Mark Francois, MP for Rayleigh and Wickford, recently spent an afternoon visiting DP World – London Gateway, where he was given a detailed tour of the site by Communications Manager, Xavier Wooward.
Mark was able to view the full extent of the construction now underway at the UK’s newest deep-sea container port, which will be combined with Europe’s largest logistics park, 25 miles east of central London. Hundreds of operatives are working at the site, with dredging and new land creation taking place alongside the development of key infrastructure. The port includes a new jetty, which will eventually be 3km long, and which is currently being built at a rate of 6m every day.
Once complete, London Gateway will create 12,000 direct jobs and over 20,000 indirect jobs, hopefully benefitting the whole of South Essex. It will enable the world’s largest container ships to call at the heart of the UK's economic and population centre. The port’s highly efficient road, rail and sea links will offer a quicker, cheaper and more environmentally-friendly way to transport goods to their destination.
Commenting on his visit, Mark said:
“I was grateful to be given the opportunity to visit DP World, as it was an extremely interesting way to spend the afternoon. I was rather taken aback by the sheer scale of the development; however it was very useful to gain an insight into the plans for the future development of London Gateway, which is a project I believe to be very important for South Essex, and indeed the country as a whole.”