NEWHAVEN Port is looking to expand to secure its future amid uncertainty over its ferry services.

The key Sussex port is submitting plans which would mean new facilities and the creation of 150 jobs.

Shoreham Port has welcomed the potential expansion, describing it as “friendly competition”.

The contract to run Newhaven’s ferry service to Dieppe has been extended for another year but that its long-term security remains unsure.

Last year French officials threatened to pull the plug on the service but now say the link does have a future if it can cut the taxpayer subsidy and better promote the route on both sides of the Channel.

Newhaven Port and Properties (NPP), the harbour authority, has revealed the new project could potentially be a future replacement for the existing ferry terminal and help get more ships into the port, boosting trade. NPP is submitting a planning application to build a new, multi-purpose quayside of up to 300 metres in length at the southern end of the port.

The new quayside, if approved, would take on a variety of cargo and manage it on a piece of land behind it.

Harbourmaster Dave Collins-Williams said: “Cargo has been declining for the past ten years. The only way to future-proof the port is to develop the harbour area.

“Ships are getting bigger and Newhaven isn’t.”

Newhaven has seen its cargo handling more than half since 2008.

Mr Collins-Williams said the new scheme would aim to return to 2008 levels of business. He was hopeful Newhaven could “work in synergy” with Shoreham. “The two ports can work in harmony together,” he said. Peter Davies, development director at Shoreham Port, said: “We are fully aware of Newhaven’s plans and welcome it as a very positive addition to what Sussex ports can offer importers.

“Generally speaking the two ports complement each other and if there is competition between us it is always friendly.”

A public consultation on the Newhaven proposal runs on October 14 at the Hillcrest Centre in Newhaven from from 2pm to 8pm.

How ports measured up in 2013

NEWHAVEN

Cargo ship visits – 70

Fishing boat visits – 100

Other ships – 200

Ferry services – 1,000

Cargo handled – 170,000 tons

SHOREHAM

Commercial shipping – 749

Fishing boats – 799

Leisure vessels – 10,744

Cargo handled – 1.6 million tons