A pressure group has been launched in support of the Bathside Bay development at Harwich.
Traders, councillors and a conservation group are all behind the new organisation.
Speak Out (Support Port Extension And Kill Off Unemployment Threat) is an umbrella group of organisations and residents which backs Hutchison Ports' plan for a new container terminal on Bathside.
It is in stark contrast to another umbrella group Rape (Residents Against Port Expansion), which was created to oppose the £300 million scheme.
Among those supporting Speak Out are Harwich MP Ivan Henderson, the High Steward of Harwich Bill Bleakley, Harwich Chamber of Trade and Commerce, Harwich Conservation Panel, the Licensed Victuallers Association, Dovercourt Bay Traders and Labour Party Harwich branch.
Geoff Bull, of Harwich Traders, said: "If this opportunity is lost then the lines of cars leaving town each morning for work will get longer and longer.
"Harwich thrived when our ports were booming and this development is probably the last real chance that we have to prevent our town from becoming a forgotten little backwater acting as a dormitory for those working many miles away."
Published Friday, June 27, 2003
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