is the privatisation proposal for the port of Dover? The vast majority of Dovorians do not want any form of port privatisation. Read on:
doverkent.blogspot.com/2012/01/dover-port-privatisation.html