A CONTROVERSIAL planning shake-up will hit hopes of expanding northern ports such as Teesport, MPs were warned yesterday.

One North East, councillors and planners joined forces to criticise a new national policy statement because it failed to pave the way for growth in the North, rather than at already-booming ports in the South.

The policy statement also failed to recognise the need for road and rail improvements if port expansion plans are to be successful, the transport select committee was told.

And it neglected the environmental damage from thousands of lorries transporting goods from southern ports to markets in the North.

Alan Welby, One North East’s director of strategy, told the committee that the Government must be more interventionist if Teesport was to exploit the huge potential of offshore wind farms.

An upgrade of the route between Teesport and the East Coast Main Line has long been seen as crucial to allow larger sea containers to pass under bridges on the line.

And there is a campaign to reopen and extend the Leamside Line, as part of hopes that electric cars will be built at Nissan’s plant at Sunderland.

Asked if the policy statement recognised the importance of northern ports, Mr Welby replied: “Not enough”.

That criticism was echoed by Councillor Richard Kemp, from the Local Government Association, who said: “You can build the best port in the world but, if you can’t get stuff into it by road and by rail, it is almost irrelevant.”

The Labour-led transport committee has launched a quick inquiry into the national policy statement for ports, announced last November.