The Bathside Bay container port would be second only to Felixstowe

The RSPB will tell a public inquiry that at least 65 hectares of important wildlife habitat will go if a container port is built at Bathside Bay in Essex.

Shelduck, oystercatchers, ringed plovers and dark-bellied Brent geese are among species which depend on the site in Harwich.

The inquiry into the �300m plans is expected to last four or five months.

If the scheme goes ahead Harwich would be one of the biggest container ports in the country, second only to Felixstowe in Suffolk.

Bathside Bay is an integral part of the Stour and Orwell estuaries and supports thousands of wintering wildfowl and waders. Renny Henderson, of the RSPB

Hutchison Ports (UK) corporate affairs manager, Paul Davey, said: "This is the start of a very important process for the town of Harwich.

"The public inquiry will give everyone interested in the development the opportunity to register their views.

"The development of a new container facility at Bathside Bay will bring many benefits, not just to Harwich, but to the region as a whole."

The RSPB objected to the Bathside proposal because of the potential loss of protected wildlife habitat.

More than 3,000 birds roost and 1,300 feed in winter at Bathside Bay, which is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest.

It is also a proposed Special Protection Area under the EU's Bird Directive in recognition of its importance to wild birds.

In its opening statement to the first day of the public inquiry, the RSPB is expected to say that the government should consider the Bathside Bay proposal alongside the other major container port schemes before deciding any of the applications.

Wintering wildfowl

Renny Henderson, Conservation Officer for the RSPB in eastern England, said: "Bathside Bay is an integral part of the Stour and Orwell estuaries and supports thousands of wintering wildfowl and waders.

"The area is a protected site and its reclamation for port development would be a great loss to the estuary, its birds and the people of Essex and Suffolk.

"In deciding its fate, ministers must consider the Bathside Bay proposal alongside the three other port applications in the pipeline.

"This will ensure they can work out how best to meet the needs of the ports industry and to limit habitat destruction at the same time."

Ports are also planned at Felixstowe and London Gateway in Essex.